Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Target scope reticle wires

Has anyone here ever replaced the reticle wires in a vintage target scope such as Unertl, Fecker, Litschert, etc.? I can get the mounting ring out of the scope, but am faced with not knowing the diameter of the wire, where to find it, and techniques for installation thereof.

Maybe http://www.parsonsscopeservice.com/home.html ?

It ain't worth doing it your self. A roll of appropriate wire is very very expensive. My mind is blank at the moment, but a fellow in Florida does them pretty quickly. Parsons is good but way behind the last time that I checked. I will do my best to get you contact to the Florida fellow.

http://targetshooteroptics.com/Home_Page.php

The Ackerman's have done a few reticle swaps for me on target scopes. the work was timely and well done.

Butch probably knows a good bit about Bill and his work, I'd be interested to hear his take on it

The fellow Butch is referring to is

Joe Ruth
727 Cedar Knoll Dr. N.
Lakeland, FL 33809
863-859-3036

Know this for a fact because I was looking for someone who would work on a Remington 20XBR scope on another forum and Butch was kind enough to suggest and give me Joe's information. Was a nice and very pleasant and knowledgeable gent to deal with.

Thanks again Butch for that leade!

Respectfully,
Dennis

Thanks Dennis,
My old timer's disease was kicking in.

I bought a 3ft. piece of .0005 tungsten wire for $10. Should be enough to do around 20-30 scopes. I figured out that the biggest hassle in this instance was getting the reticle collar out of the scope and breaking loose the miniature screws that pinch the wires into place. After that, placing the wires and tightening the screws merely requires magnified vision, the proper jeweler's screwdriver, and a steady hand. I can also see that getting the collar back into position without breaking the new wires will be ticklish. Everything is prepped and ready for the new wire when it arrives. Wish me luck. I did a practice run with human hair, and honestly it's not that big a deal. (But the human hair reticle looks like a pair of crossed logs in the image!)

I'll take a couple pics when I do the final installation.


I didn't inquire with any of the repair folks (thank you to all who provided that info). I figured they would all charge me more than what I figure an hour of my time sitting at my desk with a cold beer is worth! Plus, once I started I found it was a matter of simple mechanics.

Thank goodness too that none of these old target scopes were nitrogen filled. No surprise there as they weren't intended for outdoor use in adverse conditions.

Where did you source your wire? I've done a Weaver 440 but the wire that was given to me is a bit heavy and I'd like to redo it.

Do an ebay search: tungsten reticle wire. He'll show up about halfway down the page. He sells .0005"(fine) and .0015(medium) diameters. I got some of each.

My scope reticle cells only have the screws that hold then in place in the scope tube. The wires are not held by screws in mine.
Nitrogen filled?? How about nitrogen purged.

I bought an old beater Unertl whose reticle had two horizontal wires..........but both drooped......but the price was right.

I was a little apprehensive about pulling the scope apart on my own, but was told nothing to it by the big boys. Pretty much right, no nitrogen to worry about, and the procedure is fairly simple mechanically.

I removed the reticle carrier from the scope, and loosened the 6 little screws(two horizontals). I tried a human hair, and thru the scope kinda looked like the California redwoods.

I finally settled on a piece of the elastic out of a man's fine dress sock. Most will laugh, but it was fine enough when stretched across the screws for my 200yd and under shooting.

Obviously, the real stuff on Ebay, would be the thing I would think, especially the smaller diameter for a target scope. A small amount in length is really a lot in the scope world.........and one gets to learn something new.

I would not be afraid of replacing the wires in an Unertl at least, not that much to it other than gumption and patience; and a source for the wire per Ebay.

My reticle wire in the Litschert I'm dealing with is held in place by screws- little #0's, or smaller. The wire simply wraps around the screws and is held captive by the screw heads when tightened. I pulled the collar out of the tube but in retrospect it might have been easier to replace the wires with it left in situ. Same exact setup in my Fecker. The collar is right at the back end of the scope tube easily accessible by unscrewing the ocular lens.

Near as I can tell, the screws are slightly offset to allow for the diameter of the screw shanks when wrapping the wire around them. At any rate, when done the wires are square and perpendicular to each other.

First mistake: removing the screws entirely. Should have left them sticking in their holes. Getting them started into their holes was ticklish, at best. I'm really glad I took the precaution of making a dam out of a piece of white paper on which to work.

Once I figured out that using two of my tiny fly tying spring loaded tweezers to hold the ends of the wire while manipulating it I was home free. Second life saver was my magnifying goggles. Couldn't have done it without them.

The last bit of trickiness was getting the collar back into the tube and lining up its anchor screw. Broke one of the new wires and had to re-do it.

As for filling/purging with nitrogen (what's the difference? beats me.), these scopes never had it. Possibly later Unertl's had it, I don't know (but I doubt it). With the Litschert's sliding objective bell (for parallax correction) there's no way to make it air tight. Ditto on the Fecker with its sliding erector lens parallax adjustment collar in the middle of the scope tube.

I tried taking pics but my camera doesn't focus close enough to get good detail.

There are tons of jobs like this I'd willing take on if one just had the proper spanner wrenches, screw drivers, and widget graspers that were made just for that job. One can sure bum up some good equipment trying to get by with a redneck approach.

An RCH might be fine enough for a scope wire, it would be fun getting it!

Indeed. Nothing like having the right tools for the job. In my case though, what I had on hand worked admirably: jeweler's screw drivers that I have in my tool chest which come in handy every now and then, fly tying tweezers I've been using for 30+ years, and magnifying goggles which do primary duty for checkering but which get used for more and more projects as my aging eyes devolve further into decrepitude.

Had I undertaken this little project without these three items, I would have quickly seen the folly of it and stopped and acquired said tools which would have driven the cost of it up nearly to what I would have had to pay somebody to do it. Instead, for $10 total outlay and an hour or so of my time, I beat a repair bill of $100 or so.

I sometimes think technical repair guys, gunsmiths, and doctors prey on people's fear of the mystical unknown (well maybe not doctors so much) for a percentage of their business, when in truth many repairs can be undertaken by people with a modicum of common sense and the desire to learn.

Hah! I have some RCH's (well, they are more strawberry blonde) in my fly tying kit for wrapping the bodies of certain mayfly patterns. Generously donated, and harvested by me, from a long ago GF. I get a smile on my face when I tie the flies, and the trout (at least the boy trout) go crazy for them.

The concept of not removing the reticle screws is right on. Really small parts that are an heartache to reinsert into their threaded holes. The ole blood pressure will notice.

I only used a smallish screw driver(one that fit) along with some forethought about how to go about the job. It is remarkable how much a plan helps tasks go more better. As in most things, the first time around is the most thought provoking.

Some time I will order up some of the 0.0005" wire(0.005" was my error in typing too fast), but for now the reticle that I have is doing ok, and has about 10 or more years on it. Using what one has is not always so bad to consider.

In my old Unertl, the job was fairly simplistic really, just gotta have the patience to go easy. There still is some pride in trying things oneself I think.

You have the decimal in the wrong place. How about .0005. Get some of the new braided lightweight fishing line and take one of the strands. My external adjustment scopes had a reticle carrier held by screws in the scope tube, A small slot in the scope tube allowed them to be moved slightly. Screws to hold the wires would make it easier. It is very easy to to remove and replace the cell.

Yeah, Butch, I fat fingered the number by a digit.........

Been a while since I shot at Riding's place, heard he moved on; guess nothing is forever.

gnoahhh:

For sure on the proper tools. Years back I had an extremely well used Bushnell Sports View with a wide angle 22X ocular. A wonderful spotting scope. After about 25 yrs of use, the eyepiece fogged when I did several 2,500 ft changes in elevation over a couple rainy days of deer hunting.

Heated it up and cleared it for the balance of the season, but knew things were not right. All that was needed was to unscrew the eyepiece, tear it down, clean the surfaces, reassemble, and seal. That demanded a variety of spanner wrenches for the eyepiece, however, which I do not have, to reach in and turn locking rings. Sent it to the company and they said no parts, but for $100 bucks they'd give me a newer model and dump the original. Regrettably, I fell for it and got some 15 to 60X zoom deal about 2 ft long that was a total POS. Yard sale for $25.00 and I think I took the buyer for a ride. Still regret that one to this day.