scope mounts

[gj.atkins]

Anybody know what the scope mounting base was like for the 1915 SMLE for top mounting, over the breech, a Win A5 scope?

A drawing would be marvellous but a photograph would do.

look forward to hearing from you,

John

Information

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[AGB-1]

1915 smle with winchester a5 scope mounted - Google Search\\



1915 smle with winchester a5 scope mounted - Bing images

[Roger Payne]

Hello John. The records indicate that there were two different mounting types for the SMLE/Winchester A5 sniping equipment. The links kindly provided by AGB-1 show a number of different scope & mount arrangements on the SMLE, including several of mine. There was both a one piece & a two piece mount, though surviving original examples all appear to be of the two piece type (shown in some of the photo's in the links), but this does not mount the scope over the bore, rather offset to the left. The one piece mount may well be of a type that mounted the scope over the bore, but we cannot be certain (at least, not to my knowledge can we be certain). A long dovetailed rail was marketed IIRC by BSA or possibly AG Parker (later to become Parker-Hale) mounting the scope over the bore, & in some old catalogues there is a suggestion that it originated during WW1, with production being resumed after the war for the civilian market, so it MAY be the one piece type referenced in official documents. I have one somewhere, & I will try & find it if you can bear with me (unless someone else has an example/photographs to hand).

ATB

P.S. It just occurred to me that Advisory Panel member Nigel had a few made to sell a year or two back, so it may be worth pm'ing him in case he has any left.

[Surpmil]

My recollection is that the Parker Hale one piece mount was stated in the (1931?) catalogue to have "been designed by us during the war"; the implication was that they submitted it - one assumes - but it was not accepted for service. Probably because it required removing the standard backsight and inserting the rail into the sight base (without any permanent alterations) and relied on a hardened screw with a sharp tip digging into the Nock's Form. Such innovations no doubt being unwelcome!

IIRC the distance between the bases on the Winchester A5 was seven inches, so one can easily tell if the standard two piece 3/8" dovetail blocks used on the Ross Mk.III for example, would fit on the SMLE or if the backsight base would obstruct. I'm not going to bother checking, but I wouldnt' be surprised if they do.

One of the good points of the Winchester mounts when used overhead was that the scope which slid forward with every shot, could also be slid forward to clear the action for clip loading. Return springs for such scopes apparently didn't come along until after WWI.