Anyone have any experience with these scopes? I am speaking of the older ones made in Japan. I found one for a decent price and was thinking of buying it and mounting it on a 22 Magnum rifle. From what I remember, the Japanese made Banner scopes were pretty decent.

Well, they were made in Japan. but there is nothing mystical or magical about them.

The obvious difference is that they have straight front ojectives so, less light gathering compared to any 32mm-40mm front bell 4x rimfire scope.. On the other hand they are more trim and compact looking. I guess if a good price is less than $30-40. have at it.

One reality is that $30 spent today with the Chinese building a 4x rimfire scope goes further than $50 did 10-15 years ago with the Japanese.

The Japs built some pretty crappy low end "Spec" scopes in there day- they all certainly were not jewels..I think you may find if you are honest with yourself, that a new 4x Chinese made Bushnell, Simmons or Tasco 1" .22 rimfire scope is optically better than that older Bushnell.

Also if you keep the purchase recipt, the new scope will have a valid warrantee. With all the recent changes at Bushnell with regars to how they handle warrantee repairs, I doubt the old scope be backed by them.

Just some food for thought.

I think that the a sub-$50 Simmons would offer better optics.

Jeff

Yes, they probably would.

I have one of the ones that were made fairly recently (under the "Dusk & Dawn" moniker) but are now discontinued again. These were made in Korea. I wanted the straight tube for a Savage 24 .22 Mag/20ga just because it looked better. I have nothing but good to say about it for the $30 (new in box) I paid for it on Ebay. Of course I have a different set of standards for what I expect of a scope to go on a knock-about rimfire small game gun than I do for a centerfire big game rifle. I could give a rat's A$$ about light gathering on this gun but the scope is clear, adjustments are precise and it holds zero. Can't ask much more than that of it. I'd have no qualms of buying one of the earlier Jap models for similar money if it's in good shape.

I have one of the old straight tubes (even made in Japan). It is not as good as the current Bushnell 4X that my son has. As a matter of fact at this point it is no good at all because it won't hold its zero although it was used for a long time and took some major jouncing in a 4x4. Doesn't compare well optically either IMO.

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I was really looking for a straight tube scope as the ones with the 32-40mm objetive bells have to be mounted too high for my Marlin 1894M 22 mag. I just can't get a good cheek weld with anything much higher than iron sight. I may end up just using a peep sight if I can't find one of the newer Bushnells like the one above.

Thanks again,
TBB

What about 28mm? The Weaver rimfires are very nice scopes. I'd imagine they'd work with low rings. I have the 2.5-7x28 and really like it. The 4x is 28mm as well. Quite a bit more money than something like the Bushnell but quite a bit more scope as well and you're putting it on a really nice rifle.

Not necessarily recommending the seller, just using the link for illustration purposes.

http://swfa.com/Weaver-Classic-Rimfire-Scopes-C232.aspx

I actually just sold one of those exact scopes. It did fit in
the low rings, but still did not look right on such a trim levergun. I am sure it would have been perfectly serviceable. I had a Weaver V4.5 on the rifle for awhile and really liked it, but ended up putting it on an older Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. Maybe I will look for another one of those. I know the glass is not what you will find in the newer scopes, but they are good old scopes and seem much more in place atop a levergun. I don't plan to do much nighttime shooting with it anyway.

A Leupold 1-4x would also be a winner. Might be able to pick up an older Vari-X II that doesn't cost a ton of cash. I'm just assuming you don't want to spend $300 on a scope for a .22 as you started talking about the Banner. I have one and it is even more trim than the Weaver V4.5 -- definitely lighter.

You are right about the Leupold 1-4 being lighter and it definitely has better glass. I don't know that it is more trim though. The ocular bell on the Leupold is the same as their 2-7x33 scopes whereas the Weaver has a slighty smaller bell. It is a bit longer though. I have owned many of both. Some of the last V4.5 scopes with the microtrac adjustments are heavy as lead. The older ones are a good bit lighter and the glass is still pretty darn good. Considering I can usually find them in the $80-110 range in excellent condition I consider them a real bargain. They also match a blued steel and walnut rifle much better than any aluminum tube scope ever could. I guess I care more about aesthetics with this rifle than most, otherwise I would just have bought some generic 22 mag bolt gun.

Makes total sense. My dad has a K2.5 with microtrac and I just seem to remember it being sort of bulky compared to my Leupold. Figured the V4.5 was similar. However I haven't compared them side by side either so it may just be my memory failing me. Happens all the time.

The later microtrac scopes are built like a tank and very good scopes, but a little too heavy for most lighter guns in my opinion. I had not even thought about an old K2.5 or K3 though until your post. A nice clear K3 with duplex might be just the ticket for this rifle.

Just for grins, I checked ebay. There are several of both K3s and K2.5s of various vintages up for sale. Bids on every one of them though. There is one K2.5 with a buy it now of $55 that hasn't been bid on.

Thanks for the head's up. I will check it out.