When two Henry Repeating Arms rimfire lever action rifles (LARs) landed in my hands for review, I thought about all of the fun things I could do with them…like threading barrels. Then I thought about the things I needed to do with them – like accuracy testing, which meant scoping the two LARs.
The Henry’s receiver plays host to a 4.5-inch-long, 3/8-inch (11mm) Dovetail mounting rail, an industry standard for light-recoil firearms and airguns. Problem was, my only air gun with an appropriate scope, the SIG Sauer MCX .177 cal., has Mil-spec 1913 rails – go figure!
After selecting a 1-inch tube Vortex Diamondback 2-7×35 Diamondback scope for the task, I began searching for a good-quality, reliable one-piece aluminum mount. I waded through a mound of garbage mounts designed for low-end air guns, until several commenters in an online forum referenced BKL Technologies out of Fort Worth, Texas.
Once at BKL’s website I was quickly funneled to their 200 Series aluminum alloy mounts based on my needs. The BKL 200 Series features 1-inch scope rings and a mount compatible with both 3/8-inch rimfire and 11mm airgun dovetail rails. There were fifteen different options to choose from, including quite a few I hadn’t considered initially.
After distilling the options down, I ordered the matte black BKL 261, a 4″ long unitized set of scope rings designed specifically for rimfire firearms and air guns.
A keen individual will point out that the clearance ports on this model are designed for use with bolt-action rimfire rifles, allowing loading and ejection from either side. Given that the LARs eject to the side and the magazine is fed from the muzzle end, the rifle doesn’t exactly reap the full intended benefit of the port.
However, I found that the extra space is helpful when loading a single round or clearing a jam. Additionally, the size and spacing of the port matched-up very well with receiver and provided a reduced-weight unitized mount option.
BKL aims to make installation easy with their Auto-centering feature. Strategic relief cuts are made in specific relation to the milled clamp and screw axis’ such that when all is buttoned-up, everything sits centered on the rail. After swapping the mounted Vortex Diamondback across rifles without any issue, I believe there is validity to this feature when it comes to rimfire firearms and airguns.
All parts accounted for, including the provided Allen key, the mount was ready for its first host rifle.
Installing the BKL 261 mount to the Henry LARs was fairly routine. I suspected the mount would not fit over-the-top but I tested it anyway. No-go.
All BKL mounts offer a nice clamp spreading feature (shown above) to help over-the-top installation. I’m not a fan of bending mounts unless absolutely necessary so I passed on this option.
Fortunately, the dovetail is full-length on the Henry and cocking the hammer provides the clearance needed to slide the mount into place on the dovetail rail from the rear.
The BKL 261 mount fit well on the rail and its clearance port lined-up nearly perfectly with the case of the rifle. I applied Loctitie Blue 242 and hand-tightened each of the three screws with the provided 9/16-inch Allen key. There are no torque specs listed for the model.
An additional benefit of the unitized design is that it provides a nice flat space on which to employ a digital protractor during scope mounting (zero receiver, zero mount off of receiver, then zero scope in mount).
Scope successfully mounted, I headed to the range to test both the mount and the rifle simultaneously. The mount put the scope right where it needed to be and after over 500 rounds of various .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle, the mount (and scope) remained steadfast to the receiver.
I swapped the mount over to the second Henry LAR, a .22 Magnum, and proceeded to run another 500 rounds with the same rock-steady result. Dozens of groups shot from both rifles confirmed the same.
When it comes to rimfire (and airguns) the BKL 261 4-inch Long Rimfire Unitized Dovetail mount hits the mark. It is arguably a bit more than is required for low-recoil platforms (including .22 Magnum and .17 HMR) and it rings-up at a very competitive price given the quality of manufacture and coating. If this specific model doesn’t meet your needs, they have fourteen others in the 200 series – check them out!
Specifications: BKL Technologies BKL 261 4″ Rimfire Dovetail Mount
Price as reviewed: $54.95
Technical Specifications:
- Overall Length: 4″
- Short clamp Length: 0.75″
- Large clamp Length: 1.65″
- Ring Width: 0.6″
- Bottom of Mount to bottom of Scope Tube: 0.774″
- Turret Clearance: 0.125”
- Ejection Port Length: 1.72″
- Weight: 4.2 oz.
Ratings (out of five stars):
Design: * * * *
The BKL 261 mount features auto-centering, clamp spreading, and a very nice clearance port that works well across a variety of firearm types. It’s slightly on the bulky/boxy side of the spectrum.
Quality: * * * *
BKL mounts are very good quality. They are not precision parts, my any means, but they certainly exceed the needs of the average rimfire (or airgun) enthusiast. The coating is very good, as well.
Installation: * * * * *
Installation is straight-forward. If you cannot slide the mount down the rail from the front or back, then use the spreading screws to gain clearance for over-the-top rail installation.
Overall: * * * *
The BKL 261 is an excellent mount for low-recoil firearms and airguns that utilize an 3/8″ dovetail or 11mm mounting rail. Solid craftsmanship and coating with equally solid lock-up and retention of optic, the BKL 261 comes in at a decently competitive price and is well worth a look.
BKL makes excellent, top-notch stuff. Super popular in the airgun crowd.
What does your airgun have to do with scope mounts for a lever action rifle?
commonly, air rifles and .22’s have 3/ 8″ (11mm) rails rather than the 5/ 8″ seen on centerfire stuff. warne makes some nice steel .22 mounts. i’ve used 3/ 8″ to 5/ 8″ adapters that allow mounting a trs25 red dot to a mk vll deagle, for instance. i expect .44mag to destroy that sight, but i’ll see.
thanks for bringing bkl products to my attention. do they make these in texas, or are they imported?
Made in the US of A. I’ve got several of their mounts and the quality is top-shelf.
I didn’t notice Madcap stating he had an airgun? Firestone makes good tires for 737’s . What’s an airplane got to do with my F150
I did not reply to Madcap. I replied to the review which included random references to the writer’s air guns.
Example Paragraph #2: “Problem was, my only air gun with an appropriate scope, the SIG Sauer MCX .177 cal., has Mil-spec 1913 rails – go figure!”
Hmm I did not suffer that confusion when reading it. Maybe I can interpret?
“I needed to put a scope on these guns to do accuracy testing.
These guns have a rail that’s standard among airguns.
I own an airgun. With a scope.
Unfortunately, it has a Pic rail so I couldn’t use the scope on the Henrys.”
.
.
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This translation from English to English generously donated free of charge and at no cost to you by the Jeremy S. Centre for Kids Who Don’t Read Good®”
If he had turned it as a writing assignment, a teacher would have marked it down significantly for lack of clarity.
Conner, with the scope sitting that high, are you getting any cheek weld at all on the stock?
Just curious.
Hey, Tom…apologies for the delayed reply here. I saw your other comment on the Henry review, too. The stock on the Henry works perfect for me with their iron sights. However, when I scoped the two .22-caliber LARs the glass did sit high. I get a comfortable “chin weld” with a very relaxed posture, enough to stabilize my head for accurate shots. The recoil didn’t affect my follow-up shots.
On the Henry review another reader commented about a $75 Monte Carlo replacement stock. I can’t find one on their site and unfortunately no one is available in their office today to field the question.
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