Side Mounting a Sight to a Marker
by Aaron "Ghost" Grubin

            When I was in High School, my Electronics teacher told us about living during the Great Space Race. He told us of the great leaps and bounds in technological advances to send a man into space. He told us that the United States spent hundreds of thousands of dollars researching, designing, developing, and testing a pen that would write in the micro gravity environment of space. The Soviets took a pencil. They used a simple solution and beat the West into orbit. In keeping with that spirit, I've tried to adopt that kind of design philosophy in what I design and build. Thank you Mr. Stiller. In an effort to keep this simple, cheap and effective, all the parts are reasonably cheap, at a few dollars each, and easy to find at hardware stores and a gun shop. Here is a short list of items that you will need for this project. 

Tools Needed:

            1- Dremel Moto tool with grinding disk

                        or Coarse Sand Paper

            1- Scope Top Mount Bottom

            1- Epoxy or Strong glue

                        *Optional

            2- Scope Top Mount Bottoms

            2- ¾-inch Scope Mounting Rings

            1- 6-inch length of ¾-inch wooden dowel

            The first step is to use a grinding wheel, or coarse sand paper to remove the anodizing from the Scope Top Mount Bottom. Only remove the anodizing from the point where you want the mount to stick to your gun. You want the clean surface to be rough. All those small scrapes and gouges will give the epoxy glue more surface area to cling to and strengthen the bond.

            Next, decide where you want the scope to sit on your gun. I chose the left side because I felt to would be more comfortable for me. You have to decide that for your self. When you decide where you want the scope to mount, you have to remove the anodizing by grinding or sanding. This may emotionally cripple those who are extremely proud of their pretty colored gun. Sorry, but if you don't roughen the surface up, the mount just won't stick well. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made.

            You now have two prepared surfaces to bond. Glue the Scope Top Mount Bottom to the spot you've cleaned off on your marker. Have the mount pointing ALMOST parallel to the barrel. Pointing it down slightly will compensate for the fact that a paintball drops shorter than the rifle bullet your scope was intended for. Let it point down by anywhere up to five degrees. Not too much, but use your judgment. Wait for the epoxy to harden, and attach your scope according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

            To orient the cross hairs, loosen the rings that hold the scope on the marker, and rotate the scope until the crosshairs line up properly. Tighten and you're good to go.

            Optional Installation of Sights That Can Not be Rotated

            Use the grinding wheel or sand paper to remove the anodizing from the second Scope Top Mount Bottom, and epoxy it to the dowel.

            Slide the scope mounting rings on to the piece of 3/4-inch dowel. Do not tighten them down, this will come later.

            Final assembly; place the wooden dowel on the side mounted scope mount as you would a scope.

The sight then mounts to the rail on top of the dowel, and is rotated in place to properly align it. Tighten the scope rings on the dowel and you're finished.