I had mixed feeling on adding a scope to Junior's 510. After all, I used it just fine "as is" when I was his age. I felt using open sites were a skill that he should learn now before adding scopes and lasers and all those doodads to his rifle. But the 510 is his now and so I reluctantly agreed to "look into it". He gave me his scope from his airsoft sniper rifle to use. It was scratched up a bit but the optics were surprisingly adequate. I found a few articles on the web where others have mounted scopes on the 510 and started reading up on how it is done. Hmmm...I think I can do it....so I took a few notes and made a plan.
What surprised me was that the mounting holes are drilled with bits you can't get at the hardware store. I didn't even know a "#31" drill bit existed. The special tap tools were also foreign to me with their special sizes and different tapers. The other problem is that there were differences in the hardware lists and tools lists from the various articles. Some said to use a #31 drill while others said no it's a #32. Some said use two #43 Weaver mounts some said differently. My guess is that there is more than one way to get the job done and I picked what seemed correct to me. I got all the tools and parts in a day or two. I love the smell of Amazon boxes on the front porch...smells like victory.
I made a jig to hold the barrel at 90 degrees on the drill press and took forever to find TDC on the barrel. I think I measured it about 50 different ways to be sure. I was a quite nervous about drilling holes in the wrong place since those holes are forever. I glued on the two #43s and checked for level and true. Now before I got myself into this mess, I did check prices for a gunsmith to drill the holes for me. At first, it seemed way too expensive. With my drill spinning and sweat tricking, that gunsmith pricing was starting to look mighty fine.
I got the holes drilled and was glad that part was over. I used the bench press to center the tops of the taps to keep them centered and tapped all the holes. I removed the mount bases, cleaned up the glue, and remounted with the screws. So far so good...well I hope so. I mounted the remaining rings and hardware and then bore sighted the scope.
Next step is to take it to the range and let Junior do the final zero on the scope. I'm hoping that it zeros okay and that this was a successful learning experience.
DeBug
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