Author Topic: Aperture sight for CZ 452 Scout (Read 2278 times)

JimInNJ · « **on:** February 14, 2004, 02:31:58 PM »

I would like to put an aperture sight on a CZ 452 Scout youth rifle and I have some questions.

The existing front sight is a hooded blade. The rear sight is basically a spring with a sliding adjuster on the bottom that engages a series of evenly spaced notches in the top of the barrel. Sliding the adjuster forward a few notches wedges the sight higher. There is no provision for folding the rear sight down out of view. The front of the spring appears to be riveted to a block that is dovetailed into the barrel. Windage adjustment is by drifting the sights.

The receiver is grooved for 11mm European scope mounts. It is not drilled for a receiver sight.

Williams makes a Foolproof receiver sight model FP-GR that is supposed to fit all .22s and air rifles with grooved receivers. It sounds like it may be my best bet. Is there anything else I should look at?

I would prefer not to have to replace the front sight, but if it is not high enough I may have to. What hassles can I expect there? Hard to find metric dovetail perhaps?

What about that existing rear sight? I cant adjust it down out of the picture. Removing it would leave the open dovetail looking ugly and getting caught on stuff. A higher front sight might get it out of the picture, but then it probably wouldnt be useable.

Any comments would be welcome.

- Jim

gino · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2004, 03:03:57 AM »

If the rear sight dovetail is standard size (3/8?) there are fillers that will fit. Williams has them and probably other sight companies. I'd do a search on the Midway or Brownells websites.
gino

Dave in WV · « **Reply #2 on:** February 16, 2004, 05:50:18 AM »

Jim, I put one of the universal reciever peep sights from Williams you mentioned on my daughter's Anschutz Achiever and it works good. A little bulky looking compared to a reciever peep sight made for permanent mounting but is very functional.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2004, 12:16:01 PM »

Just curious: why a receiver sight instead of a scope?

JimInNJ · « **Reply #4 on:** February 18, 2004, 06:00:49 AM »

Gino, this may sound like a stupid question, but how (where) does one measure a dovetail?

Conan, although I bought the rifle to have on hand when a favorite nephew comes to visit, it has been pressed into service for a youth program at our club. We are teaching the NRA Basic Rifle course to over thirty kids and shooting the Light Rifle Qualification program. We are using an assortment of donated and personally owned rifles and have made a decision not to add scopes into the mix.

We are currently shooting in our indoor range, which has fairly poor lighting. The kids using rifles with aperture sights are doing significantly better than those stuck with open sights.

I do have a nice scope for the rifle, but that low comb really favors metallic sights. The nephew is thrilled with it just the way it is, but he has only shot it out in good light.

I have the Williams sight on the way from Midway. I should be able to see what I need to do once I clamp it on the rifle.

- Jim

gino · « **Reply #5 on:** February 18, 2004, 06:49:31 AM »

JimInNJ,
The dovetail is measured at the bottom of the slot. Just to make sure I just checked one of my rifles & it measured 0.375.
gino :-)

CEJ1895 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2004, 07:33:15 AM »

JimInNJ - There is a gentleman named "Brooks" or "Brookie" on the rimfire central forum that my be able to help you out with this. The dovetails on the CZ 452's are 11mm. I don't believe that there will be many options for installing aperture sights on your 452 Scout. I went ahead and mounted a Bushnell in CZ rings for my nephew on his scout. Please let us know what you find out. CEJ..

Dand · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2004, 12:57:53 PM »

Folks, I have the CZ 452 scout. Nice little gun. I could make the Williams rimfire aperture fit but I had to reshape the stock at the rear left of the receiver. I think a neater solution is to get the Williams made for Beeman airguns. I think the base will fit the dovetail grooves a little better. Also, I found that I needed a new front sight - higher I believe. But, when my boy is big enough, I want to start him on iron sights first rather than grow up dependent on scopes all the time. Try DNR or Straight Shooters on line.

Also, for mounting a scope, get the air gun rings made for 11 mm air gun rings. I got some Beemans rings from Cabela's at a fair price. Or try some of Gray Beard's advertisers. I expect DNR should carry them.

JimInNJ · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2004, 01:53:10 PM »

Well, Im stuck now and need some help.

I got the Williams FP-GR rear sight, and like Dand just said, I had to make a clearance cut in the side of the stock and I needed a higher front sight. So I ordered a Lyman 20 MJT front sight and went to work on the stock.

The rear sight now mounts nicely, but I have a problem up front. The dovetail in the barrel is about .020 wider than the dovetail on the Lyman sight! What do I do now?

The wide (bottom) part of the old front sight dovetail measures about .385 and the Lyman is about .365

Any ideas :?:

- Jim

gunnut69 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2004, 02:16:49 PM »

Call Brownells teckline. They'll have the answer. Great folks up there in Iowa..

JimInNJ · « **Reply #10 on:** February 26, 2004, 05:07:44 AM »

Here is what Brownells had to say:

Dear Sir,

We certainly do appreciate your interest in Brownells.
It appears that CZ is using a non-standard dovetail. So the only option
you have is to soft solder a filler block in the existing dovetail and
refit to the 3/8 in dovetail in the Lyman sight.

Dave Bennetts
BROWNELLS, INC(r)
Technical Services

JimInNJ · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2004, 02:09:25 AM »

Upon closer inspection it appears that the dovetail is also a non-standard angle, about 70 degrees, and deeper than standard. So, soldering in a filler block to make it fit a 3/8 in dovetail would not be as easy as it might sound.

I think I will be better off if I make a block to fit the existing slot, drill and tap that block, and use it to bolt on a Williams Shorty Ramp. Then I could easily put a Lyman 17A sight on top of that.

This approach avoids any cutting, drilling or soldering on the barrel and allows me to put things back the way they were if I ever want to. It also lets me spend some quality time with my files. :wink:

- Jim

gunnut69 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2004, 05:10:18 AM »

That sounds like a good solution to me. The filler won't need to be too tight as the screw pressure and the ramps fit to the barrel will keep it all alighned. Be sure to use removeable LockTite on the screw, it'll loosen otherwise. Isn't the metric system a wonder!! Good luck on the project.

JimInNJ · « **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2004, 07:35:40 AM »

I am pleased to report success.

Used files and a drill and tap on a scrap of steel to make a filler block to fit the slot. Screwed a Williams Shorty ramp onto the block (with LockTite) and everything centered itself and pulled tight. Then pressed a Layman 17A sight onto the ramp.

The base of the Layman 17A is a lot wider than the top of the Williams ramp, but that does not cause any problem other than looking odd. I can trim off the extra metal some day when I have nothing better to do.

The original rear sight did not need to be removed or modified as it is now below the line of the new sights. I can easily put things back the way they were if I ever want to.

I took it to our 50 indoor range Wednesday evening and sighted it in. Adjustments were easy and precise. Groups were 1/3 which is a dramatic improvement from the 1-1/3 I was getting with the open sights.

The real test was last night with the youth program. I was working with a kid whose only shooting experience was some air rifle in the Cub Scouts and a youth day event we held at our club last fall. He easily qualified for the basic rocker, and then scored 81 on an A-32 target from a bench. It probably would have been 90 if he hadnt accidentally put one of his for record shots into the sighter bull.

I am happy.

Thanks for all the advice.

- Jim