Winchester 94 w. Leupold forward mount--Added: Hunting

[Molasses]

A few months ago I posted about being tempted by a '94 set up with the Leupold forward mount system they offered back when they first brought out their pistol scopes. Problem was that the store had it priced pretty high and I knew it. Luckily for me, everyone here talked me down.
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=42941

Funny how things work out sometimes...

Well, since then, a fellow over on the scout rifle forum put one of the base/ring sets for one of those rigs up for sale. So I snatched it up for $50, including shipping.
A new pawn shop had opened up within about a half dozen miles of my place, had a couple of '94s in it and apparently were setting prices using a Blue Book from before they quit making '94s. Slightly ratty (looks like it was stored in a case and was either put in with a little moisture on it or the case got damp in storage): there's a spot on the right rear of the receiver that's missing any finish and is "cloth weave checkered" (looks like it had rusted and they used Naval Jelly or some other rust remover to clean it up). There's also a bit of water damage to the finish on the left rear of the buttstock. At some point someone's stuck a fiberoptic front sight and sling swivels on it (I'm okay with this: my eyes are such that the front sight will show up better if I ever use the rear sight that's integral to the base and I like being able to sling my long guns). On the other hand, it's got the long forend tip, is marked ".30 WCF" and the bore is just fine. Serial # is in that '40s block of no specific year. So there's another $260 +tax.
I already had a Leupold M8-2x around that I'd been using on a Marlin '94 .44 with one of the XS Leverscout bases on it, so it was just a matter of starting the music back up for yet another round of musical scopes. However, to be strictly honest, I think I paid somewhere in the $100-$150 range for that scope when I bought it a couple of years ago.
Considering that the collector value of this carbine is seriously impaired, I doubt that it would've hurt much to've drilled and tapped the ONE hole in the forend band necessary to mount the base. However, I've had a spare forend band laying around for years and used that instead of the one that came on the gun.
About 18 months ago, Midway had a couple of gunsmithing sized drill and tap combos on sale and I'd bought both 8-40 and 6-48. Biggest hitch in this whole project was finding back the darned little manila envelopes with the drills and taps. Took the best part of two weeks of on and off digging in the garage (went through the bit drawer under the drill press an average of once every 2.5 days) and here and there in the house and especially the gun and reloading room before they turned up (hiding along with a Williams receiver sight for a Model 600 Remington under about a half dozen hunting knives in the bottom of a box in the gun room).
Okay, it's all together. I'll put up the one photo for now, but I should have some more with outdoor lighting and a range report later today.

[M. M. Wright]

Like the concept and you really SCORED on that 94! Should make a handy rig. Let us know how it shoots.

[Molasses]

^ Thanks!

On rereading what I wrote earlier, it occurs to me that I might not have been clear about just how the base goes on. It's somewhat like the the XS setup, in that the rear sight gets removed, an attachment plate goes into the rear sight dovetail slot and a screw fastens one end of the base onto that plate. Unlike the XS arrangement that stretches rearward from the rear sight dovetail and uses screws that go into receiver scope base holes, this one extends forward and fastens onto the forend band with the one screw.

[jshinal]

Very helpful explanation, and thanks. Is there a Leupold part number for this ?

Oh, and don't feel bad about searching so long for those taps. You were obviously planning on mounting sight rings on those knives. Makes sense to me !

[Griff]

Nope, don't feel bad at all... I needed to change out a mag follower for the proper one I misplaced. Found it... set it aside so it'd be handy. Still MIA!

Great DEAL on the rifle. Scout mount looks good.

[jh45gun]

How does that attach besides the forearm Ring? The dovetail? I had thought about making a mount with a dove tail filler piece drilled and tapped with one hole and a hole in the band for a mount.

[Molasses]

How does that attach besides the forearm Ring? The dovetail? I had thought about making a mount with a dove tail filler piece drilled and tapped with one hole and a hole in the band for a mount.

Yup, exactly that. See the 3rd post in this thread, where I realized it needed more 'splainin'.

Is there a Leupold part number for this ?

Far as I know, they dropped this setup from their lineup 40 years ago (or longer). I'd love to be proven wrong, though. It'd be nice to find more of these.

[Molasses]

I promised more pictures and a range report. Just hoping I don't overdo it on the pictures. Here goes:

Grabbed the rifle, a couple of boxes of Federal 170gr loads (selected on the basis of most of a case of them was laying around) and a couple of .22s and headed off late this afternoon. Since it was fairly windy (by MN standards: I'm sure WY and MT residents would consider it "calm"), I settled into the 100yd "bowling alley" bay rather than set up on the regular benchrest 200yd range in hopes that the berms and surrounding trees'd act as a windbreak. They say a picture's worth 1K words and I've already been windy enough.



Last 3 after initial sight-in (forgot to take a picture until after taping the holes-it's the three below and to the right of the mini):


The base after utilizing the QD feature:


Rear view of the integral rear sight (the notch isn't quite THAT small):


Last 3 sighting in w. the irons:


Final 3 after re-installing the scope to verify zero didn't change in a big way going off/on:


And that's all, folks!

[Blaine]

Hey, that sucker is ready for making meat

[Nath]

That is real neat and impressive Full approval from me

Nath.

[EdinCT]

I wish they still made that mount the rear sight is has good as it gets for opens with my old eyes and it looks really sharp with the scope mounted.

[Dave]

I get a good feeling about that gun

[jshinal]

The base after utilizing the QD feature:

Is that large screw at the rear where it attaches to the dovetail 'plug' ?

Is there a small notch at the bottom of the front end where it overlaps the barrel band ?

It looks like this could be made in a simplified version, starting with a C-channel of steel and milling the sides to fit a set of rings. The spring latch and rear sight I think I could just delete to keep it minimal.

Hm. Guess I need to unpack my dad's old Unimat lathe. Just what I need, another project.

[AJMD429]

Biggest hitch in this whole project was finding back the darned little manila envelopes with the drills and taps. Took the best part of two weeks of on and off digging in the garage (went through the bit drawer under the drill press an average of once every 2.5 days) and here and there in the house and especially the gun and reloading room before they turned up (hiding along with a Williams receiver sight for a Model 600 Remington under about a half dozen hunting knives in the bottom of a box in the gun room).

Sounds like most of my projects...

Seriously though sounds like a really good result.

[Canuck Bob]

Where does the hand carry balance point end up with that forward scope?

[Molasses]

The base after utilizing the QD feature:

Is that large screw at the rear where it attaches to the dovetail 'plug' ?

Is there a small notch at the bottom of the front end where it overlaps the barrel band ?
It looks like this could be made in a simplified version, starting with a C-channel of steel and milling the sides to fit a set of rings. The spring latch and rear sight I think I could just delete to keep it minimal.

Hm. Guess I need to unpack my dad's old Unimat lathe. Just what I need, another project.

Yup and yup on the two questions. It's not a complicated idea, although Leupold seems to've gone a little out of their way to make it so, but I can't complain about how it's worked so far.

[Molasses]

Where does the hand carry balance point end up with that forward scope?

MVC-179F.JPG

I decided a picture of it on one finger would illustrate exactly where the balance point is. Turned out to be a lot harder to do than expected; kept teeter-tottering and when I finally grabbed the camera and took the shot, the next instant involved dropping the camera like it was red hot to grab the gun. Some people's kids, sheesh.

If I grab it one-handed, suitcase carry style, my index finger naturally falls across the flutes at the bottom front of the action and my thumb is either across the bolt and against the forward receiver ring or on the very back portion of the ring.

[Tycer]

Right where you carry it.

[jh45gun]

Checking to see how a guy could make a mount like this.

[jh45gun]

OK I did some thinking on this Williams makes a dove tail blank that is already threaded with a set screw to tighten up the blank in the dove tail. The set screw tightens the blank to the dove tail. A Scope base for a Remington 742 and similar Remington semi autos has the right curvature to mate to the barrel. It is a bit wide, but workable. It is also long enough to go from the dove tail to past the forearm barrel band. Milling (Or careful filing of the Remington base so it fits flat on the dove tail blank and cut or mill a channel to fit the barrel band so the base sets on the barrel and every thing lines up. The set screw for the blank is 5-40 I would drill that out and use a larger screw in that hole but the nice thing is since the hole is already there it will be easy to have it centered in the blank. I would use a larger screw than a standard scope base screw like 6-48 since there is only two screws in the mount. I would go with a 8-40 for both screws. That Remington base is also low enough not to interfere with any peep sight front sight combination. I think the hardest part of doing this is making sure the hole drilled in the band is centered and correctly measuring the cuts on the base so they fit properly and lets the base set on the barrel. Not a big deal for those that have the equipment to do so. I have a friend that has a mill so I am going to let him cut my base for me and drill my barrel band. Probably not going to jump right into this until after hunting season. That is where any extra funds will be going into the gas tank.

[Molasses]

Taken in WI, he was trotting through the woods at about 30 yards. Not the biggest one out there, but meat's meat and the freezer is pretty low. Still going to try my luck with the frontstuffer, so it may get pretty full with a little luck.

P11-18-12_11.15.jpg

It was easy to find him in the scope's field of view and still see far enough ahead of him to pick a clear spot to take the shot when he entered, so I'm considering this rig to be a full-fledged success.

[Dave]

Nice shooting! That looks like a tasty deer right there

[olyinaz]

Don't know how I missed this thread last year. THANKS for the great write up and pictures!

[SmokeEater2]

Very nice! I've gotta' keep an eye out for one of those mounts now.

[Canuck Bob]

I don't know if you guys are wearing me down or what. That rig is looking a touch interesting. Never thought that would come out of me!

[tman]

I'd love to do that to my 1895 SRC. But, I'm scared the other levers would laugh and call it names at the range.