doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Scope Rings

I'm afraid I may already know the answer to this question...but I gotta try.

I have an Inman Meffert drilling that did not come with scope rings. As it was probably a war trophy I'm not surprised. Is there a source for the claw type rings or am I SOL? If there is a source does anyone know the approximate cost?

Thank you.

sharps4590,

First off you are not SOL.

As to cost much will depend on the type of claw bases that are on your gun. Some require that a locking mechanism be incorporated into the rings which will jack up the price. The most common scope mount setups seen on drillings have the locking mechanism incorporated into the rear base. Other considerations when pricing these things are your choice of scope and the distance between bases. Offset rings and the large diameter rings that locate on the body of a scope with a large object lens will raise the price a bit.

I buy my Recknagel rings from NECG and fit them to existing bases by myself but then again I have the equipment and tooling background to do so. There are other gunsmiths in different parts of the country that offer such services but the firm probably recommended most often is New England Custom Guns in Claremont, NH:

http://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/

If I recall correctly NECG's fitting of rings to typical bases runs somewhere between $650.00 and $950.00 including rings. Please post a picture of your bases, perhaps others will chime in with other recommendations.

Regards,

Buchseman

I had NECG manufacture claw mount rings for a 16ga over 8X57JR combination gun.
Very pleased with workmanship.
Absolutely no change of zero removing and reinstalling the scope.
The mechanism for removal is incorporated in the rear base.
$700 including mounting the scope and test firing/zeroing.
I would deal with them again without question.

Thank you both very much. The....fastening method....for my drilling is also in the rear base as Mr. Brown indicated his is.

Buscheman, I wish I could post a picture. My camera died and I haven't replaced it yet.

Sadly right now that's out of the reach of my wallet.

It is shocking how many Hensoldt-Diavari, and Wetzlar, Nickel, Ajax, Pecar and other German scopes with claw mounts attached to the integral rail mounts are for sale on Ebay. Too bad someone can't measure them for matches...the rail mounts would take care of variance in length, but the claws?

sharps4590,

Hang in there and be patient, there are many ways to skin cats.

Steve brings up something that I have thought about on and off. If a guy is comfortable with the earlier optics of the old German scopes (I am), some money could be saved by engaging in a conversion project. The dovetail mounts would be the easiest to convert as eye relief can be readily adjusted. It's the scopes with soldered claw mounts that I have been mulling around. What complicates matters is the fore and aft spacing of the rings and trying to closely match the spacing of existing bases. Most rear bases seem to be positioned in pretty much the same location on combination guns, just forward (1/2" +/-) of the breech face, I have seen some exceptions. Forward mount locations vary a great deal as some rings were located on the tube and some are way forward as they were fitted to the objective lens body. With a little digging (asking sellers dimension specifics) and commitment to being the top bidder or "buy now" a relatively simple conversion is possible ... as at that point you have started by securing the scope that you want. I have quite a few original German scopes but haven't documented the eye relief of each to see if there is a standard for all or certain makers. Knowing this, the distance from the back of the eye-piece body to the back of the rear ring, and the distance from the back of the rear ring to the back of the front ring would be enough for me to model (for explanation) and make the conversion. Typically the old scopes sell for significantly less than a new one, which would help to reduce the overall cost of putting a scope on an old combination gun. The other obvious plus side of doing this is parking period optics on the vintage firearm.

Ask around and see if a friend or relative can snap a picture for you and download it to your computer. When you have one, or more, PM me and I'll send you an e-mail address to send the picture or pictures.

Regards,

Buchseman

What Buchseman said.

In addition, in the distant past I have bench-made several sets of rings to fit existing claw bases. It's not difficult but certain techniques are required. Tommy Bish shows how to do it in one of his books but I found his method to be slightly flawed for my purposes. In any case this method usually involves using modern split rings rather than the original configuration. Lots cheaper for existing bases but not nearly as authentic.
Regards, Joe

steve, J. D., Buscheman, thank you all, again. As I much prefer vintage stuff to the "newest, latest, greatest most high tech" a vintage scope presents no problem....except for maybe the cost.

I need to just go get another camera and be done with it. Fishing season is upon us and I need one for my "really important fly fishing catches".

Another question, is the width spacing of the claws and the depth of the claws, (height?), a standard dimension? I was told my drilling is from 1936. The barrels are marked Inman Meffert, the receiver is Dural and is marked Suhl. Horse manure, I'll just go buy a camera...lol!!

sharps4590,

I went back to see what I had written last night and noticed that I had made an assumption. In case you don't already know this I have to say that with "claw" scope mounts attaching or removing the scope requires that the rear base locking mechanism be released and the scope lifted first out of the rear base with the front ring pivoting out of the front base. As this action requires that the front of the scope tilt down towards the top rib of the gun you'll note that the front rings are always close to the tip of the scope in order for the scope to clear said rib. This distance from the front ring to the tip of the scope can vary a bit due to ring height and the diameter of the objective lens body which many times is the same diameter of the main tube diameter. Dovetailed rib mounts can offer quite a bit more flexibility as the norm requires fixing the existing rings to a rail and clamp, a whole other subject.

I and I'm sure others are looking forward to seeing pictures of your Imman Meffert.

Regards,

Buchseman

Yes, the front ring must be on a straight tube OR a band around the front bell, so the scope pivot won't cause the bell to bump into the rib. The unfortunate answer to claw width is no, they are not all the same. The hope is that many will be the same, or enough the same that a little fitting will make them work. (maybe filing just enough off the sides that they fit down into the slots.) I think the rear mount is most likely to be standard. The front will vary in width, but we hope not depth. In any case knowing where they have to be tight is essential. A good test of tightness is when the rear mount is released and the scope kicks upward just a bit. Yes, it is under tension to a degree, but better than being loose! Making them from scratch can work, and the split rings, while non-original, allow straight tube mounting. Good luck. If you are like many of us, you need a scope sight, so bite the bullet and get er done. Steve