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Looking to start a new long term prodject of a smle sniper from ww1 with the offset scope to the left. Supposedly a member on here "roger Payne" makes very good repro mounts for this set up. If any one could point me in the right direction I'd very much appreciate it thx!
You've found him........but there are numerous different types of mounts (most of them offset) from WW1 for the SMLE. Was there any particular type you had in mind?
Probably worth sourcing a correct scope before deciding on the mountings. I believe there were quite a few variations on the SMLE.
Attachment 83925 I hope this worked but like thisQuote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
This is the PPCo offset mount.
So I guess if anyone has any parts real or nice reproductions I'd be very interested. Going to look at a 1917 sporter at a local store wed. Anything special I should look at when I go look at it. Newer to smle's
I would love to find a mount and rings for a PPCo SMLE. I have the perfect rifle for a clone and I have the scope. Unless the economy here in Alberta picks up, all I get to do is hope and wait.
That the receiver has not been drilled & tapped if its sporterised your going to need NOS woods or a 2nd hand set either way they can change hands for a pretty penny- what else is missing from it, take some bore gauges if you have them if not the poor mans way of doing the muzzle with a MK VII 303 round as modern projectiles vary considerably from .310.5 (Hornady FMJ) to .312 (Hornady 150gn SP)-.311 (Seirra MK) - .313 (Woodleigh I think) all of which will give a possible incorrect assessment of the muzzle smaller ones will look like its worn whilst the larger will falsely indicate a lesser worn bore if I had to choose it would be the SMK obviously the deeper it goes in the more worn the muzzle is.
Any FTR markings on it, Go No go gauges if you have them .064 "Go" .074 "No Go" there is so much you do have to look at try googling the threads on this site for a guide as it could take a while to digest & type the info and remember buy the rifle not the story
I had not mentioned it in my post, but I think there are better scope mounts which you should consider for building a SMLE sniper than the PPCo mount. Nearly all SMLE sniper mounts are an awful amount of work and consist of many hand-made parts. And if I'm not mistaken the PPCo mount even requires some machining to the receiver. The same awful number of complicated parts also applies to the Holland & Holland and the J. Purdey & Sons mount, not to speak of the Evans mount where scopes are unobtainable.
To make it simple: you do not sound like you want to get closest to the original rifle as possbile and build a faux sniper with no worries on costs (period correct PPCo or Aldis scopes can cost you more than $1000, the handful correct reproduction mounts I've seen nearly get into that range too) and with a sharp eye also on period correct manufacturer, matching numbers and using the correct manufacturing year and manufacturer.
If you manufacture the mount yourself, pick the Whitehead mount which is rather simply and requires a rather commonly found Winchester A5 scope. Or if you only want the appearance of a SMLE sniper you might also look into the Australian mount, which is basically the No. 3 (T) mount adapted to work on the No. 1 rifle. Of the No. 3 (T) mount there are reproductions available out there, and without having had one of those in my hand I think if you have a good gunsmith they might get this mount fitting on a SMLE rifle too. This mount by the way also has the advantage of having split rings which - unlike the Purdey, H&H or PPCo mount - do not require the scope to be soldered in the rings.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Promo is absolutely correct - there is an awful lot of work (& hence expense) in recreating these WW1 mount systems. There is no such thing as a 'cheap after market repro' with these. The Whitehead mounts for the Winchester A5 are indeed the easiest to produce - I have had three or four small batches done over the years - & I have just commissioned another small run. However, these things always take many months from giving the go ahead to actually having something in your hands ready to sell. Another advantage of going for the Whitehead/A5 set up is that if you don't mind either a civvy A5 or even one of the repro A5's, they are relatively readily available, at least compared to PPCo & Aldis scopes. (A very nice PPCo scope, complete with rings & in its case recently sold on that auction site for just over 2000 pounds sterling - about 2.5k in USD).