Thunderdogg

I' ve been using the same ML for close to 20 years now. It' s a Thompson Center Arms do-it-yourself kit, percussion cap, .50 caliber ML. I use 370 grain bullets and Pyrodex for a propellant. It' s been a very reliable gun and generally I only take deer at 40 yards and under with it. I' ve been using just the open sights on it, but lately when I shoot I have a hard time keeping the front sight in focus as I sight in on my target. My eyes aren' t what they used to be, but I still want to make a good clean kill shot when I have to.

There are no scope mount holes on this brand of muzzleloader and I' d like to possibly put a scope on it. So, my question is: How do I put scope mounts on this thing? Do I need to drill holes (I' d prefer not to drill into the barrel)? Or can anyone recommend quality scope mounts that don' t need to be screwed into the gun itself? The barrel is octagonal shaped, not round if that would help.

Any help you can give on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Thunder

trac209

A friend of mine has a older style muzzleloader like you describe and we put a scope on with epoxy,it never broke off or anything.We used a mount that was for a 30 06 rifle.It had a flat bottom so it worked well.We just mixed up the epoxy and put the base on and lined it up straight,let it set good and mount your scope.I can' t recall the name of the epoxy but weldbond makes an epoxy that would work great.Hope this helps.

skeeter 7MM

No offence trac but I wouldn' t reccomend doing that with any gun, probably was JB weld(that stuff stcks to almost anything). Drill and tap the sucker and get it done by a qualified individual or smith. You could replace the existing sights with fibre optic to make them more visible as a possible other solution.

trac209

No offence taken skeeter,I just called my buddy to find out what we used and it was called scope -tight.It was an epoxy that could be released with heat.In fact he has removed and reinstalled the mount several times and it doesn' t harm the gun at all.

Thunderdogg

I was hoping to have to stay away from paying someone to install the scope but it looks like I' ll need the help of a professional on this one.

Thanks for the help guys. I may look into just getting the fiber optics like suggested earlier.

Thanks a ton!

Thunder

AJ52

I would go with skeeter 7mm advice all the way!

cayugad

Williams fire sights, or Tru- Glow fiber optic sights make excellent sights. They take the place of the old one, and are around $50.00 for the whole package. I hate to admit it, but I am going to throw a pair on my one .50 caliber just for the late afternoon hunts. Them deer in the shadows are starting to blend into the shadows way too much for me. The other night I sat in the tree and watched them and since I could not get a clear sight/target picture, I did not shoot, but it was still a great day in the woods.

Ruger-Redhawk

Thunder, I was always told " If a Job is worth doing, it' s worth doing right" . Have your barrel drilled and tapped like Skeeter suggested.I' m not saying that the epoxy deal wouldn' t work but I wouldn' t use it or trust it on any of my guns.To me that would be a temporary fix.Any competent smith can easily drill and tap your barrel.It' s not very difficult if you have the proper equipment.Check your states regulations.Some states don' t allow scopes during Black Powder season.I hunt in Georgia and we' re not allowed scopes during primitive weapons season.I put fiber Optics on my Knight Disc and on my Old Renegade. It helped allot with my tired eyes. You might want to try this first before going through the expense of drilling and tapping ,plus the cost of the mount and scope.Just a suggestion.
Ruger Redhawk