- Location
- Chilliwack
Hey I was recently given a BSA sporterized M1917 rifle. I want to mount a scope on this rifle but I have no idea where to start when it comes to finding some mounting bases... Any help would be great!
BSA 1917 sporter
- Thread starter techedtyler
- Start date
I think it is ground the same as the remington 30. Someone messaged me the other day because mine is for sale and they wanted to know what bases so I took the scope off and checked for him but I can't remember the numbers.
It really depends on the 'smith who did the grinding. I've seen M17 (and P14) receivers ground for Win, Rem, PH, and a couple that used weird combinations of Weaver bases. Trial and error is pretty much the easiest way to figure it out. - dan
I have one of these rifles, a gift last year from my range partner of many years; he knew he would not make it through the Winter and back out to the range this Summer.
My rifle is a beautiful semi-custom but, like yours, the metal work was done carefully and meticulously by the folks at Birmingham Small Arms in England. It has a lovely oil-finish replacement stock with the white-line spacers which were just coming into vogue 50 years ago, an altered bolt-handle, the action is ground and fitted for a scope. It wears a 1959 or 1960 steel-tube Weaver K-4 on low-mount Weaver rings and it shoots well under an inch at 100 when I can hold it.
The bases are a Number 35 on the front, a Number 36 at the rear.
These are a high-quality rifle and they have high-quality barrels on them: 5 grooves, left-hand twist, 1 turn in 10 inches. The rifling is of the Enfield type (5 grooves and 5 lands, lands and grooves of equal with) and is very much of the same pattern as the modern 5R rifling. This twist stabilises bullets in the 150-grain to 220-grain weights perfectly. These rifles have taken a LOT of game over the years and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future: Enfield-rifled barrels, when used with modern low-temperature powders, have an extremely long life. These barrels also will shoot their best with flat-based bullets. If you are buying ammo, that means don't bother with the premium stuff: the cheap stuff is just fine.
Most common single reason why one of these rifles won't shoot well is very simple: Loose Screws. My rifle was sold off because it couldn't shoot well enough to hit anything at 50 yards. Just another old POS BSA-Bubba army rifle. We tightened the rear action screw 2-1/2 turns and the front screw 1-1/4 turns and it started shooting sub-MOA. THEN I started handloading for it. It's good now.
Clean up your gift rifle, put on a scope which is GOOD ENOUGH for it, handload for it and, with just a little bit of care, YOU will be shooting sub-MOA groups out of your very own 93-year-old rifle.
Hope this helps.
My rifle is a beautiful semi-custom but, like yours, the metal work was done carefully and meticulously by the folks at Birmingham Small Arms in England. It has a lovely oil-finish replacement stock with the white-line spacers which were just coming into vogue 50 years ago, an altered bolt-handle, the action is ground and fitted for a scope. It wears a 1959 or 1960 steel-tube Weaver K-4 on low-mount Weaver rings and it shoots well under an inch at 100 when I can hold it.
The bases are a Number 35 on the front, a Number 36 at the rear.
These are a high-quality rifle and they have high-quality barrels on them: 5 grooves, left-hand twist, 1 turn in 10 inches. The rifling is of the Enfield type (5 grooves and 5 lands, lands and grooves of equal with) and is very much of the same pattern as the modern 5R rifling. This twist stabilises bullets in the 150-grain to 220-grain weights perfectly. These rifles have taken a LOT of game over the years and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future: Enfield-rifled barrels, when used with modern low-temperature powders, have an extremely long life. These barrels also will shoot their best with flat-based bullets. If you are buying ammo, that means don't bother with the premium stuff: the cheap stuff is just fine.
Most common single reason why one of these rifles won't shoot well is very simple: Loose Screws. My rifle was sold off because it couldn't shoot well enough to hit anything at 50 yards. Just another old POS BSA-Bubba army rifle. We tightened the rear action screw 2-1/2 turns and the front screw 1-1/4 turns and it started shooting sub-MOA. THEN I started handloading for it. It's good now.
Clean up your gift rifle, put on a scope which is GOOD ENOUGH for it, handload for it and, with just a little bit of care, YOU will be shooting sub-MOA groups out of your very own 93-year-old rifle.
Hope this helps.
Last edited:
MapleSugar
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- On the loose from NIMH
I had one years ago that was incredibly accurate.
Whoever originally drilled the holes was a butcher so I sought to replace the two piece bases with a one piece.
Luckily, I had friends who owned a gun store, and they literally let me try every base they had in stock. I spent a long time in their back room going through every old scope base box from when the previous owner ran the store.
Eventually, I found a one piece, Redfeld Jr. Win 70 base that fit good enough to have a gunsmith drill new holes.
Bell & Carlson makes an excellent fiberglass stock for those rifles and the Timney Sportsman's trigger is an excellent upgrade too. It just requires a little removal of material inside the stock.
At 100 yards I could easily cover a 20 shot group with a loonie (it was just a little larger than a quarter.)
Whoever originally drilled the holes was a butcher so I sought to replace the two piece bases with a one piece.
Luckily, I had friends who owned a gun store, and they literally let me try every base they had in stock. I spent a long time in their back room going through every old scope base box from when the previous owner ran the store.
Eventually, I found a one piece, Redfeld Jr. Win 70 base that fit good enough to have a gunsmith drill new holes.
Bell & Carlson makes an excellent fiberglass stock for those rifles and the Timney Sportsman's trigger is an excellent upgrade too. It just requires a little removal of material inside the stock.
At 100 yards I could easily cover a 20 shot group with a loonie (it was just a little larger than a quarter.)
I have one that I just recently changed the scope over from 2.5-7 weaver to a 4-16x50 vortex pst. I could drive nails with it before at 100. I had to use a set of extension weaver rings to compensate for the long action and the relatively shorter scope body. I'm currently on a quest to see to find a set of good quality extension or offset rings that will work on this as I'm not too partial to this weaver set up. While we're on topic, I want to convert this over to a one piece 1913 rail and was curious which would work for this? I'm praying the existing holes are in line. As there are no gunsmiths in the area.
I plan to continue taking many more animals with this piece and can't bring myself to retire it yet.
I plan to continue taking many more animals with this piece and can't bring myself to retire it yet.
