Vintage Scopes

[lincolnjeffries]

Is anyone using vintage glass on their rifles. Though hard to find in good condition, vintage optics are a very interesting and little researched subject it seems, especially here in the UK.

[dromia]

How do you define "Vintage"?

[bradaz11]

like malcolm sights?

[Mattnall]

I have a late 1930's Weaver scope that came with a Mossberg 42M, lovely scope and rifle but the image is not as clear nor bright as with today's scopes.
Does that count?

[FredB]

I have a few German scopes with the vertical adjustment built in and the lateral adjustment in the mounts. One is on claw mounts and fitted (original) to my old BSA pump action 22. These seem to be a special edition from the factory in the 1930s. Another is on my old German hunting rifle in 8.15 x 46R.
I also have a Lyman Super targetspot scope with 20 times magnification. Optics are superb on all of them.
Fred

[lincolnjeffries]

How do you define "Vintage"?

Job to know really, 1910 to late 1980's perhaps, but I was thinking of pre and immeadiate post war optics.

[lincolnjeffries]

like malcolm sights?

I have often wondered about Malcolm sights. Are they a faithful reproduction of early US glass, or vintage in their own right ?

[lincolnjeffries]

I have a few German scopes with the vertical adjustment built in and the lateral adjustment in the mounts. One is on claw mounts and fitted (original) to my old BSA pump action 22. These seem to be a special edition from the factory in the 1930s. Another is on my old German hunting rifle in 8.15 x 46R.
I also have a Lyman Super targetspot scope with 20 times magnification. Optics are superb on all of them.
Fred

Some fine glass there. Its rare to encounter claw mounts on factory made .22's, though you sometimes see them on rook rifles.Though as you say, some very high grade rifles left the Bsa factory to order. I saw a finely engraved Bsa pump rifle for sale once. I seem to remember it had flighting wildfowl on. Think the Germans also did some long eye relief scopes for Martini's but those are seldom encountered. Did the Lyman 20x have some use with the US Marine Corps in the early era of the Vietnam war ?

[lincolnjeffries]

I have a late 1930's Weaver scope that came with a Mossberg 42M, lovely scope and rifle but the image is not as clear nor bright as with today's scopes.
Does that count?

That is a fine rifle. When we were youngsters my friends dad had a 42M, that had been very hastely sporterised, that he bought as surplus after the war. It had quite a bit of the woodwork roughly removed and the diopter had been replaced with a scope by the time we got to use it. It had been rattled around in tractors for years, but still shot well with the heavy barrel. His dad had used it daily to shoot rabbits, that paid off a lot of the mortgage on his hill farm. It was one of first rifles I ever shot. We always wondered where it had come from, it only recently dawned that had been a trainer.
The optics on the later Weavers often don't survive as well as the german scopes. But the earlier ones seem to survive better. Is it on a side mount ?

[Mattnall]

The optics on the later Weavers often don't survive as well as the german scopes. But the earlier ones seem to survive better. Is it on a side mount ?

Yes, still the original side mount. This one came over as part of the second batch of 10,000 in April '44 (IIRC). There's plenty of info on a US site covering the lend-lease 42Ms.