savage mark II - scope or no?

[peterabbits]

a few years ago i bought a youth sized Savage Mark II lefty for my son's first rifle. he loves the gun, will shoot it for hours on end when we go to the range and does fairly decent using the open sights at 100 yards. he's been bugging me for a scope for a couple months now. my question is this - the gun has what appears to be slots for a scope mount - believe it takes a weaver mount - but the receiver isn't drilled or tapped - does anyone know if it needs to be? and if it does - what are your opinions? put the scope on it, or leave it as is, for what it was intended to be - a basic .22 gun for a novice shooter, and instead invest in a better gun for him with a scope when he outgrows the youth sized stock?

[shooterdude]

These slots are for scope rings. I have a Savage Mark2 .22 rifle and put a Centerpoint 3-9x scope on it from Walmart for about $40. It works great. Its fun to go to my local range and shoot pieces of broken clay pigeons on the ground at about 75 yards.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

...the gun has what appears to be slots for a scope mount - believe it takes a weaver mount - but the receiver isn't drilled or tapped...

Yeah, it sounds like you are talking about the dovetail grooves that are cut into the receiver on many rimfire rifles.



The Savage probably has 3/8 inch grooves. Many cheap rimfire scopes actually come with a set of rings that will fit those grooves. To mount a Weaver style scope base you would need the receiver to be drilled and tapped. I think the newer Savages come D&T already.

[peterabbits]

yup those are the groves i'm talking about - thanks.

so now the question is: should i get him a scope and go through the whole process of getting this rifle ready to accept it, or make him wait until he grows into a full size rifle?

[FUBAR]

Keep him shooting with the iron sights. It promotes better marksmanship.