1. Bring out your cheap Indian springer. In my case the AK 550 under lever.
2. Since the good people who make it don't put any rails on it, ask your local gunsmith to help. He will offer to weld a rail or if he's the more clever type, he'd even suggest that it can be soldered on.
3. It is too much bother eventually, so you order a cheap rounded dove-tail mount from a shady Chinese online seller. Some of them do ship such stuff to India. The one I ordered cost $6, free postage and arrived in 15 days. (See picture)
4. Order metal to metal epoxy resin. You get it in about 2 weeks.
Measure and mark off the centreline on your gun. I just used a red laser to line up the sights and marked the centre on the reciever.
5. Using a calliper, mark off the centre on your dove-tail rail. This will eventually align with the centre you marked on the receiver. I suggest making the markings using a steel pin or sharp edge. I initially used a pencil and the marks disappeared, you'll see why.
6. You have to remove the paint/blueing from the reciever for epoxy to stick. Roughing the surface makes epoxy stick better. I used sand paper and a metal file to rough out the reciever and the underside of the dove-tail rail. I was sloppy and did manage to scratch the blueing beyond the area intended. This is also where the pencil markings disappeared and I had to do the measurements again.
7. Follow the instructions on epoxy packet and mix a sufficient amount. I used most of what was in the tiny tubes.
8. Using an applicator, a wooden spoon in this case, spread an even, thin layer of epoxy on the reciever and the underside of the rail.
9. Put the rail on the reciever and line up the markings to align and centre. You have about a minute till the epoxy begins to harden.
10. The epoxy sets in about an hour. And cures fully in 24. You can file away any extra epoxy that may seep out from around the rail.
11. If you were careful, you now have a dovetail rail on your rifle. After curing, the bond is pretty strong, I tried my best to pry it apart but it says put. The epoxy makers claim it can handle 2500 psi if applied properly.
12. Now mount a dovetail to picatinny, 11 to 20 mm rail. A number of Indian online retailers have these. The dovetail tapers to the rear and hence prevents slippage due to recoil.
13. Mount your optics on the rail. Red dot or scope.
14. Enjoy shooting.
P.S.- The rifle still shoots like shit.
Think Bright.