looking for vintage glass

cdnrokon

cdnrokon

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I am not liking the current selection at the local shops.
I am looking for a 4x scope a post reticle the rifle its going on is a 30/30 single shot, a 357maximum single shot and a muzzleloader.
Yes I need three
so please school me on old steel tube Weavers, Redfields and Burris

what models should I be looking for?
 
From what I have read, the Weaver - made in El Paso or "made in USA" version - not currently made in where-ever - about best was supposed to be the "dash 1" or "dash 2" series with the word "MicroTrac" on the left side of the elevation turret. So, like K3-1 or V9-2 or V9-II or similar. My understanding is they were sealed and purged. Will not have the latest current lens coating though - did not exist, then.

An acquaintance and I have installed several Weaver K2.5 and K3 on various .303 British and similar - seem to do their job, especially if you view a scope on a rifle to be a sight - viewed through for maybe 5 seconds before the shot - likely modern stuff is no doubt more "comfortable" if you use your rifle scope for "glassing" for minutes or hours ... We have both noticed some variation in the "post" - sometimes it extends a couple MOA above the horizontal cross hair - sometimes closer to flush with it - might have been rusted or corroded away - we do not know.

Scope "view" is odd to me - about best "view" of any scope here is a Hensoldt - likely made in 1950's or 1960's in what was then "West Germany" - to take your breath away with clarity and colour rendition - VERY good glass; VERY excellent grinding, I think. A very close second would be some FX-Freedom Leupold for rimfires - I do not own any "new" Leupold for center-fire rifle - I suspect modern "coatings" might be about trying to get mediocre glass and mediocre production techniques to replicate what was possible - with "good stuff" and "good processes" - like 70 years ago.

I do not know similar for the old-school Redfield or Burris scopes. Be aware - currently the corporation "Vista Outdoors (?)" owns the brand names for Weaver, Redfield, Tasco and several others - gets scopes made wherever and sell them using those brand names - in no way related to the "old days" products - so you may have formed opinion about Weaver - based on experience with a "made in El Paso" K4-60B - or about "Tasco" - from using a "World Class" model - pretty much nothing whatever to do with a modern "Weaver" Classic or modern "Tasco" models - although brand name is the same.
 
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I've always had success with the 'Micro Trac' Weavers. These were late 70's I have been told and they've always been clear and stand up to abuse. If you want a 4x you would be after a K4.

I have a few vintage Redfield's as well, but I don't know much about them and how to date them.
 
cdnrokon said:
I am not liking the current selection at the local shops.
I am looking for a 4x scope a post reticle the rifle its going on is a 30/30 single shot, a 357maximum single shot and a muzzleloader.
Yes I need three
so please school me on old steel tube Weavers, Redfields and Burris

what models should I be looking for?
Click to expand...

Weaver made 3x and 4x microtrac (and previous versions) with post reticles. They would likely be reasonably easy to find at a gun show. Or put a wtb post up for one. Get Trace in Calgary to clean it up etc for you and you should be good to go. - dan
 
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I have a small collection of El Paso-made Weaver scopes, and alternate them on my K31, a fairly lively piece with loads simulating the real service load, not having seen GP11 here in UK for around ten years.

I've never paid more than US$45 for any of them, having bought them in junk stores or out of the piles in out-of-the-way gun stores that we haunt when we are over in Oregon.

The clarity is amazing, and they are certainly robust. For the money they are astounding, and come with a useful range of reticles, too. I currently have one of the 3-9s on the new over-bore mount from Swiss Products in Kalispell MT, a family-run company with whom I'm lucky enough to have a long past history.
 
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