Can you drill a receiver for a scope with a handheld dill?

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It depends. Small dia high speed steel drills, standard length, like to wander, even in a drill press. It's also difficult to locate the holes relative to one another as most drill presses don't have an XY table. If the surface is the least bit rounded or angled, it's going to be hard to get a good spot. Scope bases are relatively unforgiving of mis-located, poorly threaded, or angled holes. Drilling holes in guns is actually rather hard to do well without a good setup as guns have lots of curved and irregular surfaces and the precision requirements are pretty high. It's not impossible, just be prepared for what might happen.
 
sugarmaker - i will post some pictures later, i can show you the side of the receiver but the mount and drill press/vice have not arrived yet. It seems flat. But it should look like this when it is done:
skschoateexample.jpg -note not my picture found on google.

As you can see from the above the sks reciever i need to drill is flat. I am more worried about, drilling through the side to make sure it does not interfere with the bolt. The above is approximately what I am looking for in my final result.
 
If you think that the charge to drill/tap correctly is expensive, wait till you see the charge for fixing what you've managed to screw up. Assuming that it's fixable at all, and you haven't just created 2 or 3 hundred dollars worth of scrap metal.

Trying to do this with a hand drill is silly. Trying to do it with a drill press and not using an appropriate drilling fixture (like the Forster) is no better.

$75/hole is extreme. Find a cheaper smith, and let them handle it. You have neither the tools nor the experience for this.
 
Fleet - the Forster fixture you mention actually appears to be a jig for drilling a rounded receiver aka a bolt action receiver, i am trying to recreate the picture above the sks has a square receiver, the Forster jig will do me no more good than a bench top clamp.
 
If you are not familiar with metalworking, it may be best to go to a shop!

@ jimmyray....nice set up! drill bushings are the way to go!

However, if you are mechanically inclined..there is a good deal of info on this thread to probably gat a scope on your gun! :)

(test pieces,test pieces,test pieces...when your comfy...drill it!)

There are a few things that could help in a pinch if you had to go that way tho!
Grizzly sales these little split rings for $6.95....the smallest one will still fit a #32 #33 drill bit which is used on most scope mounts 6-40 (#33 drill) This will keep your depth in check, but put piece of tape on bottom to protect finish.

A drill press would still be best for proper alignment.

If you get in position to acquire you a drill press, below is a suggestion that is a little more expensive, but not like a milling machine in the thousands $$$, and much better than a drill press. A very handy machine for smith work indeed. It is a Jet Hobby Mill at just under $700.00 at your local Northern Tool Dist.
 

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Got in touch with a local gunsmith he charges 40 dollars a hole, 160 total for this mount job, so I am weighing that against the fact that the rifle cost 225 originally.
 
The problems with Gunsmiths in the Northeastern US - Especially in Delaware, being a small state, have very few Gunsmiths as options, they tend to charge more than average because of the shortage of qualified individuals. And it is hard to find a good one just because they are so few, and they don't see as much, or as varied work requests. For instance in DE you can only hunt with shotguns, so I imagine he gets more jobs with shotguns and pistol sight jobs for the self defense market.
 
While the forster drilling gig I have is pictured set up for rounded receivers it can be used on square receivers as well as for drilling barrels for open sights. If this one rifle is ALL you will ever need drilled,it isn't worth the expense compared to having it professionally done.
 
I am leaning towards letting the gunsmith do the work and just work on my drilling and taping technique on scrap metal until I get confident in my technique. Than maybe I will be skilled enough to do the next drill and tap project I come up with.
 
mookiie said:
i am leaning towards letting the gunsmith do the work and just work on my drilling and taping technique on scrap metal until i get confident in my technique. Than maybe i will be skilled enough to do the next drill and tap project i come up with.
Click to expand...

Horray!!
 
mookiie said:
Got in touch with a local gunsmith he charges 40 dollars a hole, 160 total for this mount job, so I am weighing that against the fact that the rifle cost 225 originally.
Click to expand...

40 Dollars a hole??
When I had an FFL years ago I charged 3 bucks a hole.
Oh well, Back then Gas was only 30 cents a gallon.
BUT, 40 a hole IS preposterous!
 
Fleet: "If you think that the charge to drill/tap correctly is expensive, wait till you see the charge for fixing what you've managed to screw up. Assuming that it's fixable at all, and you haven't just created 2 or 3 hundred dollars worth of scrap metal."

Bravo
 
CZguy - I already have a Williams rear sight that is fine I do not need the tech sights at ths time as the Williams is fine for iron sights, But wanted a seperate optics option above since this mount allows iron sighting. Thanks for the info though.
 
Ouch...$40 a hole... 2 hours of shop time. i guess if i had to make a fixture or arrange the clamps and shims, true the mill to the surface etc., and determine the line of the scope relative to the rifle bore and determine the drill line so you're not at full adjustment just to come into zero, maybe. Add extra precautions so nothing gets bent or marred I guess I'd probably have 2 hours into it the first time if it's a difficult shape. Note I am NOT a gunsmith nor do I claim to be but I do like working on my own stuff and a few items for friends. If you like this sort of thing and have the right tools it is kind of satisfying to do a job like this the right way and know how to do it again. The mistake is to start without the right tools not knowing what to expect and then get into a mess trying to back up and correct things that went wrong. That's no fun.
 
Well, we haven't even talked about taps.
How many guys have a 6x48 tap in their arsenal ?
How many guys can determine the size tap required with the available mount?
Remember THIS, daily we deal with stuff made elsewhere (metric)
Sure, we can make substitions BUT screw head dimensions /mount mean something.
I cannot say it enough, there are mounts available for your Mil-Surp rifle,save yourself heartache and a LOT of money and go by what is available
 
How many guys have a 6x48 tap in their arsenal ?
Click to expand...
I have several as well as 8x40 taps. I didn't get them at a hardware store though!! That is a very good point! Taps needed will be gun specific,both starting and bottoming taps(for blind holes). Tha good ones aint cheap!
 
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Just like jimmyraythomason, I have several 6x48 taps, and I'm an Aircraft Mechanic with forty years experience. Drilling holes in a receiver is not the place to practice.

Zeke/PA is absolutely correct.....and I hope the original poster PMs him.
 
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