Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Mauser scope base with recoil lug

Does anyone make a quality steel picatinny scope base with an integral recoil lug for the Mauser 98?

OK, I'm confused... a recoil lug, between the action and base? Between the rings and base? If between the action and base, on a hard kicker, it is customary to oversize mounting screws to #8.
If betwixt ring and base, the clamping crossbolt of the Weaver/Picatinny system is a double recoil lug. What could you possibly be building that would require that level of shear strength? Why go with steel, which increases inertial forces during recoil?

Thanks, Flint,

Some scope bases come with a lug or lugs which connect with the receiver to absorb the recoil and take it off the mounting screws. This seems like an excellent way to add reliability to a weak link, the scope base mounting screws.

My hunting rifles have QD rings set up for the use of iron sights if needed in the brush or backup sights. IMO, aluminum is not ideal for frequent scope removal, and any minor increases in inertial forces don't bother me with this rifle.

This is for a Zastava Mark X action with a 375 Ruger barrel and a not so light Schmidt & Bender 1.5 x 6 x 42 scope. A scope base with a recoil lug makes a whole lot of sense to me, even though I have already upped the screws to 8-40's.

Seekins Precision and others have integral recoil lugs with their bases, but I have not found anyone with one for a Mauser 98. The precision long-range guys swear by the mounts with a recoil lug and their logic makes a lot of sense to me.

OK, I see what you are thinking..and concur 100% given the level of recoil and inertia you are anticipating. I had a customer a few years back who had me cobble together a 45-70 on a Turk Mauser action in what I would call a light carbine, he called it his 'airplane gun'. In any case, the recoil on that thing was brutal with 'loaded for bear' loads. I solved his scope mount concerns by taking a Weaver Universal Gunsmith mount, adapting it to the Turk with 8-48's and most importantly...on the rear receiver bridge, after the rail was mounted, I drilled and reamed a thru hole and installed a carbon steel tapered pin, and flushed the tip inside the raceway. Engineers tell us that tapered pins triple the strength of the same size countersunk screw thread from lateral shear forces. He never came back...so it either worked...or he was disgusted with my 'fix'.

Flint, that is a great idea and would allow a stock base to be modified. How do you drill the tapered hole for the pin? Special bits?

Jeeps, If you are a Jeep guy, you have basic shop tools and skills. 2 step operation, 1. affix the mount base to the action with full torque. A judicious rap or two with a soft hammer, and retorque. 2. Locate and drill the pilot hole in the rear bridge, I used rear because too many holes in a line on the load bearing front bridge make me nervous. Calculate the size of your pilot drill by measuring and comparing your pin and appropriate sized reamer, I went with a #3 because it fit the job and I already had the reamer. Tips,...don't fret or overthink this, it ain't rocket science ...Helical cut reamers, personal preference, can be bought on ebay for around 15 bucks....if you have a drill press, pins(carbon steel or mild steel, I went with carbon because that is what I had, mild is fine) from a good hardware or local machine shop, ... when you drill your pilot hole, leave your receiver clamped down, using the same setup, chuck the reamer and ream the hole BY HAND power to desired depth/diameter...a good hole will not require loc tite, it's up to you.

Flint, I have a drill press, forester scope/sight jig, and 32" metal lathe, I think I can handle this. Thank you very much. This is an easy and inexpensive solution. I googled it and found out a bunch more. I had never heard of this before. I think the tapered pin is a better solution than a lug due to the fact the pin is custom fit, the scope base recoil lug is designed for mass-produced receivers. There is bound to be a bit of slop in there. Thank you.