@bsa1917hunter or anyone else that might know the answer to this question. I was trying to install Leupold scope bases on a custom pre-64 Model 70 I bought a few months back. The new gun is a 416 Remington, with a serial number 446xx. I had a 1-6 VX6HD on my pre64 in 375 H&H, with Weaver Rings. My plan was to move the 1-6 VX6HD and rings to the 416, and I had bought a new VX6HD 2-12 I was going to put on the 375, with new weaver rings.
So my conundrum. I bought the same set of bases I typically buy for my model 70's (Leupold 49838). They don't fit the 416 though. When I look at the package for the scope bases, it says "Pre 64 Win Model 70 Serial # Above 66,360". I'll be honest, I never noticed that disclaimer on the mounts in the past, so I must have not used them on any of my earlier model 70's.
My hope is to not buy new rings for the 1-6 VXHD I want to mount, so I'm hoping for a weaver style base. This is probably not accurate to hundredth of an inch, but my rough measurement shows the front base has a hole spacing of 7/8", which I believe to be pretty standard. But the rear base hole spacing is only 3/8".
Any recommendations on a weaver style mount that would fit my gun?
What you have is a rifle that was not factory drilled and tapped. We don't even know if it's a true H&H receiver at this point. A pic or 2 would be helpful. A really good accurate measurement would also help tremendously. This is the problem you sometimes run into when you buy a rifle like this. They (smiths) used non standardized haphazard hole spacings back in the day, since the rear bridge was not drilled at the factory. The front bridge is going to be factory drilled and tapped with a .860" hole spacing. I'd suggest you measure the rear hole spacings with an accurate caliper. Your best bet is that it was drilled sometime past the middle of the 20th century and done so to match what Winchester was doing on the H&H receivers at that time. That would have been .425" hole spacing, as I said in the OP.
For part numbers, you may also want to reference that OP and look where it says mounts for H&H rifles. A smith should also be able to make you a custom mount, or modify one to work.
Furthermore, if you bought the Leupold 49838, that is for a standard model 70. Not an H&H receiver, which is what a competent smith would have used to build your rifle. The 416 came out in the late 1980's, but who knows when or who drilled and tapped the rear bridge.
