Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Springfield scope mounting options

I have a Springfield that one of my early rifle elk hunters brought me to check out before his hunt. He brought me a new scope to mount on it too. I tried to put it one but it is too short to fit between the rings(Nikon monarch) The mounts are the Bueller with the center split rings.

Anyone make a picatinny style base that will fit Springfields? The old style Burris scope that is on here is about as long as I can find.

The problem with the old Springfields is that there were never standard dimensions for drilling and tapping; I have five Springfield sporters with a mix of Redfield, Buehler, Weaver and Leupold mounts and none share the exact same hole spacing.

Great! I guess I can measure the spacing, but the problem is that most scope bases give you an application, not dimensions!

Worse comes to worst, you can buy a length of Picatinny rail from Brownells and cut it to length, then drill it to fit the existing holes.

Better option would be to sell the Nikon Monarch and buy a long tube Leupold M8 4x. That'd solve all your problems.

I just dug through my box of misc gun parts and found a Redfield JR base that is for a Springfield. It has considerably closer ring spacing so if the screw holes line up, I'm golden.

The base that I found in my Springfield box is marked "SP" but it is nowhere near a match for this receiver. It has a flat rear portion with a lateral groove machined through it. The Buehler base has a radiused rear portion that matches pretty closely. I am going to see if I can machine a new hole between the front screws to move the front ring rearward...

The base i have may be for an A3 and I may not have an A3- or the other way around?

That base would be for the Springfield 1903A3.

From:
http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=1584



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Since there were no factory drilled holes, the different manufacturers of scope bases made their own decision on hole spacing. You will probably have to find the right make of base to fit your holes.

Or mount two piece bases. The rear base can probably use the hole already there for one screw. The front base may or may not match the hole spacing. Different brands may have different spacing, for the same reason as the one piece bases.

I think the best method if nothing fits close enough is to find a base that fits the contours, then have the base holes welded closed and re-drilled to match the receiver. This can be done with "blank" bases without holes, if you can machine the bottom contour.

Bruce

Rats, I have a 1903 then. Not too many folks seem to be making bases for them!

Here is my rear bridge:



Here is my front




front hole spacing is approx .860


I found this one from Midway but no way to know the spacing between the front holes and rear hole

Redfield JR base

Weaver recommends these bases for the 1903 Springfield:
http://www.weaveroptics.com/mountcharts/default.aspx

Rear 54
Front 55

Use the dimensions of the 54 and 55 bases to see if an 0.860 spacing base is close enough to use, maybe with a different height rear.
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=11214/learn/W_R__Weaver_Company_Mount_Base_Specifications

75 looks like it would work on your front, instead of a 55.

Once you get Weaver bases on it, you can use many different maker's extension rings to fit a short tube scope.

Bruce

A Weaver 54 has two bloody holes, this rifle only has one! I can't believe that nobody makes a 20 MOA picatinny rail for this sucker!

Somebody might, but it probably won't match your holes. There are no standard hole spacings.

This might work. No holes needed. The front mounts to a ring around the barrel in front of the receiver. I can't tell how it mounts to the rear without a hole.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/SKM1470-34.html

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It is easy to drill and tap the second hole needed for the rear Weaver base. Screw it down with the single hole, make sure it is aligned with the front base, and use the rear hole in the base as a guide for a transfer punch or a tight-fitting bit to make a dimple for the tap drill to start in.

Bruce

Those are for non-sporterized rifles. I can always drill another hole I guess.