Scoped the 375 H&H pre 64 today........................

orchidman

When I was over for the SE I purchased a VX2 2-7X33 Leupold for it, along with a matching set of Leupold bases and rings. ( Bought the Quick Release rings).

Did a charter yesterday and didn't feel like chasing ducks today so I decided to mount the scope to the 375.

Armed with all the necessary tools including the 'Fat' wrench I bought while in the USA I spent a pleasant couple of hours playing 'Gunsmith'............( Not quite as exciting as playing 'Doctor and Nurses but its too bloody cold over here to do anything 'sans' clothing)..........:tooth:

Once I got everything sorted out I found the only problem.....................I bought a set of low rings when I should have got the medium ones.

Here is the rifle with the scope mounted.........





Here are 2 pics of the clearance between the bolt and the scope................





As you can see, there isn't much room between the bolt handle and the scope.........but all is not lost.

When I was at one of the LGS on Friday buying a couple of bricks of .22 Sub's............( Yep, we don't have a shortage over here so eat your hearts out. Cost $89nzd per brick which is the same price I paid 2 yrs ago).........I was talking to the sales guy and told him what I was planning to do with the 375. He said I may have to go to 'medium' rings and said if I have a problem , to come in and he would replace the low ones for the medium rings.

Might have to go visit him again next Friday...........

I took Wambli's advice and bought a 'Past' recoil pad to use when benching the rifle so I am looking forward to remounting the scope and taking the 375 for a trip to the range.

Just spoke to Bloodhound and we have decided to head up to his bush block this afternoon and take a couple of Fallow Doe's as now he has got his smokehouse sorted out we want to make some smoked sausage/Salami's.......

Jayhawker

Nice job Alec....I really like the look...classic working rifle....

orchidman

Thanks Scott. Although my 'go to' hunting/work rifles are mainly stainless/synthetic, I still love a classic rifle in wood/blued finish.

If I had the right height rings I would stop at the range, sight it in and take it to 'blood' it in..................although a Fallow deer is a bit small and there are those who would look askance at using such a calibre.........Maybe I will save it so that if I get a call to shoot any wild steers, I can leave the 222 home............

Zee

That'll work.

Buffco

Don't dare mention medium rings. There are low ring only Nazis here.

Nice looking rig. Is this one of the 4 Winchester Mod 70s?

tennmike

That's a nice looking rifle! Get the medium rings to get some clearance. And that .375 would be a much better choice than the .222 for going after wild steers.

NN

Right nice.

Weatherby

Yeah yeah yeah you suck already

Teach

The clearance between the front of the scope and the barrel looks about right- - - - -I'd be very tempted to do a tiny bit of bending on the bolt handle to increase the clearance. With a set of well-padded heavy duty vise jaws and a long piece of pipe over the bolt handle it would be possible to move the handle clockwise about 1/8" without having to do any heating. The cutout in the stock would also probably work OK without any modification.
Jerry

jaywapti

Alec, thats one great looking rifle. A true classic.

JAY

CHIRO1989

I would load it up after sighting it in and stand and shoot like the bull is charging you to see if those low rings are a problem before I swap them out. I would be more interested to see if my cheek weld was better with the low or med. rings if the bolt is cycling without hitting the scope.

farm boy

That's pretty.

snake284

Teach wrote: »

The clearance between the front of the scope and the barrel looks about right- - - - -I'd be very tempted to do a tiny bit of bending on the bolt handle to increase the clearance. With a set of well-padded heavy duty vise jaws and a long piece of pipe over the bolt handle it would be possible to move the handle clockwise about 1/8" without having to do any heating. The cutout in the stock would also probably work OK without any modification.
Jerry

:that:


That's what I was thinking. The front of the scope is just right and if you raise the scope it may not fit you as well. In fact, If it clears the scope and doesn't scrape it, does it cause any other problems? If not, I'd be tempted to leave it as is. If you need to bend the bolt, do like Teach says and I think you'd be miles ahead.

When my gun smith built my .257 AI and mounted the big Leupold VX-3L 4.5-14x56 mm scope with 30mm tube, he couldn't find any low OR medium rings. So he installed a set of high rings. I had to crane my neck to see through the scope. Finally I found a set of medium rings for it and put them on. Now it's better, but still not as low as I'd like it. However, with the big 56 mm objective, even with the cut out of the VX-3L the scope almost touches the front of the receiver. I could push it forward, but then I have to lean in toward the scope and that's a strain that I don't need when trying to shoot, that's every bit as bad as craning my neck up to see through the scope. So I don't see how I can really go lower than medium rings. If I'd gotten a regular 50mm I could probably go with the low riders, however I do like the 56mm Objective. It is what it is. But with medium rings it's much better than it was before. Believe me, though, the lower you can go, the better.

They do make a stick on cheek well pad but I really don't want to screw up the rifle's looks with something like that.

orchidman

The clearance between the front of the scope and the barrel looks about right- - - - -I'd be very tempted to do a tiny bit of bending on the bolt handle to increase the clearance. With a set of well-padded heavy duty vise jaws and a long piece of pipe over the bolt handle it would be possible to move the handle clockwise about 1/8" without having to do any heating. The cutout in the stock would also probably work OK without any modification.
Jerry

I am tempted to leave it as it is and take it to the range to see if it causes problems. The worst thing that could happen is that I have to buy a set of medium rings. If it causes problems I will try what you suggest Jerry.

CHIRO1989 wrote: »

I would load it up after sighting it in and stand and shoot like the bull is charging you to see if those low rings are a problem before I swap them out. I would be more interested to see if my cheek weld was better with the low or med. rings if the bolt is cycling without hitting the scope.

The cheek weld is perfect for me. When I close my eyes and mount the rifle to its natural position then open my eyes, I am looking dead centre through the scope. If I replace the rings with medium height ones, I think I will have to lift my head slightly..............and with the recoil I think I would regret it.
If I cycle the bolt quickly it will touch the scope but only just.

Don't dare mention medium rings. There are low ring only Nazis here.

Nice looking rig. Is this one of the 4 Winchester Mod 70s?

Yep it is Buffy.... It is the only one of the pre64's that has seen some work.

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I am really looking forward to spending time at the range.......

Big Al1

Very nice!! The simple elegance of wood and blued steel!! I would test the function and shoot it under actual hunting type conditions before changing to a higher ring. Have you checked the bedding?? On a rifle that age, the wood tends to dry out and shrink. You may want to glass bed the recoil lug area so the "ouch and ouch" won't spilt the stock. I didn't see any open sights so I am also wondering why you went with the QD bases. Oh, and :yousuck:

Six-Gun

Beautiful rifle, Alec! That scope clearance on the bolt handle would only concern me if it's interfering with 1) your knuckles getting by without a smack or 2) real-world cycling and the ability to avoid bashing the optics. Teach's option is a good one if you want to add 1/8" to that clearance and end all doubt. Regardless, the front-end clearance looks great and you picked a really good scope in an excellent magnification range to finish that puppy off.

orchidman

Big Al1 wrote: »

I didn't see any open sights so I am also wondering why you went with the QD bases. Oh, and :yousuck:

When I have finished with her she will have open sights as well. I am setting the rifle up so that it is 'African' ready...................not that I have any immediate plans to go, but the future holds many surprises we don't know about..

orchidman

Six-Gun wrote: »

Beautiful rifle, Alec! That scope clearance on the bolt handle would only concern me if it's interfering with 1) your knuckles getting by without a smack or 2) real-world cycling and the ability to avoid bashing the optics. Teach's option is a good one if you want to add 1/8" to that clearance and end all doubt. Regardless, the front-end clearance looks great and you picked a really good scope in an excellent magnification range to finish that puppy off.

I agree, the more I look and handle 'her', the more inclined I am to leave her as is. The real test will come when I take her to the range.

I didn't pick the scope by the way............I am going by the reccomendations that were suggested here................ http://forums.gunsandammo.com/showthread.php?10766-Question-for-those-with-more-experience-at-shooting-large-calibres

I decided to go with the 2-7 cos my eyes are not getting any younger and it seemed to match the rifle. As Knitepoet said in the thread.....

Doubt you ever hunt DG, but, IMO, setting that rifle up for anything less should be a crime.

..............sentiments I agree wholeheartedly with.

Besides, if any of you decide to head to the dark continent, you can always stop in here on the way, spend a couple of days hunting deer and then take her with you to Africa.................or, I could bring her over to hunt something like Elk, Moose or Bear...........

orchidman

cpj wrote: »

You guys and your "soloutions" to problems. Do we REALLY have to over complicate this?
Its simple. Raise the bolt handle close to the scope, so you can mark the area of the bolt handle that may interfere.
Then, removee the bolt and grind the metal away slowly with a hand held angle grinder. Go slow, and check for fit often.

Easy peasy.

:rotflmao: That was my first thought when I fitted the scope Chris......except I thought of using my Dremel.......

tennmike

cpj wrote: »

You guys and your "soloutions" to problems. Do we REALLY have to over complicate this?
Its simple. Raise the bolt handle close to the scope, so you can mark the area of the bolt handle that may interfere.
Then, remove the bolt and grind the metal away slowly with a hand held angle grinder. Go slow, and check for fit often.

Easy peasy.

How about applying an industrial cheese grater to your backside instead! :rotflmao:

BigDanS

If you ever itch for Dangerous Game you should go to South Africa, or if you have the coin, Namibia. I think if you were going to travel for a guided hunt for Elk, Caribou, Brown Bear, Black Bear or Moose, from NZ I would consider Canada over the US, unless you were going to Alaska.

Then again, if you would be happy with white tail deer, black bear, mule deer, turkey, wild pigs antelope or maybe elk, and the elusive prairie dogs, I think your friends in the USA have you covered. Buffy might let you hunt a chicken or two...

Before I would bend or grind the bolt on a pre '70 I would buy medium bases and fit it with a cheek pad if it was too high.

IMHO

D

Big Al1

I see express sights in your future!

snake284

I had the chance to buy a Model 70 SS .375 H&H NIB back in 1998 in Anchorage Alaska in a Walmart. They had it in the display rack. They wanted $575 I think for it. I almost bought it and now wish I had. The .375 Ruger is an option, but someday I would love to have an H&H just because. You realize "You Be Sucking LARGE TIME," as they would put it in the West Indies.