Taking apart a scope question

[handirifle]

I have a project I'm working on, and have an old rimfire scope I want to use.  I want to remove the "mounds" that the adjustment knobs come out of.  in other words, when removed, I want the scope smooth from front to back.

Not worried about holes left, or being able to adjust the crosshairs once it's done.

Any ideas how to take them off without ruining the scope?

[Graybeard]

I'm thinking you're most likely about to ruin the scope for ANY use. Regardless of whether it's a varible (worst case scenario) or a fixed power you're gonna find it's unlikely to be useful for anything other than a club after you do that.

The erector tube and lens assembly are under those turrets. The spring tension of those turrets are all that hold the erector tube and lens in place. In a variable scope moving that assembly is the job of the power adjustment ring and that's how it changes magnification is by changing the placement of the erector system lens. The adjustment turets move it up/down and left/right to adjust POI.

So long as all is locked down and allowed to move ONLY the distances intended and designed into the scope all is well. But remove that control and they might just go anywhere they want and that means the scope is no longer an optical instrument to look thru but just a short club. You "might" luck up and find it doesn't move so much you lose all use of it but I'd not bet the farm on it. For sure once you've removed one I'd epoxy thru that hole to maintain the position of the erector tube and HOPE it was enough. But too much might mean it bocks the view too. Just not a good idea at all.

If you JUST GOTTA have one without turrets try to locate one of the older B&L scopes that used external adjustments, they had no turrets.

[handirifle]

Hmmmm, thanks GB.  That's more info than I've gotten so far.  Truth is I don't care if it ends up ruined, it's an old cheap scope anyway.  I have a couple I might experiment on.

[Luckyducker]

My S-I-L and I took an old Simmons rifle scope apart once just to see how it worked.  If you take the turrets off the outer tube then the erector tube will rattle around inside as the spring tension of the turrets is what holds it in place.  The scope we tore apart was a variable power model and we saw that when the power ring was turned the erector tube moved either forward or rearward depending upon which way the ring was turned.  BTW, all the nitrogen gas is released from inside the outer tube when it is opened in any way which, as you probably already know, allows the lenses to fog.  If you are planning on using this scope for anything at all besides a paper weight I wouldn't tear it apart.