One of my friends has found me an affordable S&B scope for my Blaser - BUT - it's a rail mount. The scope also has another rail under the objective lens bell. Does this scope have to be mounted in two places ? I have a spare saddle mount with rings. Does anyone know if this mount can be converted for use with a rail or do I have to buy an entire new one ?Does anyone other than Blaser make appropriate systems for Blasers? Any help would be appreciated.

I have two Swarovskis on Blaser rail mounts, and I just sold a S&B on a Blaser rail mount. The Blaser rail mounts are great, but they are "scope brand specific". You would need a Blaser rail mount specifically for a S&B scope.

Does that answer your question?

Thanks Jeff. I guess I was hoping that I could just purchase something that would replace the rings on my saddle mount and save me the cost of buying a whole new system. Did your S&B scopes have a forward rail included and did you use that as part of the mounting system ?

quote:

Originally posted by Ridgeman:
The scope also has another rail under the objective lens bell. Does this scope have to be mounted in two places ? I have a spare saddle mount with rings. Does anyone know if this mount can be converted for use with a rail or do I have to buy an entire new one ?Does anyone other than Blaser make appropriate systems for Blasers? Any help would be appreciated.

Ridgeman, the scope you have found is an older S&B using the traditional style "prismatic" scope rails. This as opposed to the new S&B (takeoff of the Zeiss) internal rail.

Your scope was originally inteded to be mounted (via the rail) on a gun where the front mount was located under the objective bell - typically this would be the case on breaktop guns, single shots such as falling blocks or even "specialty" bolt actions like the Mauser 66. The rail under the objective bell avoids the use of the problematic (large) ring around the objective bell.

You can mount the scope without using the front rail, but naturally the front rail will influence how low the scope can be mounted. In general, in Central European gunsmithing, scopes are mounted higher than what is the case in the US,say. Several reasons for this, e.g. having to deal with larger objective bells.

Since the scope has a prismatic rail, you will have to find a mount for this type of rail. The scope is mounted by drilling the scope rail, and fixing to the mount via screws. Best done by somebody who knows his way around these things! Not only should the rail be drilled to put the scope in the correct position relative to your eye, it is also mandatory that the scope tube itself not be compromised during drilling, as this will cause inert gasses (intended to avoid fogging) to escape.

Jeff is correct, you can not expect to modify your Blaser saddle mount with rings to be used for this scope. In theory, it might be possible to machine the rail off your scope, but whether you are willing to go this route, I'll leave up to you.

Blaser will likely have a mount that will fit your prismatic rail - although these rails are rapidly falling out of fashion these days. There are a few other manufacturers, who make mounts for Blasers - here in Germanic Europe there are brands such as EAW and MAK. The savings achievable by using one of these mounts compared to the proprietary Blaser saddle mount are not that impressive, though.

If you are set on using the S&B scope on your Blaser, I would contact Blaser in Aussie Land and see if they can get you a Blaser mount for the correct prismatic rail. The scope would be mounted using only the rail under the center tube - make sure the front rail will clear the barrel, though.

- mike

Thanks MHO for your most comprehensive reply. I now understand the situation. I will contact the local Blaser agent but now have some doubt that this scope will fit as I like my scopes mounted as low as possible.Perhaps I will find a use for the scope on another rifle as it is a fine piece of optical gear. Thanks again for your help.