Story and Pictures for your consideration

Let me introduce MOLLY, our "working girl" double rifle. All good doubles should have a proper female name (like boats) as we all know they can be quite tempermental at times. My son-in-law and I share this double which we acquired last year.

Due to my aging eyes that don't want to focus on iron sights any more and his color blindness, a better sighting system was sought. Many thanks to Chris Sells (Heym USA) ,Ivan Carter (PH) and John Koegler(North Fork Bullets) for sharing their ideas. Chris does this now as an option on Heym guns he sells but the install is much more professional.

MOLLY was named in Africa after her first kill in the Luangwa Valley in Sept 2009 during my hunt with Pete Swanepoel Jr. (PH) . I'm not sure how Pete's wife feels about naming a double rifle after her MOLLY (the gun) started life as a plain jane K-gun and now after some "poor boy" modifications she is a true "working girl". MOLLY is not the prettiest girl at the dance but boy can she dance just fine with this addition which
insures fast target acquisition with both eyes open. MOLLY now lives and hunts hogs in the Texas Hill Country and will return to Africa in August 2011 to hunt buff. and ele..

Here is how we did it:
We selected the Trijicon RMR reflex "dual illumination" sight with 7 MOA amber dot. (The smallest dot they have in Amber which actually covers about 6 inches at 50 yards on target, just fine for "minute of buffalo") This is a fiber optic/tritium sight with no batteries to fail. A T-6 aluminun Picatinny rail was machined to fit on the rib behind the rear sight and attached to the blank slot in the rib after removal of the rear K-Gun sight block via the two factory screws. The rail was routed out down the middle just enough
to allow continued unobstructed use of the iron sights in the event of that requirement for some reason. After machine work the rail was coated with Brownell's bake on mat black finish. Then the Trijicon RMR was installed via its sight base. Total added weight is
6.5 ounces. The rail was left long enough (6.5 inches) to permit the installation of a scope if desired. Weight would be a little less if the rail was shortened to only the length of the RMR which is 1.75 inches.

She doesn't look like a "Proper Double Gun" any more but we don't care. ( Hope your Double Gun sensitivities aren't offended.) She works. (Ivan Carter, PH now carries his double guns including a Heym 600NE with this type of sight) Initial "sight in" was dead on at 50 yds with original factory centered sight setting probably the result
of good gunsmithing. (She can be returned to original status in no time with no ill effects). For serious hunting she eats Woodleighs, Swift A-Frames and North Forks but likes North Forks the best for Dangerous Game.

P.S. MOLLY would like to go HOG hunting in California sometime but that is a "lead free zone".

Modifications, Sources and Costs

1 inch detachable sling swivels (Krieghoff) $70 ( US swivels don't fit due to metric holes in the studs )

Vero Velini sling (Cabelas) $27 (Rubber padded non slip wide---- to distribute weight while walking and for crawling into trees and Texas hunting stands)

Limbsaver slip on recoil pad (Cabelas) $34 (Primarily to extend LOP without butchering the stock, HINT- don't store gun with slip on in place, wood will discolor)

Picatinny Rail 10 inch aluminum blank (Midway USA) $42 (Also available from Brownells, steel or aluminum)

Trijicon RMR sight (RM04) with base (RM33) (Trijicon, Inc.) $472.60 show special at Reno SCI

Gunsmithing -- machine, fit and finish (Howard E. Dietz, New Braunfels, Texas) $150


Pictures:

1. Picatinny Rail top view - preliminiary cuts


2. Picatinny Rail side view


3. K-Gun top view sight block removed


4. Sight block and Trijicon RMR Sight to be mounted


5. Picatinny rail in milling machine vise


6. Milling machine work


7. Picatinny rail - mounting holes drilled, almost complete (trimming remaining)


8. Brownell's Bake on Spray coat


9. Complete and mounted


10. First trip out

Just use North Fork Cup Points for hogs.

AT DSC I talked to them about making some "Hollow Point" Cup Points for the "Condor Zone" Pig hunts.

Give them a call.

The trijicon sight has held up well on my K gun. Been there for two full seasons now. Much better than the burris fastfire- broke two in one year...

Tetonka,

Almost exactly the same mount as the one I made.
I started with bar stock in the weaver profile.
I also ran a 1/2" ball cutter down the middle so you could see the sights.
I only cut 2 cross grooves for a set of Warne QD rings. I have a Trijicon mounted and can remove that and put the Doctor Red Dot on.
I made my mount shorter, does yours use the dovetail for the rear sight ?
It looks like you removed your rear sight, is that correct ?
Looks good.

Regards
Nitro450exp

Nitro450exp
The factory sight is still in place and can be plainly seen after the removal of the RMR. The rail extends to just in
front of the rear sight to leave maximum room for scope
mounting if we so choose. If we abandon the scope idea, we will cut the rail back to just over the length of the RMR. Thanks for the coments.
Tetonka

Tetonka
In the picture it a little difficult to see the front sight, I should have paid more attention to your description !
I made mine out of steel and made it as short as possible for the scope.
I was concerned that the front of the rail would not be attached to the rib so shorter is better.
I would be concerned that the rail you used, alluminium, and the length may be a factor depending on scope weight.
That is why I thought you had attached your rail at the front, in the rear sight dovetail.
That would be the strongest option.
Let me know if the scope option works out.

Thanks

tetonka,

That is neat! I won't be a double rifle owner until I win the Searcy raffle, but I have been planing to install a red dot sight on a lever gun as an experiment. I am curious as to why the Trijicon versus the Docter and would appreciate your thoughts. I assume no battery is a major factor, others?

Thanks, John

JPenn

I chose the Doctor because there quality is just like there scopes.
Secondly the body of the optic is made from aluminium so it is fairly robust.
With regard to the battery the Docter has a auto dim feature that once covered turns off the emitter, so as long as you don't lose the cover you should be ok.
The battery is a common enough battery even in Africa.
When I bought my Docter the Burris fastfire was not out yet, nor the Trijicon.
So really it was the only small red dot around.
The Tasco Optima had been discontinued already and the J&P is made from resin.

With todays selection I probably would still go with the Docter !

Regards

Nitro450exp,
In the event we go to a scope at some point in the future, the front part of the rail will need to be secured by glue or screw. We would use the Trijicon 1.25 X4 with Amber post.
Also for size and weight of the one inch tube.
The reason for the amber is that my son-in-law cannot see the red dot sights and the green ones don't look right in heavy green timbers (like conifers) during an elk hunt. The
Doctor sight is great no problems except the red dot issue.
Personally I don't like batteries, they always fail when you
need them (Murphys Law)
Thanks for commenting, Shoot straight & good luck
tetonka

JPenn
The Doctor sight is very good and was our original selection
until Trijicon came out with the "amber " dot which fits our situation better. Batteries are a hangup with me. Murphys
Law prevails. The only down side to the RMR is that they do not make the amber dot as small as they make the red dot. Amber Dots are 7,9 and 13 MOA. Red dots get as small as 4 MOA but you also have to deal with batteries.
Find what suits you the best for your new Searcy,
tetonka