Tonight, the "Scout" goes in for it's final surgical procedure...

[polishshooter]

...if this doesn't work, it's time for the Last Rites and a quiet burial. At LEAST the darn NCStar "Scout" mount!!!!

Well. I finally found out why I couldn't get the right set screws after making like 12 trips to the hardware store to replace the stripped ones in the mount...they're METRIC and no I couldn't replace the two main ones that adjust the elevation, they had the DIAMETER and thread size, but not the length.

So the FIRST thing I'm going to do is replace them with corresponding metric cap screws...I'm going to countersink them part way into the rail top. And then I can use a BIG allen wrench and not a teeny one to tighten THEM down. (I've already checked the scope, if I spread the rings out a little I can catch a groove in front and back of the rear cap screw and have the scope in the same position.)


THEN I finally found just the right guage sheet metal bracket, stiff enough but still workable without a mill, I'm going to file or grind it to make it fit just right, then use the front through bolt I already installed in the sight base to secure the front, and drill and tap an 8-32 hole in the BACK of the base on each side, and attach the back to the base with cap or machine screws, I have both, I haven't made up my mind. They didn't have 8-32 screws small enough, so I have to shorten either of these to use them...I CAN'T drill all the way through the base, or I'll touch the barrel...


THEN I'm going to drill through the rib under the MOUNT, and run another machine screw through both brackets, and the mount, and tighten her down.

IF I feel creative with the drill press, I MAY make the holes in the bracket into slots, to give me SOME elevation in the mount...but then again, I may not, I could always do that later if needed...


Wish me luck...I'm going to "scrub" now...

[polishshooter]

Well, it's finished and so far the patient is doing fine, but we won't know for sure until the lab tests are done...

It was actually more difficult than first imagined.


Countersinking the cap screws was the easiest. I also had to grind one of the cap screws to shorten it.

Fabricating the side brackets was the hard part. The sheet metal bracket I found was pretty old and pitted, so I cleaned it up as best I could. Then I had to flatten it on an anvil, and it came out fine, although there were hammer marks I never got completely out. FITTING it was another matter. First I had to cut it, and I held it up and scribed a line on both ends, to make it the same length as the sight base, for looks. But this was my first booboo. The ends were rounded, and already drilled with a hole that would fit the front screw, but I didn't allow for the hole size evidently, because after I cut both pieces in a small mitre box with a hack saw, BOTH were about 1/8" short! Well, at lest they MATCHED...

THen I must have put it on, took it off, ground and filed, and squared it up, tested, and repeated about 18 times! Then it was close, so I mounted it with just the front screw and took it to the drill press.


THIS is where it got tricky! I had to drill it blind, using the sight base I had from the Pole to visualize what it looked like UNDER the "wings". If I drill too high, I might miss the sight, or not have enough metal to tap. Too low, and I may be into the barrel!

I guess I got lucky, I couldn't drill too deep because I was afraid of hitting the barrel, but I had to get it deep enough to tap, and I don't have a bottoming tap, so I needed it a little DEEPER than I intend to drive the screw.

Both sides came out OK. Then I tapped them (I'm getting better at tapping!) and tried my screws...and they were WAY too long and it would have been a pain to shorten such small screws. But then I had an idea, those 8-32 set screws I used last time...since I had also tapped the BRACKET as well as the base, they just might do the trick...and they seemed to do it.

After that, it was downhill...drilled out the hole through the top of the bracket for a 3/16' machine screw, installed it, then took out the front screw which was smaller, and enlarged that hole through the sight "ears" and the mount to match the back screw so it would look better. (THAT was a little tricky too, not much metal to work with...)

Then I put it together, and it SEEMS rock solid! I just hope my elevation is on, because there is no adjusting that mount now. MAYBE I could shim the scope if I need to...but I measured as best as I could at the range when it was "on," and got it back pretty close I think...


I even took it BACK apart and sanded and wooled the brackets as best I could, and then blued the bracket, and the bolt heads.


From 5 feet, it really doesn't look bad...up close it does kinda look a little "Polish-engineered...," and you can still see some traces of the pitting on the bracket... But I don't CARE, as long as that mount stays TIGHT!!!


The only thing I could'nt do was reinstall the little side set screws that are meant to tighten down on the BIG elevation set screws from the side...incidentally, I think THAT is what "stripped" them out, and oh well, they didn't work so well as designed...I don't think I need them, and if I do, I can always pull the brackets off and drill a big hole where the back one goes and install it THROUGH the hole...the first one's hole is partly visible in front of the wings, so I could just notch the bracket to install that one. I could't put them in FIRST, because you need a little play to get the through bolts through the brackets and mount.


I'll try and post a pic of the results...


The WORST part is when I got done, there was no beer in the fridge! I'm hoping the one in the freezer now gets cold quickly, or I don't forget about it!


And the el cheapo Chinese $44 drill press (with vise!)from Big Lots is doing just fine! I just wish the darn MOUNT would work as well...

[southernshooter]

The only kinda of good work is gun work

[polishshooter]

Here's pics of the patient in the "recovery room..."

[southernshooter]

She looks so peacefull when she's restin

[polishshooter]

Yeah, well she BETTER get her rest, next weekend she's going to get put through her paces, AGAIN, and if she's not still tight after 50 or 60 rounds of surplus and about ten or so heavier WW stuff, she MAY just be going bye-bye...

[southernshooter]

If she don't stay tight use some Mississippi chrome(Duck Tape)

[polishshooter]

You know, SS, that HAS crossed my mind...maybe with a little JB Weld it would work as plan "D," God knows "A" and "B" didn't work, and the jury is still out on Plan C! I've even contemplated hose clamps and coat hangers! (The Mexican option...)

[southernshooter]

I got a 220Volt welder we can make it work dude