Copyright 2001 – Stephen Redgwell

By Bill Radtke

The late Bill Radtke sent this to me in 2001. It is a good, solid scope mount, made of angle iron, and is cheaper and more rigid than any of the commercially made offering. It does not fit ALL the rifles in 303 British, but it fits a bunch!

This scope mount is made of angle iron and is cheaper and more rigid than any of the commerically made stuff. It does not fit ALL the rifles in 303 British, but it fits a bunch!

This is the beautiful part of this mount, it is so simple!!!

It is 1″x 1″ x 1/8″ angle iron (3/16″ would be better) and is 5 ” long. The metal is available from most local hardware stores (there is a rack with metal angles flats and rounds all 36″long). It’s topped with a Weaver flat based mount.

Construction is simple. Locate two or more spots on the flat side of the receiver that will not interfere with bolt travel. Drill and tap the these holes.

Cut a piece of angle 5″ long and grind a slot to clear the ejector screw. Clamp it in place on the receiver.

With a small punch “reach” thru the mounting holes and centerpunch the locations on the angle. Drill these holes. Drill and tap the angle to accept the Weaver mount. File,sand and polish all the burrs off and blue the angle!!! Assemble on rifle.

The bolts to mount it to the reciever are 1/4-28 (because that’s what was on hand) but could be 8-40
(the same as required for the Weaver mount to save expense of extra tap and drill)

The important part is to make sure there is good contact between the angle iron and the barrel/receiver lug area. This takes the recoil energy off of the bolts. There is an area “up front” of the mounting area that is not really flat so I shimmed it in with .001 brass shim stock for a perfectly flat fit. I did a couple more in a hurry and did not shim (no complaints)! You could probably use JB Weld or a similar product.

This one has been in place 29-30 years and is largely responsible for my love of the SMLE.