I have a very nice Rem. 30L Express in .35 Rem. It's got a lot of condition, Lyman sight, so this one won't be altered. Some Rem. 30's were D&T'd at the factory for scope mounting (this according to Sharpes THE RIFLE IN AMERICA). I suspect mine may be one since it is D&T'd but has no evidence of a scope ever being mounted.

It has two holes in the front ring and one in the rear. I did some research and determined it D&T'd for a Beuhler mount. I picked one up from Ebay, it's marked for Enfield 17's and Rem. 30's.

The mount is a one piece mount with a bridge over the left side of the receiver, much like a Leupold.

The problem is the rear hole doesn't line up with the mount, it's about 1/8" too far forward but close enough to where it should be that drilling a second hole is impossible. The existing hole would have to be filled in, the matting recut and a new hole drilled, reblued, etc.

It seems to me that rather than butcher the gun by filling in the hole it might be more prudent to just cut a section of the mount's bridge out and weld it back together, like when two Mausers are cut and welded to make a magnum action. I'd rather work on the replaceable mount than the receiver.

Does this sound like viable option? If so, where's the best place to cut, at one end or the other or right in the middle? The middle would entail the least amount of filing to get it back to the right profile.

Actually, now that I think about it, would it be easier to have the hole in the mount filled and redrilled?

I have a small oxy/acetylene setup and can braze or silver solder, is this strong enough or should I get someone to TIG it for me?


Thanks, Rob

I've had similar issues with mausers. Not all one piece bases have the same hole spacing. One one I acquired I tried many and found the leopld FN style fit, only problem was that the charger hump hadn't been removed. So, I milled a radius in the base to clear the hump..

Were I you I'd weld up the rear hole on the base and drill a new one. Hopefully it is decent steel not this new crap they are pawning off as steel in bases these days. I'd be inclined to tig it to keep the possibility of warpage to a minimum.

Is this type of TIG welding a specialty that I need a gunsmith for or should any good welding shop be able to do this?

Rob

if the rifle really is in good original condition, then I would weld on the mount long before I would weld on the rifle, but that is just me persoanlly. This is something you need a gunmaker to TIG, not your corner welding shop. It may be easer to have a mount made for it, depending on how much the mount you bought costs and what exactly has to be done to modify the base.

a fairly practical man once told

"always alter the cheap piece first" ...
He meant cheap in time, effort, "findability"....

Take the base to a good MIG shop, and have them build you up an extension on the BASE. it may not blue perfect. then fit to your rifle...

TIG is excellent for most welding, but if you need build up, mig is faster

jeffe

I agree with the change the mount not the rifle. I had to to do the same on an old M98 I bought years ago. My holes lined up so we machined a cut in the base. The front screw keep everything from moving back and forth.

Something I've done in situations like this is cut out the middle section of the single-piece mount and convert to a two-piece system.

I have no earthly idea how many spools of MIG wire I have burned, and I can control the heat a lot better with my TIG rig. This helps prevent warpage and keeping north things pointing north and south things pointing south.

When i worked in a fab shop in my younger days, people would walk in off the street and ask us to do something to a gun for them. I was the only gun crank in there and was very wet behind the ears. I shudder now when I think about the things we did to those poor guns. I do all of my own metal work (except for fluting barrels), but if I did not, there is no way I would have a non-gunmaker weld or solder on a gun for me.

SDH had a couple of good articles on welding in a gun shop in a Shooting Sportsman several years ago. I can highly recomemnd it to anyone contemplating throwing heat at their gun.

Definately welding the cheap part (mount) first, don't want to touch the gun. Cost me $16 and I have another. I just need to find someone to TIG or MIG weld and fill the hole in the mount, dress it and redrill it.


Thanks, Rob