Rained all day yesterday here in South Louisiana, and raining again today.
So I cancelled my planned week-end atmy hunting club's camp & rifle range.

Sitting around the house and playing with the stuff in my gun closet.Gotto thinking -I haven't been shooting my TC New Englander because I've been shying away from iron sights ever since I got the Lyman Mustang with a scope. That scope sure is nice with these old bifocal adjusted eyes.

Dug out theNew Englander and an oldlong-eye-relief Simmons 2X pistol scope and married them up. The marriage looks like it will last. Will be throwing some patched round balls andGreat Plains conicalsdown range with this combo at the next range session.

What's the trick for mounting a scope on a sidelock like that? Do you have to drill and tap the barrel? Wouldn't that weaken it? I'm not interested in doing it but Idon't see there being any way with mine.

But then again I only paid 50 bucks for it.

I would be interested in knowing where I can get the bases for the same kind of thing. I want to mount a 1X on either my New Englander or my Renegade with a GMB 1:28

I was able to use one of the holes from the orignial sight, but had to drill and tap two more for the three-hole base I had. You've got to be real carefulto get the spacing and alignment right and go very easy with thedrill press, usinglots of oil while drilling and tapping. The holes aren't any deeper than the ones on the original factory sights and don't weaken the barrel.

It don't look right to me.
but with the way I shoot it could be a blessing. lol

Cayugad, wish I could tell you what base that is, but I just don't know. It's an old one from my junk box. Don't even know where I got it and don't see any numbers on it. It's not a prefect fit to the barrel contour, but pretty close. You will probably need to take your gun with you to a gun show or gunsmith's shop and see what you can find to fit.

HuntAway, It does look a little funky to have a "scout" scope set-up on a sidehammer, but it's a good way to deal with the hammer clearance problem. The only other viable option is an offset mount which, to me,is less appealing. It doesn't look funny when you put it to your sholder and get a prefectly clear sight picture. It only works with a 1X scope (unlimited eye relief) or a pistol scope.

Cayugad,

My dad mounted a hundgun scope on a Renagade years ago. Took a look through his things today and found the box this particular mount came in. It is refered to as a gun makers base. It's completely flat on the bottom, in this application it worked well with the octaganal barrel. This one is a Burris I'm sure their others out there. Hope this helps.

I will talk to my gunsmith friend next trip to the cities.. Also I will call Thompson Center and see what they suggest..

Before the inlines came out I drilled and tapped several side locsfor my self and others for scope bases.Someone used to sell the bit and tap,and I think I got the bases from tc ??.they came in different sizes for the flats on the octanagal barrels.
The best thing is to use a drill press to get the holes straight but I did do a couple with a hand drill.
I remember the first muzzleloader season here everyone told me I was going to get a ticket for useing a scope.So I called the wildlife and the fellow I talked to said he would get one too because he had a scope on his too.

Years ago, TC used to sell the bases for the New Englander