Milsurp After Hours

Moved this from another thread in order to start over..............

"Having trouble with the scope mount dovetail rails. Bought a 3/8" to Weaver rail adaptor and it fit
great, clamped down tight, but makes the scope too high with Weaver rings on top of adaptors.
So bought a set of rings, 3/8" x 1" tube for scope, the clamps are too big for the rail.
The scope came with a set of rings that are "standard" size for a .22 rail, they are also too big.
So why does one 3/8" set of rings fit and the next set doesn't??
One set says it "Fits Standard .22/Airgun Base", is that different than 3/8" dovetail??
Is there more than one size of rails on a .22??"


OK, so I have kind of answered my own question. But still looking for opinions and or answers.
Got out my trusty micrometer and did some measuring of my Sears/High Standard .22 LR (1954) and
Mossberg Chuckster .22 WMR (1967) dovetail rails. They are not the same across the top of the dovetail.
The Sears is 9.1mm or .36" and the Mossberg is 11.4mm or .46".
3/8" = .37" or 9.5mm, which is the size of the Sears.
7/16" = .44" or 11.1mm, which is closer to the Mossberg.
So obviously .22 dovetails come in 2 sizes. Yet many of the rings for sale on various web site advertise
them as "9mm/11mm" for size of dove, assuming that means they will fit both size doves.
So far I have bought 2 sets of scope rings advertised as fitting 3/8" dove and both are too big for
the 3/8" dove on my Sears .22, neither set will clamp down tight.
As mentioned earlier, I did buy set of adapters that are 3/8" dove to Weaver, and they clamp tight.
So why do other rings for 3/8" dove not clamp tight?
And most importantly, where the Hell can I find 3/8" dove to 1" rings that will clamp tight????

Any help appreciated.

Since I wasn't getting much response here, I asked the guy that has a web site for the
High Standard company, the ones who made all the early JC Higgins .22 rifles for Sears.
According to him, these Sears rifles had a dovetail size all their own.........figures....
But he also said the Leupold, split vertically, 3/8" dovetail rings will work if you make sure to
tighten the bottom screw first. So I ordered a set............we'll see.

Seems like asking in the right places works better than asking us Vern.......................good luck with the solution

I don't have a scope on mine.....and now I never will even think about it knowing it's a problem.

It seems that everyone here has a few .22s, guess nobody has run into the same problem.

I have seen quite a few of the original JC Higgins branded 4x and 6x scopes on ebay, like the one that
came on my rifle. Their mounts will obviously fit, and many of the ads claim to not be cloudy like
mine is.

Went to the range on Monday, total disaster. The Weaver 3/8" dovetail to Weaver rail adapters that
I bought don't work for shit, at 50 yards I was aiming at the center of a 4' x 4' cardboard sheet with
a target in the middle. Finally realized I was hitting 2' to the left of the cardboard, in the dirt, and even
adjusting the scope all the way, was hitting over 1' to left of target. Not the scope, it works great on
my Chuckster. The adapters just don't clamp straight on the rifle, so I ordered the Leupold rings.

Got the Leupold rings and they clamp tight to the dovetail, so...............
Off to the range tomorrow.....

Haven't made it to the range yet, will go if it ever stops raining...........
The scope mounts a little high, but these are see-through rings and I can still use
the open sights. Yes, that's a joke, if I could see to use open sights, wouldn't need
a scope.......
And for whatever reason, a previous owner painted the back side of the rear sight red.

Looks good. Let us know how it works on the range.