thegreatmodel8.remingtonsociety.com

Well I am about to take the plunge. I located an 81 in the caliber I wanted, 30 Rem. Its has some charactor and a few issues but the price was right. Going to take a few days to work out the over the net transaction but I should have some pictures in a week or so. And I am quite sure I will be coming here for advice and direction in getting her back in the field.

Hope it all went well

The rifle came today. In looking it over all seems to be very good indeed. The finish is as I was told and from what I can tell the rifle is functional with no major issues. The scope mount is an interesting item. Its marked as a Weaver 1" Side mount. I am wondering if I will be able to get a replacement base for it as one of the mounting holes is stripped but if not it can be redone. Anyone that has one of the side mount set ups and would not mind letting me know how these work with such an odd alignment with the bore I would like to hear hear about it. I only had enough time to take the barrel assemby off of the action to get a quick peek at the breech, bore and reciever internal areas. A bit dirty but no rust or damage I could see. I did also notice that the barrel jacket numbers match the reciever so more good news there. I snaped a couple of quick pictures, not to good but I will be taking more to post as things go along. I guess my next step will be to decide how far I want to take the gun apart for a good cleaning and check over. Then its some brass and dies to do up some ammo. Need to decide on the scope mount, stay or go, and looking to what scope could work with the ring set up. Oh ya, and get out for a shooting test some where in all that! Plenty of work and fun to be had for sure.

Looks like a keeper - especially as you keep getting good news while checking it out.

As to the scope mount/scope, for these critters they are a bit of a challenge. The good news is that your mount looks to be fairly common, although I cannot see it clearly. I've seen several like that for sale at gunshows and on fleabay, perhaps even Weaver still carries them? I have a couple mounted and they work fine.

There are two basic issues regarding scopes and the 8/81: the obvious parallax, then there is the flying brass. The parallax is fairly simple for hole-punchers, pick a distance (100yds?) and "just sight it in" ... BUT if you are shooting longer or shorter distances (especially while hunting) then you have to compensate for the scope being off set from the barrel. I've never been hunting (Yet!) so I'm no help on how this affects minute of deer.

The ejecting brass adds more fun - depending upon your specific scope, (but usually for most scopes) the scope must be cocked 90 degrees to get the knobs/turrets out of the way of the ejecting brass. Obviously that makes adjusting elevation and windage during the "just sighting it in" a bit more of a challenge - not being located in the normal position but it's doable and kind of fun. Again, for hole-punching it is just part of the game - on the other hand for hunting, it is one more thing to remember and compensate for.

Considering all of the other anomalies associated with scopes and these rifles, I've tried to stay with the KISS principle regarding a scope. A simple straight 4X (non variable) relatively inexpensive Weaver (or flavor of your choice) works well for these old eyes at 100yds and I still have the iron sights available for those days when I want some real excitment.

Hope this helps, enjoy your new tool (just ignore those who call it a "new toy" what does she know anyway?)

I think I have it just about as far apart as I am going to go on the reciever end. No broken parts or really badly worn ones. Just a lot of years worth of hardened gun oil and powder fouling mix just about every where inside. Some areas of very light rust mostly on the rear buffer spring housing that extends into the stock and other places that had contact with the wood. Butt stock is in good shape and has the matching serial number stamped on it inside the trigger guard tang cut out. I am not going to completely strip down the reciever or trigger/hammer plate as they are far enough along to be able to get all of the gunk washed out. The barrel and jacket assemby seems to be free and sound enough but I am a little hesitant to try and take it apart with out a spanner wrench to unscrew the bushing. Most likely I will at some point but I need to get the reciever done first. Darn good thing that my dealer just happened to have an old gunsmithing guide that had instructions and drawings in it for take down on the M8 and 81. He very kindly ran off a copy for me. Otherwise I would have been hard put to get as far as I have.

A guy once told me the best way to use a side scope mount was to adjust the scope crosshairs so they are properly oriented when the rifle is canted to the right in a way to allow the scope to be vertically above the barrel. Sounds screwy, but I started shooting that way with my Swiss K31 with a side-mounted scope, and it does work well. But it's a little tough to get used to - Just like those gangbangers that hold their pistols sideways.

Great replies to the OP's questions guys.

Wildgoose,

Your Weaver brand scope mount is one of the best for the 8/81's. If i'm not mistaken its base uses 6 mounting holes in the receiver. Hope she shoots as good as she looks!

81police wrote:Great replies to the OP's questions guys. Wildgoose, Your Weaver brand scope mount is was one of the best for the 8/81's. If i'm not mistaken its base uses 6 mounting holes in the receiver. Hope she shoots as good as she looks!

Sure enough it has the six hole mount base. Does anyone know if the current #48407 Weaver side mount base still offered for the Models 8/81 have the same or even partially matching (at least four of the six) screw hole pattern? The one that came on the rifle has one of the large ring mount screw holes stripped and it would be nice to just replace it instead of repairing it. I am going to do it one way or another but replacement would be nice.
Shooting is getting closer, I now have the dies and brass for .30 Rem on hand!

I found an old Weaver K 2.5 on GB and took a chance. It turned out to be in pretty good shape and I got it mounted to the rifle. I had to do a "Bubba Fix" on the Weaver mount base to repair a stripped hole. The proper six screw pattern #4 base has not been made for years and I havent been able to find one. I did get some split rings and new screws from another lister and went ahead with what I had to work with. As I didn't want to drill out the stripped hole any larger than I needed to in order to get it retapped I was forced to go with an odd sized standard thread 12x24. There is a very limited selection of fasteners in this size available off the self so the resulting fix is a bit ugly but served to get it functional again. I hope to find the proper base someday and replace it but in the mean time I dont think the deer will mind. Now to get it out and see how it works, if the scope adjustments work ok and sight it in. Even if the mount base fix looks a bit poor I must say the old Weaver K model looks right at home.

Indeed, looks good. Mr Bubba!

very cool! All that is better than looking at a bunch of drilled receiver holes isn't it? Perfect scope choice too, that's a classic vintage setup.

You could always try and call Weaver, the model was a #4 and I think it also worked on the Krag rifle if I'm not mistaken.

That is indeed the most sanitary scope installation I have seen for the rifle. I like that better than any I have seen. Good job, and good luck with your sighting and firing.

Clint