Mounting A Scout Scope On A Military Mauser

Can you put a scope on this? How many times have you heard that question from a customer with an old military surplus rifle in their hopeful hands? Older shooters are more likely to own and want to use these types of rifles since seeing the small open sights becomes more difficult with age. Many younger shooters have grown up using nothing but scopes and don’t want to fool around with "obsolete" sighting equipment. So, can we help them?

The old answer used to be, "Yes, but it’s gonna cost ya." Drilling and tapping at maybe twenty bucks a hole, bending or welding on anew bolt handle, possibly removing and replacing the barrel depending on what scope mounting jig you have, not to mention the cost of the mounts, rings and scope, add up to some big bucks for an old rifle. Fortunately, today’s manufacturers have come up with an ingenious solution to this perpetual problem.

Mounting a scout scope (an intermediate eye relief optic made popular by the scout rifle concept) ahead of the receiver is the obvious choice. These mounts do not require drilling and tapping of the receiver and the bolt does not need to be altered. The scopes used are typically two to four power in magnification, are light weight and allow the shooter to keep both eyes open for a full field of view. Many hunters swear by them and the late Colonel Jeff Cooper was one of the scout rifle’s biggest advocates.

The Simmons scope barely affects the balance of the rifle yet allows for much more precise aiming. My task was to add a scope to a model 98 military Mauser. The rifle was dead stock as from the battlefield. The customer had been shooting it and the headspace was in spec. The barrel looked representative for guns of that type—not very shiny, but not pitted badly or otherwise abused.

From what we could tell, the rifle wanted to shoot since he was getting three and four inch groups at fifty yards even though he could barely see the sights. I decided to use amount made by B-Square (b-square.com, There are other makers, but I’ve always been a fan of B-Square products as their products usually do what the company says they will do—work properly without a bunch of filing and grinding. I ordered one from Brownells (# 122-185-610) for less than thirty dollars, including shipping.

As can be seen from the photos, the B-Square kit is simplicity at its best and it comes with all the sizes of Allen and Torx wrenches needed for installation. The original military sights must be removed to install the B-Square mount. These sights are pinned to two "ears" that are part of the barrel and not easily removable. Knock the pin out in either direction with a 1/16-inch punch. The military sights area V-notch rail with a push-button slide underneath to raise and lower for elevation.

It is marked on both sides with graduations of 1-20, indicating elevation in hundreds of meters, common to battle rifles of the day. At its lowest the sight was not far

No drilling and tapping is required. All torx and Allen wrenches needed to install the mount are included. Put them in a labeled container and save in case you want to reinstall the original sights. All that’s needed to remove these parts area small screwdriver and pin punch. off at fifty yards. We tried it set at two and fired factory equivalent loads at two hundred yards. All shots were almost a foot high from point of aim.

That being said, open sights at two hundred yards are an iffy proposition at best with my eyes. One thing about shooting at two hundred yards and beyond is that a good target is essential for success. I like a solid, black bull at least six inches wide. Eight or ten inches wide is not too much. A 25 yard Standard American Pistol Target with its twenty one by twenty four-inch size and five-andone-half-inch bull is about ideal for two hundred yard open sight shooting.

The large target catches any errant shots and the bull can be seen at that range. With high power scopes things area bit different but for the four power scope we were going to mount on this rifle a good, large bull makes shooting accurate groups much easier. The scope selected was a Simmons Pro Hunter Model 7038 in a 4X32 configuration with a "Trueplex" reticle, 1/4-inch click adjustments at one hundred yards.

It has a black matte finish, weighs just eight ounces and is claimed to be waterproof, shockproof and fog proof. For our purposes the main feature is that the scope sports a twenty-inch eye relief. This scope is commonly mounted on handguns and I have one a Remington .221 Fireball. It has been in use for some time without any failures or problems, even after the gun was inadvertently dropped onto a hardwood floor one time.

This scope is a no-nonsense hunting tool and I have been impressed at the quality for the price. After the old military sights are removed the mount fits into the ears and is attached by two screws. These two screws are used to true up the scope for windage. A larger Torxheaded screw goes through the top of the mount and tightens to the barrel, locking the mount in place. Also, a similar screw is located in the rear top of the mount and locks that portion of the mount down as well.

The rear screw has a tiny set screw that holds it in place accessible directly from the rear of the mount. These two screws when positioned correctly can help to align the scope for elevation. It’s a little tricky since the scope will have to be tested by trial and error because the screws can’t be adjusted with the scope mounted. I used a Bushnell Professional Bore Sighter to aid in getting the scope on the paper before we left the shop.

Assuming the scope’s reticle is centered in the first place, these features will allow it to be mounted with plenty of adjustment and the scope’s reticle to be in the best position for accuracy. We tested the scope at fifty yards initially with Remington 170 grain Core-Lokt factory ammunition. I did not chronograph these loads but they should be traveling at a nominal 2500 feet per second at the muzzle.

At any rate, I wouldn’t want to be standing in front of one and they should be good medicine for whitetail deer within moderate ranges. Three-shot groups were a surprising inch or less. This old rifle shoots very well and the scope allows us to take advantage of that fact. The sight picture is more than adequate and the eye relief is limited, but not critical. I can see the target very well and well enough to hunt with. I was impressed with this old 98 action. It is smooth as can be.

It feeds round nose factory loads like my wife stuffs the ATM machine with my bank card. Lockup is strong and accuracy is good. What more can you ask? The mount came loose after firing about ten rounds. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the actual mount screws that hold the mount to the rifle but the ring screws that lock into the Weaver type mount. I know I had these tightened as far as I wanted to go for fear of breaking them, so I was really shocked that they came loose.

I retightened them with my range screwdrivers to continue shooting

and used my bench set after returning home. I didn’t use Loctite yet but will if the same thing happens again. It probably would be a good idea to use the blue stuff on all the screws, but this is a work in progress and I wanted to see what this mount will do under different circumstances. The rings have a square cross bolt that goes in a square slot on the mount. There is a little play here so make sure that the ring is pushed forward as far as it will go before tightening.

I got a complete lesson from my grandson on the topic of inertia while we did this. What it amounts to is that the scope wants to remain at rest while the rifle recoils thereby causing the scope to move forward into the mount while the rifle itself recoils to the rear, provided there is a bit of tolerance in the mount in the first place. That’s why the rings must be moved securely forward against the mount to eliminate slop deleterious to accuracy. My customer wants to hunt with this rig. Why?

I guess just nostalgia for the period and respect for the rifle. It is more than capable of doing so but I doubt if he will do more than shoot one deer with it, at least I hope so. There are so many good deer rifles available today it boggles the mind. Why use this old relic with a cobbled together scope mount? Stranger things have happened, but I’m not giving my blessing on this project until I’m sure this scope will do what it’s supposed to do in the field.

We’ve already had one failure with the rings coming loose on the range. This would be a disaster in the field. The challenge to keep the mount tight can be met with an application of Loctite. What gets me is that the mount itself stayed tight as a drum while the rings came loose.

I was thinking about drilling a small, blind detent hole in the top of the barrel underneath the rear mount screw as a stop to eliminate any side play whatsoever but opted to just used blue Loctite to the ring screws once satisfied with the set up. We shot the rifle about thirty more times without any loosening. I think the rings loosening under recoil will be cured with Loctite. We will try this rifle for as many range sessions as we need to make sure it can withstand the rigors of field use.

I’m looking forward to having my customer report success. AG