The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Art of the Rifle: Bolt, Lever, and Pump Action

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 12, 2018, 12:12 AM   #1
G.O. West
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2018
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 58
Mount a Burris FastFireIII Red Dot Reflex Sight on a Winchester Model 71 or 1886

Turnbull Restoration Co. sells a receiver mount that fits a Winchester Model 71 or 1886 (plus another size for the 1894), that allows you to install a Burris FastFire red dot reflex sight on these lever actions. I have shot my Model 71 in 450 Alaskan for 40 years with iron sights, but now that my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be, I'm going to give this reflex sight a work out.

I found Turnbull's mount to be nicely made of light alloy. I mounted it on my Model 71 receiver and snugged up the adjusting screw (rear, R.S.) which removes any potential tipping movement of the mount from recoil. The two screws in the original side mounted peep sight holes, which hold the mount to the receiver, are not adequate by themselves to prevent this tipping movement. However, on my rifle, snugging up this adjusting screw caused the mount to tilt so far forwards and down that their wasn't enough adjustment in my Burris FastFire III sight to compensate. Therefore the rifle shot several feet hight at 50 yards.

The following is what I have done to remedy this problem: There are four short posts on the top of the mount that fit into corresponding holes in the reflex sight to help anchor it solidly. I drilled a 5/64" hole all the way through the top of the mount in the center of the front left post. Then I made a little steel pin from the shank of a broken 1/8" dia. drill bit. I turned one end to 5/64" dia. to fit into the hole I had made, and left the other end (the head) at 1/8" dia. For my rifle the head needed to be .175 " long.



This pin, when inserted upwards from the bottom of the mount, places its head on top of the left side of my rifle's receiver just in front of the left locking bolt. Now when the sight mount is attached to the rifle there is no possible forward tilting movement and the sight sits level as it should.





G.O. West is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 12:32 AM   #2
G.O. West
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2018
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 58
My pictures didn't post so here are the attachments...

01b.jpg

02.jpg

03b.jpg
G.O. West is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 12:35 AM   #3
G.O. West
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2018
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 58
One last picture (attached)

04b.jpg
G.O. West is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 11:48 AM   #4
Wrought
Member
 
Join Date: February 11, 2016
Posts: 96
I had a reflex sight on my rem model 14 in .35 rem for a while i could shoot great with it at the range but i found that when i was hunting the reticle wasn't fine enough for precise shots on deer in thick cover. I took it off and now i just use the factory sights like i always have. That was a nice fix, someone wouldn't even notice it if you didn't tell em.
Wrought is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 08:14 PM   #5
Charlie98
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 6, 2006
Location: Great state of Texas
Posts: 1,077
Why don't you just mount a receiver mounted peep sight? My eyes suck, I can't use the factory opens, but my 71 sports a Williams and it works fantastic.
__________________
_______________

"I have this pistol pointed at your heart!"
"That is my least vulnerable spot."
Charlie98 is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 09:07 PM   #6
G.O. West
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2018
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 58
I already have a peep sight on my other Model 71 so I thought I would try out something different.

G.O. West is offline  
Old January 12, 2018, 09:35 PM   #7
Charlie98
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 6, 2006
Location: Great state of Texas
Posts: 1,077
Gotcha.
__________________
_______________

"I have this pistol pointed at your heart!"
"That is my least vulnerable spot."
Charlie98 is offline  
Old January 13, 2018, 09:50 AM   #8
NoSecondBest
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 7, 2009
Location: Western New York
Posts: 2,736
I put one on my Win 1886 in 45-70 and it fit and worked with no modifications or alterations required....none. It worked better than I expected. My gun would shoot consistent five shot groups between 1.5 and 1.75" at my personal range of 114 yards. This particular caliber, with its numerous bullet weights and loads, can vary widely on its POI simply depending on the loaded cartridge. To its credit, the Burris FF3 held up perfect after a lot of firing under stout recoil.
NoSecondBest is offline  
Old January 13, 2018, 12:14 PM   #9
G.O. West
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2018
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 58
Perhaps the two mounting screw holes in my receiver are set slightly higher than normal. I have no way of knowing if they are original or added later. The 450 Alaskan has substantial recoil, but that shouldn't really be a factor. Over time, even a lighter recoiling caliber would tip the mount forward on my gun. I sent a note to Doug Turnbull, so I'll be interested in what he says.
G.O. West is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:38 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06560 seconds with 9 queries