Mounting red dot

[Huddy]

Hello …I have a 12 gauge Henry turkey gun…. I want to mount a vortex red dot to barrel but the holes don’t line up… can this barrel be easily tapped by a gunsmith… thanks

[rickhem]

I have an old Stevens 9478 in 12 gauge. It's also a single barrel, break action shotgun. It was a 28", full choke barrel originally, but I cut off 3 inches, so now it's 25" cylinder bore. I bought this a long time ago, when I lived in NJ. There was a short period where they allowed slugs for deer hunting, but not rifled barrels, and I modified this shotgun for that purpose. I drilled and tapped the chamber of the barrel, where it's thickest, and mounted a Weaver base, I forget which one I used. The chamber area is a cylinder with parallel sides, and the barrel tapers after that, so only three screws hold the base on, and the end out towards the muzzle extends out over that taper a bit. All three tapped holes are blind holes, meaning they do not go all the way through, into the chamber. I remember the machinist at work helping me do it, and he said it would be better done on the mill, but I set up the depth stop on the drill press and did it on that. I used to have a Simmons Deerfield 2½ power scope on it, but that scope migrated to my Winchester 1200 when rifled barrels were eventually allowed for hunting.
So yes, it can be done, and a competent gunsmith should be able to take care of it for you.

[Mags]

Hello …I have a 12 gauge Henry turkey gun…. I want to mount a vortex red dot to barrel but the holes don’t line up… can this barrel be easily tapped by a gunsmith… thanks

Which Vortex Red Dot do you have or plan to buy?
The Vortex Shotgun Viper Red Dots have slotted mounting holes so should mount fine to a Henry 12ga.
Other Red Dots mount to a rail. Henry 12ga shotguns are drilled and tapped for a Weaver 82 rail mount.

[rickhem]

I will add here that when shooting 3" buckshot, or 3" slugs, this is the hardest kicking long gun I've ever fired. Most of that is the light weight, the rest is the the shortened barrel and what seems like birch stocks. I doubt it weighs 5 pounds. When I was sighting in, after about the third or fourth shot, it was really hard to not anticipate. Not sure how much the Henry will kick, but if you decide to go with 3" or even the 3½" offerings, be ready for it.