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Evolution of "tip off" mounting

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Andyd 
#1 ·
I always thought "tip off" mounting was an American idea starting in the 1960's. Yet, pre war Mauser 22 rifles have the grooves. I suppose this was used in Europe much earlier than in the US?
 
#4 · (Edited)
My MS420 has a fairly early S/N I think and is not grooved for scope mounts. I have the Speed book but haven't really spent much time trying to nail down the year made, but I believe it was mid 1920's. The MM410B I got from Bobcat21 has the grooved receiver. I think it was made in the late 1930's. I really need to check the book one of these days.
 

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#6 ·
Yes, it appears the Germans were way ahead of us on this one. I think one explanation is the fact that they were also well ahead of us in telescopic sight development. Many, if not most American shooters didn't trust scope sights until the 1950s. They tended to be quite expensive, heavy, and not all that reliable. The Lyman Alaskan and a few others changed all that to some extent, but they were still pretty pricey for the average American. Finally, Bill Weaver came along with a scope that was affordable, fairly light, and dependable. American shooters and hunters really took to them, so that manufacturers had to come up with a way to make them easier to mount, instead of having to go to a gunsmith to adapt them.

Now, I would guess that 90-95% of rifles have some type of optic mounted on them.
 
#7 ·
It was in the trenches of the battle for Verdun, that German marksmen, called Scharfschützen, were given scoped rifles that were donated by hunters. The French were quite surprised at the successful long distance shots that came from the German side.
 
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