Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 23AA scope mount options

Hi all

I got my new 23AA to the range today, and I'm convinced that its more than a "fun gun". This rifle shoots.

But my eyes aren't good with irons anymore so I'm looking for scope and mounting options that are right for the rifle. I am not willing to modify it.

There were plenty of straight or basically straight tubes scopes back in the day - can anyone recommend some that also had decent glass? 6X or 8X preferred, but I know I'm more likely to find 4Xs

Also, is it possible to find mounts that mate to the rear dovetail and peep sight locations or is it a make my own scenario?

Thanks!

I believe that you'd have to make your own Stith type mount to achieve what you are wanting to do. Some of the 3/4" tube Weaver scopes were available in 6x don't know about 8x. I'm talking about the Weaver scopes that had turret style adjustments not the earlier ones with screw type adjustments ahead of the ocular bell. I have made custom mounts for some of my .22 RF's, I've even made an all steel Griffin & Howe mount. If you have the machining skills I'd say go for it.

Yep. Ex-Toolmaker. Don't have any machines at home but I could probably get a friend of mine in on this. He's a gun guy too and has a miller but isn't a machinist.

Ill start keeping my eyes out for an almost vintage 6X thats long and skinny.

This could be fun! I haven't turned any handles in years, and what better reason...?

Stith did make a mount as I have one on my 23AA. But I’ve only seen two come up for sale in my years of looking and after missing out on the first I jumped all over the second. I can send you a picture if you want. Another solution, and one that I have done, is to get a section of 22 dovetail blank from Brownells, cut it to a length that fits the rear receiver bridge and then drill in holes that match the diameter and spacing of the holes that were used for mounting the Savage No’s. 10 and 15 sights. That will get the job done.

If you decide to go with the Weaver dovetail blank route I have two lengths (different heights) that you could have for the cost of postage. LMK.

If you can made one maybe you could make several?

I looked for a base that would use the rear two holes used to mount the #15 peep sight. The rear two holes of the Savage Axis Weaver mount fit fine on the two rear receiver holes. But the barrel is tapered so the front of the base does not touch the barrel and is too flexible unattached at the front.

I also looked for a Weaver dovetail base that would mount in the rear sight dovetail but had no luck.

If anyone can come up with a simple solution for mounting a standard 1" scope I would sure like to hear your idea/s.

The older Weaver 6X, 8X, 10X and 12X have long tubes with clean lines that look nice on the 23's.

A noble quest, for sure. Were I to do it I too would follow Jeff's example and use a section of Brownell's tipoff mount blank. But, then there's the use of old "period correct" 3/4" scopes and their poorly coated (or most likely uncoated) lenses, poor (or nonexistent) parallax correction, limited field of view, and crude W/E adjustments.They're surely better than nothing, but not much IMO (if one is hell bent on mounting a scope). Even state of the art scopes of a couple generations ago are barely as good as mass market scopes of today, and those 3/4" Weavers were not state of the art then. My recommendation is to adapt a tipoff base to it, grab a set of 1" rings intended for that setup, and mount a 1" scope that fits your purse, aesthetics, and needs.

There is an alternative solution: a 3/4" tubed 4x scope from the recent past that was made by Redfield which looks like a scaled down full size 4x (objective and ocular bells and around 9" long). Sadly discontinued but an excellent scope, and despite their escalation in value have attained a kind of cult status. The current solution is a scope marketed by Gru-Bee called the Wolf Pup (Google it). It is a dandy- I have one on a .22 Hornet kiplauf (on a mount I adapted from a Brownell's blank). They run a hundred bucks and change, versus three times that typically for a vintage Redfield. Made in China, reverse engineered from an original Redfield, and keenly overseen by the American entrepreneur who is selling them. I have a spare one waiting for just the right gun to install it on- it is just right scale-wise for mounting on a .22 rifle that would look overburdened by a full size 1" scope. It has that 50's-60's retro look about it but with modern optics. Joe Martin has shot with that rifle with the Wolf Pup scope on a couple occasions.

Check this out:

https://www.brownells.com/search/index.htm?k=dovetail+scope+base+stock&ksubmit=y

And as Gary said, use a modern 1-inch scope in 22 rings. The 3/4 Redfield scope he mentioned is a great little solution. I have one that was going to go on a Marlin 39A.

I made a base out of the dovetail stock for a 23D and cantilevered it over the ejection port to give it a little more adjustability and make it look a bit more sexy than a simple block.

I have Redfield 3/4" scopes on my Winchester M/61 & M/63, both are mounted in one piece custom mounts of my own design. Both rifles were drilled and tapped when I got them, the mounts I made the rings and base are one piece and the mounting screws are concealed inside the rings. No mounting screws showing, a very handsome design.

Wow, you'll have to post some pictures. It sounds very nice.

You guys are terrifi.

As I get time ill follow up on all this, and ill let everyone know how I make out.

It can certainly be done, and should be pretty straightforward. In the end I may just be making adapters for common Leupold-Redfield mounts but I would like something "correct" looking.
I do plan to contour whatever I make up. I want it to be aesthetically pleasing not just functional.

Kragman.

Pics when you're done!

Sure thing. I may even just end up making a simple brass base "plank" that runs between the two mounting points, and will take the non-turn in rings from a turn in set. Sculpt the edges and give it a little time to go dull... It might look pretty good. Find decent glass with leather scope covers, it might even look like someone really meant to do it instead of it being a work around. 😁

You could always use a skinny
Savage 3-7 vari power scope
Oop's Sorry swearing again they were made in Japan

Keeping my eyes open for a "nearly vintage" scope for this project

Something steel, with good glass and adjustments, fine duplex, right proportions and reasonable money.
Starting to think Weaver K6.

Thoughts?

I’d look for a Weaver J 2.5 or J 4. They are 3/4 diameter center fire scopes that I think work fine on a 22 and look much better than the bigger 1-in diameter K scopes for a "period" rifle.

If you plan to do any short range shooting I would advise you check out a 6x center fire scope and see if the parallax problem will work for you.

The problem with using center fire scopes is that most have the parallax set for 100 yds. That is not a problem in the low powers but once you get to 6x and higher it starts to cause problems when shooting shorter range. I would look at rim fire variable power scopes or center fire scopes that have A/O that will adjust down to the 10 yd range.

Thanks all.

I'm basically looking for an older weaver-Redfield-leupold-Burris or whatever makes sense. Fixed 6, steel body, etc
Don't want any plastic bits and pieces. Willing to set parallax to 50 yes so I'm good there.

But I want good glass and a fine duplex. I figure the rifle is a good 50 yard rifle. Could prove to be better so no sketchy quality glass.

Nice to keep it under $100. If I need to spend more than that ill use the 4X Weaver Medalist I'm sitting on.
I have an older M8 6X hanging around too but that seems really out of place. The Medalist not so much. And it's pretty sharp optically too. Surprised me.

Redfield made a small/compact 3/4 tube fixed 4-power in the 60s and 70s. They resembled downsized 1-inch tube 4-powers and look good on 22s. That would be a nice set up on the dovetail base mentioned above.

I'm putting a Lyman 438 Field on my 23D Hornet. Might be a tad long, but I like it on the rifle.I did a search and found a pic or two, but the links would not copy. If you search Savage 23aa lyman 438 the pics will come up.