Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Stumped. So how do I get these rings off?

I want to put a new scope on my Son's Sears .30-06. New Glass is a Christmas present for him.

When I started on this tonight, I find that I can't get the darn rings off the old scope.
I do not know the brand of mount and rings, they are evidently as old as the rifle. It must date back to the sixties at least.
From the pictures here, can anyone tall me how to get the darn rings off?
They are solid, and only open up a tiny bit, like a 16th of an inch when you pull the screws.

Kroil. Let soak. Use a wide, flat-blade driver after 48-96 hours, and pry/pop the bastids off.

Same for the base screws.

Sean, what I am having trouble figuring out, is how to get the rings off the old scope. The screws come right out, but there does not seem to be ANY way to spread the rings apart enough to get it off the darn scope.
On the side shown, thats as far apart as they open. On the other side, they are solid.

That's what I'm saying. The metal is corroded in place. Use the Kroil to soak/penetrate in between the rings and the scope, let it sit for a few days (reapplying Kroil nightly), and pry/pop the rings off.

Wait, get a pic of the other side of the rings, will ya?

Worst case, and you're gonna do this anyway, replace the bases and the rings, when you replace the scope.

Leave the old rings on the old scope, and keep the old bases with them.

If it's a solid ring all the way around with a 1/16 gap, the only way is to unscew and remove the rear ocular lens piece and also remove the reticle housing undoing the screws shown.The rings then slide all the way off at the back.A lot of manufacurers used this method with old scopes . The scope looks like a german Pecar or a Japanese copy , If it's a pecar look after it. All the best with it .

The scope is marked "JC Higgins Rifleman Senior 4X"

Win243 has it cold..

The front bell does not unscrew, but the reticle housing does have screws, and mabye they come off, and the rings slide off the rear. That is WAY too much trouble, and to chancy for messing up.

I think Sean, that I'll just do a you suggested and buy new mounts and rings.

Thanks to all!

It's a rebadged Weaver K4.

DO NOT take the adjustment housing off (trust me.... it won't be a good thing........ ).

Just get a new scope and mounts.

BTW - what type of scope are you looking for?

I already have it. I am putting on a reconditioned Denver Redfield 5 Star 2-7X, a 20mm tube. My Son wanted to stay as close as possible to a decent scope that would be correct for the age of the rifle. The rifle is one that he was given, by an old guy that meant a lot to him.

I am holding a very old Weaver K4-1 scope, and the adjustment housing does not have screws, like the JC Higgins does.
The Higgins is in the forefront here, the Weaver K4-1 behind it.

I just looked up the type of mount yours is It looks like an ECHO "" Aircraft quality aluminum not split in halves , eyepiece and ocular removed to fit"" bases made for m54 and m70 According to Bob Bells Gun Digest book of "Scopes and mounts" printed before ISBN existed.

Hmmmm.....

Might be a Redfield, then, though I still think it's an El Paso vintage Weaver rebadged for JC Higgins.

And, your K4, ain't that old. Yours is a K4-1 "Made in USA" version, aka "Denver, CO Weaver", one of the last versions made in the U.S. prior to Weaver moving production to Japan. The El Paso vintage scopes were older.

Win243, that would be the only way the rings would ever come off. Remove eyepiece and the reticle housing, then slide the rings to the rear.

The bases are shaped that they tighten up as the rings are pushed forward. Then the cross bolt (which is flat and fits the base) is tightned with a large knurled nut.


Sean, excellent info on the dating of the Weaver K4, thanks

The bases must be slightly tapered , it seems as if it will be a genuine effort to get the scope away from the rings . By the way does a magnet stick to the rings or not? I would just get new rings and bases with your new scope, see if you can find a set of medium height Buehlers [or Weaver] they suit the period of your rifle. And the Buelhers are one of the strongest ever made, look good too.

the rings are as you said win243, aluminum.

the two front mount screw holes are spaced 7/8ths of an inch apart, the rear mount ones are spaced 1/2 inch apart. I will call Midway Monday and ask for a mount that will fit this spacing, and pick up some rings.
I like Conetrol rings, if their mounts will fit the existing spacing on the screw holes.

I think your rifle will take the JC HIGGINS/ FN MAUSER base and rings. Conetrol are very strong as well as look great.

The early post-WW2 Weaver Ks and the KVs had external screws attaching the windage/elevation "turrets" to the steel tube. If your Sears scope was made by Weaver, Sears might have contracted for them to be produced at lower prices with new, old-stock, parts.

From what I can see of it, the adjustments on your scope look much like the adjustments on some early K2.5s and KVs that I have in a box, somewhere.

If the base screws don't want to come off, they might be loc-tited or shellaced, so the application of a soldering iron to the offending screw(s) might be required.

Jeff

Problem I see coming is the spacing of those base mounting holes. Most of the JCH labeled FN mausers did not come D&T for scope mounts...

I hope the mounts used just happen to 1) match current production mounts of Sam's choosing 2) were drilled sorta true to the bore...

The Higgins rifles were some of the best deals ever in firearms... Both the FNs and the 70s...

Ooh, a Model 50. Now there's a great gun. My father owns one, bought new from Sears by his father. I got my first deer with it.
The scope, rings, and bases are almost certainly original to the rifle, as that particular scope was an option when buying the guns new. There are several sites that claim it's a rebadged K-4.

Heck Sam, I would keep that rifle and scope set-up all original, and just buy your son a whole new rifle and scope package!



Casey

If you don't want to reuse the rings, and maybe even if you do, simply bend them apart carefully far enough to slip the scope out.

That is how strap-style rings work, and it might work well enough for your purposes.