Getting rings off a Weaver K4

[Big John]

I recently acquired a sporterized Remington 1917 Enfield with a Weaver K4 scope. The scope needs some care so I removed it from the base but I can’t figure out how to get the rings off. The front ring has two screws, the rear has one. The rings are split at the top but I can see no other place where these would be separated into two pieces. I could almost understand if the rear ring was installed by removing the eyepiece, but to install the front ring using that method would require removing the turrets.
Did Weaver ship scopes with these rings from the factory?

 

[GSP7]

ya gotz to pry them open with snap ring pliers and remove from scope. Ive done it . the rings are a tempered steal and spring back closed

 

[Paul B]

I had a Weaver K4 with a similar set up. You unscrewed the rear lens and the belled front also unscrewed. I removed the rings and placed them in file 13 and used later Weaver style rings. That scope would fog up any time it threatened to rain. I'm not sure I even still have it anymore.
PJ

 

[Killer Bee]

 

[Big John]

The front doesn't unscrew and other than the split at the top of the rings where the screws tighten onto the boty of the scope there is no other disconnect.

 

[Neon Vernon]

I've got an old K4 that was reconditioned by that fellow in El Paso and it came with the original rings. The forward ring has to have been installed before the turret assembly, I was able to get the rear off by removing the eyepiece but the front ring broke when I attempted to spread it enough to clear the tube.

They're decent little scopes but they sure make you appreciate modern lens coatings.

 

[Mobuck]

Leave the old scope alone for display purposes and mount a different scope in modern rings if you want to shoot the rifle.

 

[Neon Vernon]

Leave the old scope alone for display purposes and mount a different scope in modern rings if you want to shoot the rifle.

Have you shopped for a current production fixed power scope in recent years? They pretty much don't exist, that's why the "vintage" stuff is going for stupid money.

 

[s4s4u]

I was able to get the rear off by removing the eyepiece

This I would not recommend, if you disassemble the scope it is likely sure to fog up forever after.

 

[Mobuck]

"Have you shopped for a current production fixed power scope in recent years? "
I have not but they are available. My response: Why is a fixed power the #1 priority? I've found the current crop of mid-priced variables to be totally satisfactory for any need. Several of my budget priced 1-4x variables have held zero and maintained clarity after years of being carried in the UTV gun rack.

 

[Neon Vernon]

This I would not recommend, if you disassemble the scope it is likely sure to fog up forever after.

Someplace temperate, probably, I'm in AZ. I've turned old scope eyepieces back far enough to expose the o-ring while cleaning them up and never had an issue.

 

[Neon Vernon]

"Have you shopped for a current production fixed power scope in recent years? "
I have not but they are available. My response: Why is a fixed power the #1 priority? I've found the current crop of mid-priced variables to be totally satisfactory for any need. Several of my budget priced 1-4x variables have held zero and maintained clarity after years of being carried in the UTV gun rack.

The topic was K4's, logical extension. For that matter I'd like a mid-priced variable that's not a LPVO, like the discontinued Leupold 1-4 VXII but those are no longer readily available either.

 

[s4s4u]

Someplace temperate, probably, I'm in AZ. I've turned old scope eyepieces back far enough to expose the o-ring while cleaning them up and never had an issue.

Perhaps AZ, but do that in MN and see what happens ;) (y)

 

[Neon Vernon]

Humidity and green stuff growing are largely foreign concepts down here in Nature's Clean Room

The downside is that without the electric grid and water infrastructure most of us would be dead in under a week. (That Matt Damon movie, The Martian - yeah, that's not far from the truth)
:)

 

[Killer Bee]

I posted a video that shows how to remove/install weaver strap mount rings.

is that not what's on your scope?

did that procedure not work for you?

I have several vintage scopes and rings, including weaver fixed power and fixed reticle bausch and lomb scopes with kuharsky bros. bases where the windage and elevation adjustments are made.

I have a couple of Nick Stroebel's vintage scope books. if you care to post better pictures of what you're working on, I'll try to find more information for you.

good luck!

 

[s4s4u]

I posted a video that shows how to remove/install weaver strap mount rings.

OP has a different scope/rings.

 

[Paul B]

The funny thing is I have mostly 3x9X scopes on my rifles. When doing sighting for a new load or just general shooting for fun off the bench the scope is set at 9X. Yet on the hunt, if I've taken game when I look at how the scope was set, it's always been 3 or 4X tops. The funny ting is I don't remember ever switching the power ring from 9x to 3X yet that's where it was. I can understand it for most shots I've taken but the one that puzzles me still was the one on a cow elk at a laser measured 530 yards I held accordingly and at the shot she went down, DRT. The scope was set at 3X?????

One of my biggest gripes against scope makers today is them going to shorter tubes. Some of my more serious hunting rifles are Ruger Number Ones and most scopes currently on the market today are just too damn short. I could get some of the extended rings but I don't much care for the look. Until I find what I want. I'll just continue crawling up the stock.
PJ

 

[s4s4u]

When doing sighting for a new load or just general shooting for fun off the bench the scope is set at 9X.

I do similar for rifles, but then rifles on a bag or rest are pretty steady and there isn't much POI shift relative to hunting without a rest due to the weight and shoulder stock. Back in my Contender pistol days I would sight in on 3x with a 3-9 because I didn't want to rest the butt on anything (due to significant POI shift, relative to hunting without a rest) and 9x showed my wobble too much. I found myself stabbing the trigger and would pull the shot, bow shooters call it "target panic". My groups tightened up considerably on lower power, go figger

If a person shoots long range pistols from a steady rest all the time, higher magnification is a plus. But, for my type of hunting, from 1x to 4x is all I need or want in the field.