Tubs wrote:How does one get a forward mounted/scout type rail on a Tikka or Howa? No need for irons, Ill use a red-dot for back-up, this was a good idea.
I sold my Marlin 1894 357 and have bought a Rossi Citadel (saved alot) so will be easier to experiment with all options on that also. Thanks for the feedback.
I'm not intimately familiar with either of these, but you would need to mount a pic rail on the barrel ahead of the receiver. Much like mounting sights, the options are epoxy, solder, screws, clamps etc. It might also be possible to mount a rail laterally on the forend instead of the barrel, but it won't be as rigid as a barrel mount. Try shooting in the field with a scout scope before making any investment in one. Of the bench they're just fine. In the field I find them obtrusive and not at all intuitive, though practice would address that I'm sure. If you just want to try a scout scope get a long pic rail and use it to temporarily extend your rail forward. I would avoid switching to a scout if your rifle already mounts conventional scopes. My scout scope is the "standard" NC-Star 2-7x32.
Red dots are good, but they do use batteries, they do get wet, and they can get busted in a fall. Irons are always good to have. But you can carry a pre-zeroed reflex sight for a back-up as it's even more compact and lighter than the red dots.