Anyone ever scope a Smith & Wesson revolver this way?

[David LaPell]

In Jeff Cooper's Complete Book of Modern Handgunning from 1961 he writes about scoping the .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson by using Weaver rifle scope mounts by mounting them on the barrel rib. I was thinking about putting a scope on my Outdoorsman but I don't want to drill and tap the gun at all even though I know its just a shooter. I was wondering if anyone else has ever scoped a Smith revolver in this way. I would like to give it a try since I have a few of these mounts lying around somewhere and the recoil of the Outdoorsman is less than the .44 Magnum.

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss57/Smith29-2/Picture1791.jpg

[Reg]

Have played with a couple in the past. One, a Ruger Blackhawk with a B Square mount and Simmons scope . The mount was a *** beyond belief , it just barely worked and nothing more. The pistol was in 32-20 and the scope combination did help a lot with accuracy off the bench in fact I did some of the best long range shooting I ever did with a handgun at 100 yards. Many of the groups were three inches and some less. But in the field it proved to be way too delicate and the mount would not hold the scope with reliability and the whole combination proved to be to slow to get on target, very unwieldy to handle.
The other was a M-53 Smith in the Jet with a Leopold scope in Buehler mounts. The scope was such I think you could have drove nails with it and not hurt it, the mount was so solid you would have thought it was machined integral with the gun. You would have thought it would have been the perfect set up but not so. The scope was one of the IER scopes and eye relief was very critical and target acquisition was very slow. Not too bad off the bench but not OK in the field. The scope was removed and group size was actually cut in half off the bench and the handling in the field was greatly improved.
Another was a 1917 Smith converted to 25-20 Winchester with a highly modified Redfield base and rings with a bottom of the line Tasco 2 X scope. This proved to be the best of all worlds. Rock solid with high definition and a big enough field of view to get on target fast. The Redfield base was mounted to the barrel only but was form fitted with zero clearance of the top of the frame to get the longest span between the rings but was mounted very low. Last I knew the owner was taking rock chucks at crazy ranges in the high country.
Would I recommend a scope on a handgun? Thats about like raising pigs. Everyone should do it at least once that way you know all there is about raising pigs.
Would I put another scope on a handgun ? I doubt it. I don't like pigs.

:coffee:

[Irascible]

Why not try a Weaver, no drill & tap, mount. I had one on a 44 mag and it held with no problem

[Dale53]

I scoped this Model 29 S&W back in the seventies. It has had over 10,000 full house .44 Magnum loads without an issue of any kind. The scope is a Burris with a big dot (at the time only available from Gil Hebard) with long eye relief. I have taken several large whitetail deer with this and really have enjoyed the combination. Accuracy with my cast bullets has been on the order of playing card size groups at 100 yards.

I bought a section of scope base and cut it to length and used the matching Kimber rings. I believe Warne now markets these rings. They allow the scope to be removed, if necessary, to use the iron sights. In forty years I have not found it necessary. One thing I consider mandatory - I used 8x40 screws instead of those abominable 6/48 screws. In an installation of this type, the screws are in shear and there is very little metal in 6x48 screws at the bottom of the threads.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers5Selects-2.jpg

Dale53