I was just wondering if anyone with expierience could tell me how to drill the rail on my Classic 'Mag for use with a back bottle ASA. I'm pretty nervous and don't want to mess my baby up. Please help!

1) Take you BBA, line it up where you want it on the rail.

2) Mark holes with pencil, be sure they don't interfere with the z-lock.

3) Use a punch on the center of each mark

4) Using a drill press, and letting the punchmarks guide you, drill through.

5) Measure the depth of the heads of the machine screws you intend to use.

6) Using a larger drill bit and the depth you just measured, follow your previous holes on the top of the rail.

7) Clean up the recessed area by hand with an even larger bit (a few turns removes burrs).



I've done it a handfull of times without issue. Measure twice, drill once. Make sure to match your bits to the head and shaft of the machine screw you're using, and be sue that screw is a flathead (for lower profile). As I recall, BBAs take standard 10-32 threading, and can't accept a whole lot of threading, so go with something shorter.

I don't have access to a drill press...The holes are already marked on mine. So is there any other reccomendations? Or should I just send it to a machinist or something?

Honestly? They don't have to be perfectly straight as long as they're lined up... With a flathead screw and a slight recess, the machine screw is self-straightening when you tighten it. What really matters is what distance apart the two holes are.

do you have a vise? will help with free hand drilling if you dont have a drill press.
the holes will be covered by both sides so you dont have to worry as much about the holes being pretty.
use a small amountt of wd-40 on your drill bit, and drill slowly

That's a good call, though it is worth th $2 to pick up some cutting fluid at your local hardwar store.

Okay, another problem. I don't have the screws yet. Just the back bottle ASA. So is there a place I can buy the screws or what? Sorry, if you haven't noticed I'm kind of new to this.

Yep. Local hardware store again. Look for flat head 10-32 stainless steel, about a half inch tip-to-tail.

Alright, and my drill bit size should roughly be?

I believe you drill 21 for a 10-32 tap, so one or two sizes up from that.

You should be able to hold it against the machine screw and completely obscure it. Do the same for the larger bit for the head of the screw.

Ah, I'm just gonna get this done for me. Know anyone with a quick turn around that could do this for me?

The holes should be already drilled except for the last tiny bit of metal. Use a hole punch or nail set and just punch it out from the top side. The metal should break right out and leave the proper hole.

PM Luke on here.

I can do a same day turn arround on that.
http://www.lukescustoms.com/index.htm
Pm me if you want me to do the work.

I got it taken care of but thank you very much luke! I will keep you in mind if I need any work done in the future!