doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Claw rings for an old kipplauf

Punishing but possible.

Extraordinary work, Dennis. You are very talented. Thanks you for showing us what can be done with enough expertise.

Hard to believe you could solder on that old scope tube, clean it up, and make it look like it was never even done.

SRH

Dennis,
Like the others, I too admire your work. I hope I'm wrong, but from the photos of your clawmounts, it seems you are preparing for a wedge shaped "slider". The notch in the "hook" should be parallel to the slot in the base, and about the width of a scribe line above it. The "slider" should then be fit to the "hooks", by spotting and filing the bottom (insuring it too is parallel, except the leading edge, which is tapered to "cam" it back when setting the scope in. The bottom leading corner if the "hook" would be filed to match) of the slider to fit the notch. This draws the mount down into the base and positively takes all the up and down "play"( the Germans say "luft" or air, when they mean space or play)out of the connection. If you take the "slider" out of a rifle that had claw mounts fit up in Germany, you will see two small filed areas on the bottom side, where it was fit to the "hooks". If you are fitting mounts to an older base, it may be necessary to make or buy a new slider bar, to have enough material for proper fitting.
Mike

Mike,
Thanks for the critique and sadly, you are right, there is a wedge but it is in the shape of the hooks.

With the slider in place the rear claw fits very tightly. This is because it is the second one I made after removing too much metal from the feet of the first and over caution prevailed with the second. I found, however, that with the slider removed that I have what appears to be a proper snug fit.

I removed what you are calling the slider and it is pictured below with other claw bases I had on hand to study as best I could. My effort is the bottom one that is on the scope. Visualizing precisely how the claws worked without benefit of the respective bases to study is a bit of an abstraction.

Anyway, I'm all ears and hope you can take time to walk me through what I hope is final fitting without the necessity of making a new slider.

Thanks in advance.

I've added two additional photos. I hope this will help you diagnose what needs to be done. It appears that by leveling the notch in the hooks that this will allow the slider to mate correctly with the hook cuts, move fully forward and then allow the new claw set to seat properly.

The first photo shows the slider slot with the base fully seated. You can see how much the hooks protrude above the the lower surface of the slot.

The second shows how far the slider needs to move to be fully forward seated.

Dennis,
The bottom of the notch should be parallel to the slot and slightly above it. From the photo, next to the bottom, It looks like you have enough material in the hook to do this. If you hold the rear foot tightly in the base, and reach into the slot with a scribe, you can scribe a line on the hook that is parallel to the slot. Then you can carefully file to the line, but leave it slightly above the slot. The bottom of the "slider" shows clearly how it was fit to the original mount. It looks like the original hooks were a little more above the slot than yours will be. This is evidenced by the amount of material filled off the bottom ( in two places)of the slider. You should study the relationships carefully and take whatever measurements you can, but it looks like you will need to make a new "slider". Things are so close, that I might be wrong about that. If you have to make a new "slider", you should not have to make the whole thing, just the flat "bar" that slides back and forth inside the slot. If you look very carefully, maybe with magnification, you might be able to find the screw that holds it to the thumbpiece. This screw is normally filed and polished and finished to the point that it is hard to find. You might have to remove the bluing to see it, and you might not be able to turn it out, having to resort to drilling it out. Once out, it can be replaced with one that has enough material to fit it up. If you have to drill it out, you would naturally have to make a new screw. If you have other questions, I will try to answer them.
Mike

Thanks again, Mike.

I got the hooks filed as you suggested and I think I'm done. The scope now pivots into the front base, deflects the slider rearward and it then snaps forward when the scope is fully seated on the front base. The slider position is just short of full forward movement and the scope is quite firmly seated. A piece of paper between the ring and base mating surfaces is tightly gripped when the scope if fully seated and cannot be pulled out.

This is an exercise where a person learns a lot that will probably never be used again. Possibly a summary of most of my gunmaking.
Dennis

Way to go!

Dennis,
Great, now let us know how it shoots. Well done.
Mike