No4 Scope mount holes misaligned and drilled too deep?

[Patrick Chadwick]

and third and more worrying, the holes seem to have been drilled right through the receiver and into the top of the barrel threads

Quite right to be worried. In Mauserland the rifle would be viewed as unsafe by a proof house. My local dealer showed me a Mauser where Bubba had done just that. The proof house refused to accept it for proof firing. Then he had welded up the holes, and presented it again. Bubba now has an officially condemned wall-hanger.

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[Thunderbox]

Quite right to be worried. In Mauserland the rifle would be viewed as unsafe by a proof house. My local dealer showed me a Mauser where Bubba had done just that. The proof house refused to accept it for proof firing. Then he had welded up the holes, and presented it again. Bubba now has an officially condemned wall-hanger.

Its quite common to find PH BA20 mounts where someone has replaced the short screws with much longer ones, and the holes have been drilled down through the breech ring into the barrel itself. I've never heard of one of these rifles failing UK proof, as the proof houses are not into the business of dismantling rifles to check scope mounts, etc. Only if there is a noticeable incident with the proof cartridge will the rifle be examined. The holes have to be practically through the chamber wall before anything much happens. I have heard of one or two rifles where the mount holes were so deep that fired cases ended up dimpled as the chamber wall had subsided a fraction over the holes.