Webley Mk 3 Scope advice.

[zooma]

I have just bought a Webley Mk 3 that is in really good condition. The blue finish is amazing - maybe a MAG finish ? - and the rifle looks superb - unfortunately a lot better than my aging eyesight.

As I want to enjoy shooting this classic rifle ( the action is very smooth and it feels like it has had very little use), I need to fit a suitable scope to it, but the three spot welds that secure the scope mounting plate suggest I should be a little careful with the choice. A big scope would be too heavy, and not look right on a nice classic rifle like this.

I do have a Simmons 1.5 - 5 x 20mm Whitetail classic that I could fit, but the modern cast scope mounts all seem to have quite thick and heavy "claws" that look to be fatter than the scope plate/cylinder gap, and I don't want to fit them if they will cause any leverage against the spot-welded scope plate.

Even this smallest Symonds scope is big and compariltively heavy when compared with a typical period scope such as the Japanese Dragon Slayer 4 x 20 type from that same time period, and the pressed tin mounts on these would not squeeze between the scope plate and the cylinder. Unfortunately the optics on these were not too good, and I am looking for something a little better that I can see clearly through.

Any ideas about a suitable scope?....but even more importantly - any thoughts about suitable scope mounts that would be safe to fit with a small scope on the Mk 3 scope plate.