Thread: Scope Base for US 1917 Sporter

I have a nicely sporterized US 1917 rifle in need of a modern scope mount set up. The rifle was converted to 300 H&H, high polish blue and a handsome sporter stock added. The issue I have is when the rear sight ears were ground off, there was no effort to match the top surface of the rear receiver ring with the front receiver ring. It is about .040" taller. When it was originally reworked, an Echo side mount was installed so this dimension did not matter. I tried to find an Echo mount that will accept a 1" scope but they do not provide enough height for objective bell clearance.
My current plan is fit a plug in the "well" that exists at the rear of the receiver (an artifact from the original military) sight, TIG weld it in place and then mill the rear receiver ring flat to match the top of the front ring. I have two piece Weaver mounts (#11) and will mill one flat on the bottom to use at the rear. theoretically, this will give two Weaver bases that are on the same plane. Anybody have any thoughts on this or a better idea?

I bought a 1917 Enfield that was previously owned by Bubba. He broke off one of the original ears and brazed it back on?!?! I took a hammer to it and broke them both off then put it on a lathe with a sideways cutting tool and planed it round and to the same height as the front. Bubba had also tapped a 10-32 hole just forward of the well. I plotted the position of the 10-32 hole and made a one piece Weaver style mount. With to #8 screws up front and Bubbas 10-32 on the rear it has worked well for close to 30 years. Bubba was a real winner besides grinding off some of the receiver he broke off 3 drills in the stock! Yeah I found them all.
When I planed it, I used a center in the bolt bore plug for support and just rotated the receiver a little by hand with each pass. Tool was above center so it made a small flat. I did it on a lathe were I worked at the time, so my time was limited. I guess it took a couple of hours. Probably finished a couple of thousands high and filed and sanded to finish. It was a long time ago so details are a little fuzzy.



The attached photo is my dad's rifle. It was already sporterized with the 2 surfaces the same height. I made a one piece mount for it also. Same situation the mount ends just forward of the "well" in this case a single #8 screw holds it there. If you want I can make a photo of the scrap cut off the end of the mount so you can see the cross section. Bubba did not own this one. When my dad got it was never fired still in the cosmoline. He had a gunsmith buddy that probably did the majority of the sporterizing. The stock is from mine that Bubba broke the drills off in. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

If you want over the top ideas ask Butch Lambert to post pictures of his 1917. His bases were welded on and machined to fit then blued. I was going to link his thread but could not find it.

Originally Posted by FredC

If you want over the top ideas ask Butch Lambert to post pictures of his 1917. His bases were welded on and machined to fit then blued. I was going to link his thread but could not find it.

Fred, My pictures have timed out or something. I'm also not able to post photos at this time.

My 1917 Enfield - Topic

Originally Posted by Butch Lambert

Fred, My pictures have timed out or something. I'm also not able to post photos at this time.

My 1917 Enfield - Topic

You posted photos on a thread here a couple of years ago, did those photos disappear also?

Originally Posted by FredC

You posted photos on a thread here a couple of years ago, did those photos disappear also?

Fred, I took possession about 16yrs ago.

This is actually painful to read.
I have mounts that require no modifications to the rifle and are totally reversible.
PM me if interested.

FredC, that's an interesting way to match the rear receiver ring to the the front. I like it except for the amount of time it would take.

I would not weld and reblue as I would not want to apply that much heat to the front receiver ring and definitely do not want to reblue. I have no problem with a little touch up with cold blue but not what would be required with a welded on one piece mount. I would prefer a one piece base though.

Kurt, the mount you show (B-Square?) utilizes the original rear sight "ears" which are no longer present on this rifle.

Originally Posted by Gazz

FredC, that's an interesting way to match the rear receiver ring to the the front. I like it except for the amount of time it would take.

I would not weld and reblue as I would not want to apply that much heat to the front receiver ring and definitely do not want to reblue. I have no problem with a little touch up with cold blue but not what would be required with a welded on one piece mount. I would prefer a one piece base though.

Kurt, the mount you show (B-Square?) utilizes the original rear sight "ears" which are no longer present on this rifle.

My receiver had no ears or duck pond. My receiver was a new unused receiver. It was round and Nick Hughes made the bases for it. I wish that I could recover the photos.

Originally Posted by Gazz

FredC, that's an interesting way to match the rear receiver ring to the the front. I like it except for the amount of time it would take.

I would not weld and reblue as I would not want to apply that much heat to the front receiver ring and definitely do not want to reblue. I have no problem with a little touch up with cold blue but not what would be required with a welded on one piece mount. I would prefer a one piece base though.

Kurt, the mount you show (B-Square?) utilizes the original rear sight "ears" which are no longer present on this rifle.

Gazz, the traditional way is to grind it off with a grinder mounted on the lathe. I would not do that to an old South Bend much less an HLV-H. Planing did not take very long, I am thinking one or 2 lunch breaks. I do not think they would have let me stay after work in that place.
Making a one piece mount will take a several hours. The one blank that I bought to machine your self was made from cold rolled 1018 and curled up on the first pass when I tried to finish it. Made several since one out of hex 1137 and another from hot rolled 1020. The last one from a round bar of 2024 aluminum that one I sent out to the anodizer with some other work.

Here is a pic of mine or 5 on James Anderson's website
Fine Rifles

That certainly is fine!

Originally Posted by Gazz

That certainly is fine!

And that is his squirrel gun, you should see his grizzly gun! :-)
I did find the thread were Butch posted some of the photos but they have also gone missing it was about 2 years ago. I read some of the text on this rifle in the other thread. Those mounts are not welded on but retained by hidden screws. Still way over the top beautiful.

I would fill and re-contour. If there are no holes up front You have options. Fill and put whatever you want in the back. You can profile the rear bridge to match the front or cut it down to cut weight. Can use #11's, 22's, 46's or #61 rear 46 front if you cut the rear down. You can also match them and use a round top savage 110 picatiny rail and shorten it and re-drill the two rear holes to match the action. I have photos, but just easier to look here.
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My attempt at using the #11 bases did not go so well. When I clamped a base in the mill to flatten the bottom, it bent in half at the notch for the ring cross bolt. I then did what I could with a file and found that there is not much left of the base and doubt it would be up to 300H&H. The Savage base sounds like a good path. I do not have a way to recontour the rear receiver ring and do not want to reblue because I can't do that either.