Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Old scope for my 1949 Model 70

I am irrationally exuberant about old scopes on old rifles:

Weaver K4 "S" in a diamond with brass end rings:

Why did you get rid of your Leupold mountaineer??

I have two Mountaineers. A well worn one that sits nicely on my well worn .270:



I don't need the one that looks new and it is still for sale:

Nice scope. If my eyes were better, I'd consider that one.

I need a couple period correct 6x's.
One for a '37, and one for a '53.
Any ideas?

To add, both are pretty high condition rifles, although the '37 is tapped.

Link to Ebay

Not my auction

Period correct scopes are the way to go for an original condition rifle. I'm enjoying the heck out of my '38 30-06 with the 2.5 Lyman Alaskan on it. One of the coolest things I've seen in awhile was watching my wife hammer the 400 yard gong with it yesterday. I think she may have claimed it as her own.

Perhaps one of the finer scopes of the era is the Lyman Alaskan, I have one in a Griffin & Howe mount on my pre'64 Super Grade .35 Whelen M/70. Other Alaskans are mounted on my vintage M/52 Sporter and Springifeld 1922 M2 Sporter.

From optical performance point of view old American scopes are only useful as paper weights or something to be put on collectible rifles never to be used.

Of what I see there top pic would be Japanese Baush & Lomb Elite 1.75-4.5x32 (pre Bushnell era). I had one on combination gun (12ga/.308). While not particularly light the fov at low setting was close to 70ft/100yards and eye relief about 3". Great scope probably worth about $175 used.

That Weaver 22 scope was the cheapest scope you could buy here back then.

We put much better rifle scopes on M70's.

Some brands were Lyman and B&L.

Yes, while from optical perspective they are not as good as modern Tasco the Lyman Alaskans and B&L Balvars are tops of that old heap.

The Bear Cub scopes were used then. I looked at one of my old M70's and it has a Redfield Bear Cub 4X in Buehler mounts on it.

Earlier those scopes may have been made by Kollmorgen of Northampton, MA who still makes military optics.

This Lyman All American Perma Center scope came about just at 12 years after the '52 Model 70 270 I have it mounted on but it still looks period correct to me.

I have had several Lyman All American Perma Center scopes, as a matter of fact I just sent one to LEE to have a dot installed. When returned it is going on my pre'64 Super Grade .35 Whelen in a Griffin & Howe mount. They are fine vintage scopes that look period correct on M/70's and other vintage rifles.

"From optical performance point of view old American scopes are only useful as paper weights or something to be put on collectible rifles never to be used."

I guess everybody is entitled to their opinion, but PLEASE don't tell my '63 .270 with Lyman All-American 6X that it can't go hunting any more. It would be crushed.



yooper

Had two vintage Weavers fog up internally during adverse (rain/snow) weather conditions here in PA years ago, 1970's and 80's Leupolds look great on my rifles and suit me just fine....

And you can't hit a thing with them either.

You are way high.
Proves his point

Here's a '49 in .30-06 with a Lyman 4X. Base and rings are period Redfield. Good combo.
Bob