Mounting scope on a WR Lee Speed?

[Blaser K77]

Hey all!

Fairly new here and appreciate all the nice people and help available on the forum! Thanks!

I can not find any good ways to mount a scope on a Westley Richards Lee Speed and thought I’d ask here.

A friend is selling his .303 and I am very tempted to purchase it but since I have poor eyes a scope is needed, but without destroying such a beautiful rifle.

Any ideas out there?

 

[Heym SR20]

Given the dust cover you won’t be able to easily mount a scope. I would use a wee little Red dot sight with some sort of clamp over the rear sight. A tang mounted peep also really improves it for older eyes.

Edit: i suppose if nothing else works you could epoxy a base for a red dot to the top of the barrel. Beauty of most epoxies is that they soften at about 150°c so easy enough to remove with a little.

If the front bead is too fine a little piece of plastic or brass tube slit lengthwise on one side with a little drop of white, red, gold or illuminouse paint can really help.

But the youngest of the Lee Speeds are over 100 years old and it’s a pitty to mess with them.

 

[Blaser K77]

Thanks!

Yes I know it’s hard to do and I think I have to reconsider buying it since neither red dots or peep sights work for me.

I can’t use anything but scopes.

 

[Heym SR20]

Thanks!

Yes I know it’s hard to do and I think I have to reconsider buying it since neither red dots or peep sights work for me.

I can’t use anything but scopes.

If you want a nice vintage rifle have a look for an old Mannlicher Schoeneur. Many of them were fitted with scopes from the beginning. Many will wear a British makers name as well. The original 6.5x54 Mannlicher ammo doesn’t meet min Scottish velocities, but easy enough to load 140 ish grain bullet and mimic the 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Here's a scoped BSA "Speed". It shows it can be done, but only if the bolt cover is dispensed with and the right set of mounts found.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Another approach is the Eye Pal dioptre discs you can stick to your shooting glasses.
I mostly use these for pistol shooting, but I also have a barebacked LSA Speed (very like your friend's WR one - but considerably tattier) and the rifle version of the Eye Pal is a godsend when I comes to shooting it.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Here's another sporting Enfield by BSA with a different mounting arrangement... If you can't come by a rifle that's already equipped to take a scope, finding suitable vintage mounts and optics can be a real challenge, and then you need to find someone with the skills to fit them.