Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Old rifle scopes still tickin' on hunting rifles.

Forty years ago, in a Toronto gun shop, I purchased a Burriis Silver Safari fixed 4X - 21mm scope. It was for my Ruger No.1 in .45-70 that later became a .45-70 LT (long throat). Then, later still, it went onto an 1895 Marlin in .45-70, then, years later I gave it to my oldest son for his Winchester XTR in .356 Winchester, and it was still earning its keep - until it gave up - broke - quit - a year ago while he was preparing for a deer hunt. The Burris had a lifetime warranty, but they don't make that one any more. So, he had a spare Bushnell 1.5 - 4 that he installed.

That was about four decades of serious abuse on heavy hitting rifles with recoil up to 74 ft-lbs on my Ruger No.1 .45-70 LT (equivalent to a .458 Win Mag in ballistics) for ten years prior to going onto the Marlin in .45-70. It was a scope someone had ordered from the shop but never picked up. I got a deal on it for about $275. The young manager knocked off $75 which at the time was still not cheap for a fixed 4x intended for an African Safari.

What's your experience?

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Great Grandad’s 2.5x Lyman Alaskan has been all over the continent, and still gets it done:



FC

...Leupold Vari X lll 1.5x5 purchased in 1987. Mounted on a Pre 64 action, chambered in .416 Taylor. Including load development and hunting in Africa I would "guestimate" the scope has endured more than 300+ rounds fired. The scope has never failed. Since my African days are fond memories, the scope has been mounted on a Ruger 10-22 and like the "Bunny" it just keeps on going, and going, and going.

It's sad when I scour the interwebs for steel tube weavers, and glossy Leupolds from the 80s, to mount on JM Marlins.....and they're called "vintage" scopes.

My oldest on a working rifle is a Zeiss Zielvier 4X, 26mm tube, I am told is a 1938 date code. The humorous part is...the elevation dial performs exactly in function the same as the "revolutionary new" Leupold CDS dial. Glass is spectacular bright and clear still. It spent the first 70 years of it's life on an Otto Bock 9.3 x 62 Mauser, so I suspect is is a hardy instrument. It is now on an 8x57 BRNO.
Honorable mention goes to a 1954 Leupold Mountaineer 4x, Leup's first 1 inch tube. This too was a hardy scope, surviving 8 years on an 8mm-06 in skiff and raft hunting in Western AK. It is starting to yellow a little, but the huge 3 moa dot makes that a moot point. A hardy lightweight no frills workhorse, and just for the record, I think they used an erector spring out of a Mack truck leaf spring. No, 'take a couple shots to settle the adjustment', nonsense in the adjustment....one and done. The original 2 shot sight in...circa 1954.

I've got some Lyman Alaskans and a couple of Weaver 330s, but the oldest might be an Ajack that came on a Swedish sniper rifle that my Father bought in the mid-1960s.

My oldest is a Redfield 2x7 Lo Pro Widefield still working. I bought it in the 80s and mounted it on my 35 Whelen. First shot at a deer one of the wires broke in the reticle and curled up. Had to send it back twice to Redfield to get it right. Never used it on anything since with more recoil than a 30-06 but it still works. I have a 1 3/4 to 5 Lo Profile Widefield on my yard 22 lr that was my first scope.I sent it back once for fogging inside. Had it on the Whelen for a while but it stopped holding zero Redfield was gone by then. it doesn't adjust right but I managed to get it zeroed on a 22 for 20 yards and the 22 doesn't move zero. I need to send it to the guy in Oklahoma and have it rebuilt. It was great for woods hunting.

Leupold Vari Xiii from '81 has been flawless.

All steel Weaver 4x on a P.O. Ackley 250-3000 Arisaka action, Birdseye Maple stock , around 1950s,

I had a 1990 or so Vari-X-III survived 30+ years of 340wby recoil. It only died when the rifle’s preferred ammo was discontinued and I attempted to change the point of impact. Although they were always a real pain to sight in, once zeroed, these were phenomenal set and forget scopes. My sense is the subsequent generations, while optically superior, have not been as robust…..:(

Redfield wide field 3-9x on my .30-06. Old man replaced a straight 1 3/4x redfield with it in the mid 70’s and it’s still going strong.

A Balvar 2.5-8 and a 1.5-6 . Weaver steel 3-9

Bausch & Lomb balvar 8 with external adjust mounts on several rifles... no modern tech, but, clear, bright, and rugged as hell... love the ultra fine tapered crosshair... love to see one of these with high end modern glass installed...

Lyman Alaskan and B&L Balvar 8 on Model 70s. Old school cool that work just fine in the deer woods.

AYE !!!!

This may not make the cut:

50's rifle with an older gloss Leupold (Varix-IIc 3-9x40):



Using pretty old brass:

Looking good buddy.

El Paso Weaver K-2.5 Micro Trac I purchased new in 1983, El Paso Weaver K-3 post/crosshair, 2 Jap 3-9x32 Tascos from the '70's, 1998 Leupold 1-4x20 vari-x II, '90's Redfield Golden 5 star 3-9x40. All still in use and working fine.

Denver Redfield 2 3/4X wide field. got it new about 1972 for a 338 mag, from there to a 308 for a long time and Now on my 30-06, been a great scope! ElPaso Weaver fixed 4X on my 22 mag. Can't remember when or where I got it. 25-06 has and old Bushnell Banner 3-9X, another one I can't remember when or where I got it!

Still have a few redfield Golden 5 stars, 3-9x on a .22WMR and a 4-12x on a .308 as well as a tracker 3-9x and 4x on older .22’s.
Old man was die hard redfield guy, all my uncles were leupold.

My oldest is a first issue Burris 3-9 Fullfield. I still love it. It’s been on a few 308’s, currently a Sako 85 Finnlight II in 308.

^ very nice.

I just dont know how you are able to hunt with it and kill stuff..I mean, its not being a NIghtforce and all.

Pulled an Oigee Berlin Luxor 3x off the 102 year old oberndorf sporting mauser. It handled dozens of 286 grain. Groups were decent. Eye relief was fkn amazing!

Sold it to a guy here on campfire for a decent amount of money. He was ecstatic, and it's still being used. Elevation adjustment only.

Bausch and Lomb Balvar 2.5-8 on a Kuharsky base…

Lots of these old-timers spent most of their lives in closets and were never dialed, except when necessary due to ammunition changes or, like my old pre-64, to correct what the weather had wrought on the previous zero. With such use, lots of scopes could soldier on for a long time, but times have changed, and more shooters are shooting and dialing than previously, but maybe not hunting so much, or even at all…..

I picked up a Weaver Micro Trac K4 for my Henry SS .357 because the small ocular makes it possible to forgo the hammer spur required by modern scopes and their big honkin’ eyepieces. Looks just right, not Hubbel-ish at all. Sighting in was uneventful, which can’t always be said for some modern scopes; you know which ones……….

Steel K4 weaver w/ non centering reticle on a 99eg in 250-3000. Dozen or two Leupold Vari-X III’s from the eighties. A Leupold M8 10x silhouette scope (target turrets) from early ‘70’s’ that has been seen 2 Ruger 77 barrels in .22-250 burned up. It has been a testbed scope since late nineties. I know it works and Tracks. It’s been stuck on a 788 in .223 for 7 years. I have a 6.5x20 Vari-X that has moved into load development.

This one has been in here before, but it's a great scope on a superb rifle (Lyman 4X on a Win 70 in .30-06).
Bob

Yet another B&L on a Kuharsky base.
Solid, something to be said for these old scopes

space bar tap test

Old scopes, old rifles, old spotting scopes. Who here uses a spotting scope from the 50's??



All you guys bringing up Bausch and Lomb, reminded me of my old spotter. It works great, for everything I use it for. No need to pull out my better, high dollar spotter. I can see bullet holes in paper at 400 yards with this old thing, so why change?

The other day I had a guy ask how old my spotting scope was. I told him it was made in 1958, and he said, "if it's not broke, why fix it huh?".. I said yep..

I use this M8 4x in Weaver R&B on an old 721 300H&H.

Also use three Bushnell Scopechief VIs and a 12x fixed Leupold on a 700 Varmint 222. Not much older than that. Decent gloss scopes are becoming scarce and increasing in value sought after by those who want a proper scope on a classic rifle.

I have a few I use on shooters. Here are some of them( Frim the top)-

A Weaver K4-60B from the early 1960's on a 1949 Winchester M70.

Next is a late1960s Lyman All American Permacenter 4x on a 1945 Winchester 52B Sporter.

The last is a Weaver made "Ted Williams" 4x (1968-69) on a mid 1970s Winchester 9422.

The elegant little .22 Marlin model 1897 at the bottom is just here to class the joint up a bit..

I have a Weatherby Imperial scope on my 300. Haven’t really had the need to use the rifle in several years but it is 3-3 on moose and 1-1 on elk.

Also have a few older Weavers floating around on 22s

Several older VariX-IIs from the mid-1980s

Except for the V series, Iron Site LLC in Tulsa, OK, is still rebuilding El Paso Weaver scopes.

One of my friends in northern New England who is deer tracker in the Bernier/Benoit mold is a fan of the Weaver K1.5. He buys all that he can find that are in good condition and sends them to Iron Site LLC. to be refurbished and to have the reticle changed if the scope didn't come with a post and crosshair reticle. They seem to be a popular sight for the trackers who use a scope in lieu of a receiver sight.

We have several of the Balvar 2.5 to 8 scoped on many rifles in the family never seen one fail. In my opinion the glass on these is excellent quality too.

A lot of Balvars in here


p64 30-06 - scope is painted with alumahide?



post 64 m670 carbine - 30-06

Weaver K-4 circa 1971 and Redfield Widefield 3-9x circa 1978 on a couple of my .22s.

A 1956 Winchester 88 with a Weaver 4x.

Leupold M8 4x28mm on my Mannlicher 7x57. I mounted another one on the Savage 110 243 that was my son's first rifle.

No matter how good the quality of the scope was when it was manufactured the rubber seals have a limited life. The glass and mechanics can still work perfectly but I wouldn't trust a 30+ year old scope to remain waterproof in harsh weather unless it has been refurbed with new seals.

On a rifle used at the range or for a local meat hunting trip where a scope failure wouldn't be a big deal, I'd use an older scope. But not on a hunt where I had time and money invested in a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Great post here. I can tell by the photos that you all know how to take care of your stuff. I only have "Vintage" scopes as well and would shoot nothing else. Most are 4x or 3x and have been sent in to be refurbished.........Darrel Wick

The only scope I ever had internally fog on me was a nearly new Sightron. My 30 - 40 year old scopes ? Never, and they've been used in inclement weather as bad as it gets.

I have several old Redfield’s that are still very good

Leupold 3/4” Pioneer 4x on a custom Mauser my cousin built back in the 50’s iirc.

My wife has an old weaver blued scope on her slug gun. I was at the range one day and the young guy came over and looked at the gun. And said the scope looks like it’s blued. I said that’s because it is.

Unertl 4X and 3 B&L Balvar 2.5-8..

I use more steel tube Weavers and PermaCenter Lyman's than anything else . I do have some Stiths , Redfield's , couple of Swifts , a Unertl 12x and 20x Lyman . Only new scope is the Nikon straight tube with the hog reticule on my 77 mkII Ruger 6.5 Swede carbine. It's actually a shotgun scope but looks right on the carbine and is perfect for the short distance I hunt at around here. Would love to have a Balvar but I don't have the patience to hunt down a mount setup for one and only have one rifle I can think of that they likely made a mount for anyway. I have an Alaskan but the lens separated 25 years ago and I haven't had it fixed.

Weaver 4X bought in 64. Was on a 700BDL. Now sits on my grandson’s 10-22.

Lyman "All-American" 4x32mm

Id rather talk about this

I have two El Paso Weavers on AR's. Still rockin'

Don't look like "old scopes", and they used a lot of silicone to position the lenses.

Several El Paso weavers and Redfield PCH reticle fixed powers are still doing good work for me Bob. My newest scopes are Colorado Burris Fullfield and one Signature. One duplex, all the rest are PCH. That single duplex wouldn’t be except Burris ran out of PCH reticles 20 years ago. I got the last one they had put into the Signature 1.5x6 scope.
Raised on iron sights rifle and pistol, the PCH is just a post front sight to me.
Best regards Sir,
F01

My first scope was a early 80's luepold 4x. It went on my Remington 541. It's been on and off many rifles. Showing a little ring wear but is still ticking on a 45/70 single shot.

It appears my 30 year old Nikon Buckmasters are hardly worth mentioning.

kwg

Like a lot of new scopes. A lot of plastic parts, made in China...

1930's Zeiss was a very good scope. More modern is a Hakko mounted on my Sako 221 Fireball since I picked it up new back in the 80's at an outdoor show. I sighted it in with my hunting load and haven't even had to adjust it one time since then. Have killed lots of coyotes with it and been many miles on a 4 wheeler. Tough scope and great reticle.







The different color windows change the reticle color as you spin the ring. I leave it on white with the orange light gathering bubble. No batteries. Works great on a moonlit night, especially if there's snow on the ground.

My father gave me his M1917 that had an old Weaver scope on it, I assume the scope was put on it sometime in the early 50's.

On my first hunt with it I was hunting elk in the Willmore Wilderness Area southwest of Grand Prairie AB, on this particular hunt we rode in on Horseback about an 8-hour ride in.

Anyway, it was snowing while we rode to our spot and the scope got a little wet while I was riding through trees and the snow fell onto the scabbard which was attached to my saddle.

So I finally get a shot at a nice 6x6, I brought the scope up to aim and shoot and all I could see through the scope was a little pinhole of light surrounded by white fog, it was so bad I could not see the elk and so obviously I didn't take the shot. I have never been soooooo pissed while hunting!

I replaced the Weaver as soon as I got back to town with a Bausch + Lomb Elite 4200, with Rainguard.

NEVER AGAIN with the old scopes!!!!

I have a 1983 Redfield Lowpro and it still works but it is foggy... I have not used it in 10 yrs. neither. My dad bought a 300 Savage in 1956 with a weaver scope 4 power and still works, but it was hardly every used. The cross hairs are off center... Has anyone else seen that , was it a bad scope or did they do that on purpose for some reason?

have a older 4X Redfield on a Win. 69A 22 rimfire.....looks like new and glass bright and clear. Perfect for a 22, only weighs 9.2 ozs. Have a 2x7 Redfield on a CZ 22 hornet, a couple 2x7 Leupolds on a 243 and 308 rifles, 2 retired Redfields Widefields in 3x9 that perform like new....one is the Illuminator that was sent to Iron Sight for work....need to sell these will probably never use them again. About every thing now is matte finish, weighs a pound or more, and does not look right on blued guns....just me, but I am old school thru and thru.

They are, I have 4 that are still working great. I bought three of them off the fire.

I don't think they fall into the age category of most mentioned in this thread.

I'm using a B&L Balvar 2.5-10 on a 1954 M70 300 H&H. Works great for me.

I'm still using two Lyman All American Permacenter scopes. One is a 2.5x, with a post and horizontal wire reticle. The other is an 8x AO model with a 1 moa dot reticle that I sent to Parsons Scope Service years ago to have target turrents/caps installed for my woodchuck rifle (making it a "Silhouette" configuration). Both provide high-resolution images, and have been 100% flawless in use. Parsons said the Lyman AA Permacenter scopes were very high quality, as their internals were precision-machined from brass. I believe their lenses were made by B&L. His son still runs the business.
http://www.parsonsscopeservice.com/

I still use Weaver micro-trac steel-tubed 2.5x, 3x , 4x and a T-10 scopes. Again, they have been flawless in use, and provide very good images. My newer Japan-made 2.5x Weaver "Classic" is extremely bright and clear, but only 20+(?) years old.

Used to own a few Weaver El Paso "pre micro-trac" scopes in 4x , 8x AO, and 10x AO. They didn't have the level of coating on the lenses as micro-trac scopes (if they were coated at all), but they worked just fine for my hunting and shooting needs when I owned them. I bought them because they had interesting reticles: various dot sizes, "range finder" configuration (two parallel horizontal wires 6 moa apart, and one vertical wire). I started to thin the herd selling a bunch of rifles over the past 15 years, and the scopes went with them. I really liked the mint Weaver "pre-microtrac" 8x AO with its dot reticle. A cool scope that I wished I kept.

Sold a B&L BalFour (4x) scope (tapered reticle) to a campfire member last year or so in a "thinning the herd" action. I was always impressed how good the image was on that scope. Had a 1970's-era Bushnell Banner (Japan made) 4x (40mm obj ) that was very bright, and flawless. Currently still use a 4x ScopeChief IV with a ballistic range dial (0.4 moa per click) that is bright, and works fine, and is fun/easy to use. I still use a Bushnell Banner (Japan, 1970-80s?) 6-18x AO scope (target turrents), which is extremely bright, clear, and tracks perfectly.

Then there is my 1980's-era B&L (Japan) 4x (40mm obj) scope. Same thing as above: excellent optical quality, and flawless operation. Has click w/e adjustments. I like it more than a Leopold 4x m8 scope. Still use it.

My brother still uses my dad's Leupold M7 3x scope, and a Weaver micro-trac steel-tubed 2-7x. They keep doing the job. My dad sent his Savage 99EG (300 Savage) to Williams Gunsight in the late 1960s to have them drill and tap his rifle, and buy/mount the Leupold 3x (m7). Then he wanted them to install their "guide reticle" in the Leupold, which was a horizontal wire and a vertical post. The top of the post was spade-shaped with the pointy tip that just touched the horizontal wire. It provides a precise aiming point. The lower part of the " spade" is 3 moa lower. This provides another good aiming point for a longer shot. It was sort of a precursor of a "ballistic plex" or "mil-dot" reticle. It was, and still is, a very nifty set-up.

There are many good, older, overlooked scopes out there. How in the world did hunters make good shots with fixed low-medium magnification scopes with simple reticles made 50-60+++ years ago? ( sarcasm filter: "ON")

...but they did.

Pre-war Model 70 in 270 Winchester with period B&L Balfor scope...

I have 3 Leupold 2.5-8x36 vari-XIII all from the 80s....2 Zeiss both over 35 years old....still killing deer

Looks like a carbine too.
Nice!

I've got a Brno 7x57 w/4x40 Ajax soldered into half-ring claw-mounts. Elevation is adjusted on the scope, windage on the rear ring. I'm almost 50 and the scope hasn't been adjusted since before I was born. The top of the post is dead-on @ 100yds. I shot it last weekend in the "hunting rifle class" of our club winter BR shoot.

Love to see that one!

I had JES rebore a Rem. M30 to .35 Whelen for a Maine moose draw in 2016. I was able to source a Buehler mount but the rings were so far apart the only scope I had was a steel Weaver El Paso 3x9.

Got it done, still on there.

I will say, my shot was late in the day, could have used more light through that scope...

I have a 1960's era Weaver V7 still kicking and an older yet Busch & Lo 2-8X that has no intern adjustments. Took it out prairie dog shooting yesterday

Weaver Medalist 3-9 on a 57’ Savage 99.

Here is a similar setup, except the scope is a 4X Hensoldt. Rifle is a 1939 M-S and I suspect the mount and scope were added when new....at least that exact Hensoldt was listed for sale in the 1939 Stoegers catalog. Adjustments are exactly as horse1 described. You literally bend the scope slightly to adjust windage. It doesn't seem to hurt anything. I have played with quite a few different handloads and have adjusted both elevation and windage several times. I've also removed and replaced the scope often and the claw mounts always return to zero. Quite a setup!




I also have a much slimmed down 1917 Enfield with a Weaver 330 M8 mounted in Stith mounts, a Stevens 44 1/2 in 38-55 with a Unertl 10X in dehorned mounts, and a Brno 22F with a 3X7 Pecar. Love these old scopes and use them all the time!

The first rifle I put together for myself in the mid 80s got a Leupold 2X7 Vari X II. It's still on that rifle and has seldom ever been adjusted. Another surprising scope was a 70s or 80s era Tasco 2 1/2X with a 36mm or so objective lens. That scope got swapped around so many times I cannot remember the number of rifles it was on. Both of my boys took their first deer using that Tasco. It performed perfectly until about 5 years ago when it finally crapped out. I've never seen a fixed 2.5X scope with other than a 20mm objective before or at least noticed one if there are any other makers. That thing was as clear as could be and I wish I still had it!

ya,

GWB

I like old glass, it's reliable and durable. Most of my glass is old school El Paso Weavers, but I have three Leupold scopes long out of production.

Sold the gun sometime back, don't recall for certain but think the glass was an old Lyman. Still worked just dandy.


Another rifle about 150 years old has a scope made by Neil Rice that is still functional. Don't know when it was made.

That's a very cool rifle and scope and, a great picture, Mbogo2106.

Did you clock the MV? The reason I ask, is I get about 3050 out of my 50s 70 standard but with 62gr H-4831

Hi,

Kollmorgen or the first (same scopes) Redfield 26mm tube are, to me, among the best made in USA scopes. Even by today standards.

It's a very light load. Didn't check velocity. Didn't have enough bullets to load up to even mess with it. When I first got the rifle, I found some odds and ends and had about 20 (actually only 18) of those old ballistic tips to mess around with.


Basically just messing around with it, and to see how it shot. I later worked with some 150gr SST's, as there were not many choices in town for loading the 270 win.

I live in a very small town, with limited selection, and previously sold all of my 150gr Nosler partition seconds!!! I had 300 of those, that I bought at SPS for $15/bag!!! Wish I still had those damn things now..

The loads with the 150gr SST's were as follows:




At the time, I think I was more or less just making brass that I can reload. Plus I didn't know what primer was in it, but assumed it was a WLR from way back in the day. I also did not want to burn up all of my powder in doing that. The reason I only used a starting load, according to the Nosler manual, with the 130gr ballistic tips. I was quite surprised about how the rifle shot though. Always love a rifle that shoots less than 3/8" for 5 shots. That group was closer to 1/4" for 5 shots. Pretty damn good for old rifle, old bullets, and old scope in my book..

Hey, another bonus: Look how that old Leupold zeroed right in on that orange dot.

Kollmorgen made, maybe still makes, periscopes for the U.S. Navy, so they probably knew how to make quality optics.

I’ve got a Burris signature 3-9 my dad bought for me 25 years ago, for the price the glass quality and light gathering is awesome!

Nice!

I love old guns and old scopes. A few pics I have on my phone

ya!


GWB

Yeah, I'm into scopes too.

1939 technology at work here.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Agreed^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Savage 170 with a Bausch & Lomb Balvar

Old redfield wideviews TV screen are my favorite!

Mice rifles and scopes. Our families oldest isn’t that old maybe but surprisingly still going strong. My father had it built and my son has the old girl now. Been through 3 generations.
It’s an old Denver Redfield from the very early 60’s been on this custom Mauser, a 7x61 S&H since it was built. Has never missed a beat, just a great reliable scope.

Weaver K4 B-60 on a '55 Sav 99.
A bunch of old Leupolds going back to early '70s, still getting used every year

Very nice looking rifle btw!

My 1978 Vari-X II 3-9 is still on my 1978 M700 Classic in 270W. The barrel is wore out on the rifle but the scope works just fine…