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

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!