doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Vintage German/Euro optics

I have a German magazine rifle made in 1925 im looking to put a fixed four power scope on, and I’d like(I think?) to put something from the pre-ww2 era on it. I don’t know vintage scopes, what recommendations are there? Will I be disappointed in glass quality?

I wouldn't think you would be disappointed if with your expectation that you include that the scope isn't nitrogen filled & may need a good once over by a Vintage Scope Guy..... Somewhere around here is the contact info for a Vintage Scope Guy, if he is still in business. There's typically frosting on the lenses and on a variable one the mechanism may be a little rigid in place due to inactivity?

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

https://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=19988&Number=216514

This is one but I don't think the reference for which I was searching....


Serbus,

Raimey
rse

https://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=143717

Another....

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

I have bought a couple off here. There's usually something that's a good buy.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313

I have also purchased from this site. I once gave $35.00 for a pre-war Schmidt & Bender 4X off here. It's excellent, just the right patina.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...es/optics-austrian-german.c884_p1_o6.cfm

If you buy a good one I can't imagine you would be disappointed.

I think your best bet is going to be searching ebay for 'Vintage scope" and/or searching for specific makes. In that time period Hensoldt, Zeiss, Ajack, Oigee, Emil Busch, Dr. Walter Gerard and Kahles were all making fine scopes. A lack of American importers kept Americans from becoming familiar with many of them. As stated they won't be sealed, most will be elevation adjustable only, and age can certainly have taken a toll on glass quality. That said I have several that don't appear to have ever been serviced and they are still really clear. Most will have an odd post or number 1 reticle but you can sometimes find them with a crosshair or a number 4. The reticle will move from center when adjusted so keep that in mind when mounting. I'd definitely say pay more for a good one than trying to cheap out. It seems like the nicest are generally still on rifles and once removed the quality quickly deteriorates (or maybe that's why they were removed). One nice thing is that they are really easy to take apart and clean or re-blue if necessary. Mounts were often soldered to the scopes back then and you will find many that still have half the mount on them. Maybe that's a good thing for you maybe not? The tube and objective diameter's are all over the place. The small tubes seem pretty standard at 22mm but the larger ones range from 25-27.5mm and I've found very few sellers that can measure properly. The non-coated lenses don't give you the same low light capability that we're used to now. If you get a nice one they're still very usable, but I wouldn't take one on a once in a lifetime hunt.

IMO, if it doesn't have purple/green/blue multicoat from the 70s at least, I would skip it. I love my Nickel Supra, but it has the multi-coated lenses, and was one of their last ones made. Do I have an earlier one, yes, but...
I also would not get something where the reticle does not stay centered, but that is just me. You could have mounts perfectly aligned, in a perfect world.
The older I get, the more my vision appreciates the spectacular advances in optics. I will put new on an old rifle in a heartbeat. (and have done so regularly) Of course, I would not put something garish, like uber turret target scope on vintage guns.

For the scopes without windage you will find it much better to use mounts with adjustment, similar to the old Redfield. Such mounts were common on Shuler claw mounts and in German are described as "mit support".
Mike

gunmaker,
Is your rifle equiped with old scope bases? If it is still untouched, and "collectors grade", I would think twice before blessing it with a scope. I once did that to a 1935 Merkel DR, but it is still my most used rifle and the mounts I decided upon are the correct (if somewhat expensive) claw mounts. The scope is not vintage but rather Leupold 1.5-5X.
With this exception, all my old rifles that I put scopes on, already carried (empty) claw mount bases. I mostly used Nickel Marburg scopes from around 1970 as a compromise between vintage and modern.
If a prewar 4X scope is prefered, I would probably decide on Zeiss Ziel4 which was already mounted on some of my prewar rifles and drillings when I got them and seems to be of excellent quality.

Cheers,
Jani

I have a 1930's vintage Heym Heeren single shot that is wearing an equal vintage Zeiss Zeilklein 2.25x scope in contoured 7/8 inch dovetailed mounts that really look like they belong there. The scope with a cross hair and sharp tapered post in vintage terms could be described clear as a bell and sharp as a tack. Of course it is vertical adjustment only but the dovetailed mounts make the horizontal easy for what would be a hunting rifle (or in the war, on a sniper's rifle).