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Joined: Jan 2009
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Hi All,

I just picked a new Winchester 1885 High Wall Hunter in .325 WSM. It is a beautiful gun, and I got a good deal on it. My plan is to use it for elk in the Colorado mountains.

I want to mount a scope on it, but I am having trouble finding base/rings that will fit. The closest I could find is a set of Warn bases (to which I have mounted Burris Signature rings). The problem is that the closest Warn bases require about 0.050" inches of shimming. IMHO, that is too much shimming for a reliable scope mount, and I would rather not have to shim at all, anyway.

I would prefer a scope mount where the base and rings are one piece (like Talley or Dednutz), but I haven't found such a mount to fit the 1885. Also, due to a bad first experience, I would prefer to avoid a twist-in style mount (like the classic Leupold).

Dednutz offered to machine a mount for me for $125 (plus the cost of the mount). However, I am hoping to avoid such extra expense by finding an off-the-shelf solution.

BTW, the Winchester 1885 is the same gun as the older Browning 1885.

Any one have any suggestions?

Thanks.

--shinbone


Last edited by shinbone; 01/24/09.
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Leupold makes a mount, I have them on my 45-70. It was difficult to find and I had to have a local gun shop order them for me.

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hp4570 - Thanks for the info. Looks the Leupold Standard Dovetail mount is the only off-the-shelf option. I was hoping to avoid the dovetail (aka twist-in) style, but I may have no other option unless I have a mount base custom machined.

--shinbone

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Conetrol.

Give George Miller a call. Good man to deal with.

Gregor

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S&K makes their bases for the 1885 HIgh Wall.
Go to their website and look up by firearm manufacturer & model.

http://www.scopemounts.com/index.html?main.html

If you're not familiar with them, these are very nice, light weight machined steel bases which require S&K's rings.

I like them & have them on most of my centerfire rifles FWIW.

Last edited by gldprimr; 02/01/09.
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I hate you had one bad experience with Leupold, but in 40+ years of mounting scopes on my rifles I have had less than steller results with all the manufacturers of bases and rings. I have a B-78 in 45/70 that I have loaded up to 50,000 psi loads with Leupold mounts and rings and they are very solid. Redfield and Burris use to and may still make bases for the B-78/1885, but both are turn in front and windage screw type rear bases. I remember a friend had a B-78 in 7mm Rem Mag that he scoped using Buehler bases and rings, but that was some years ago. It worked perfectly for many hunts with him for at least 20 years. I hope you find something that works!
Good shooting!
Marcus.

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Gregor and gldprimr - Thanks for the tips on the Conetrol and S&K mounts. Those are good looking mounts and are definitely a step up from the dove-tail style mount. Plus, they do stock bases for the 1885 High Wall. However, I am still a little concerned about the potential for the windage adjustment to put some torgue on the scope. Is there some mounting technique which would avoid such torque?

Marcus - Thanks for relating your experiences with scope mounts on your B-78. I am pretty sure I could get a solid mount with a dove-tail style mount, I am just concerned about putting torque on the scope with the windage adjustment. Additionally, I really like the simplicity of a one-piece base and mount - just lap the rings and the scope is mounted with zero stress and no ring marks using the minimum number of parts.

I tried the Weaver (not Warn, like I had said in my original post) bases and Burris Signature Z-rings, with the self-aligning plastic inserts, including the Posi-Align Offset Inserts in the rings. The Posi-Align Inserts allow the scope to be mounted crooked in the rings, thereby mitigating any misalignment in the bases.

Using the plastic Offset Inserts, I was able to gain 0.040" inches of offset in the rings (+0.20" in the front and -0.20" in the rear, the maximum offset provided). Once I was on paper at the range, I learned that the Weaver front base actually needs about 0.055" inches of shimming.

The other .015" (equivalent to 15" at 100 yards) I gained by dialing in 15" @ 100 yds of elevation to the reticle adjustment with 45 clicks (1/3" per click at 100 yds) on my Kahles CL scope.

This system was working, however, it looked all cobbled-together with the scope sitting crooked in the rings, plus the crooked mounting seemed to be asking for reliability problems (possibly in the Colorado backcountry miles from any road while hunting elk). I also didn't like having the reticle adjusted so far from the center of the scope's optical axis.

I decided to cry "uncle" and got in touch with DNZ Products, and they will provide a one-piece mount that they have machined to fit the 1885 High Wall Hunter. It should arrive sometime this week. It cost $120 total, which is much more than the Weaver/Burris system I was using, but it should address all my concerns and be ultra-reliable.

--shinbone

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Good choice. By the time you have swapped mounts a couple of times it would cost more than the DNZ. I have the Conetrol on a low wall which I like but will probably get a custom rib made. The Conetrol have a better grip than the SKS. Someone also makes a picatinny rail for these with or with out 20 minute slope, I'll have to look it up if interested.

A set of alignment tools would help with wear and tear on both the scopes and rings.

Re: Picatinny Rail: Farrell was who I was thinking of and only list for the Low Wall so it would be special order for the High Wall.

Last edited by Boston; 02/10/09.

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