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I'm sure this has been covered before, but what are the differences between All weather, alaskan and all american rifle scopes? Thanks

The first Alaskan's had adjustments that were open to the elements, then they added screw on caps "all weather" to protect the adjustments. The "all weather" markings were also found
on the Lyman Challengers, and I believe, though I don't have one, on the Wolverines. The All-Americans came later, and the perma-center All-Americans had centered reticles. Nick Strobel's book on scopes and sights is a great reference.

I have two of the Lyman scopes mentioned. Both are the Perma center All American type. One is a 6x which I have had for years. The newer of the two is a 10x with an adjustable objective. I've used the 6x for load developement on two lever actiona 357 marlin and a44mag marlin. Think that these scopes are way underrated. Good optics,good adjustments for elevation and windage. The 10x is going on my Canadian BSA 22 martini when I finish with the wood. Frank

I have a Lyman 25X LWBR scope that I picked up in a pawn shop many years ago. Some dummy had bought it and put it on a deer rifle and wasn't satisfied with it. Duh! It now resides on an old Husqvarna Mauser .220 Swift that I use to aggravate crows occasionally. The scope is in excellent condition, with fine threaded screw-on lens caps. Anyone know about when they discontinued this scope?

Thanks, SRH

According to Nick Stroebel's book the Lyman 25x LWBR was in production from 1976 to 1985

Alaskans have 7/8" tubes.

Thanks, Doc. It wasn't but a few years old when I bought it, it seems. No wonder it's in such good shape.

SRH

As mentioned previously the Lyman Alaskan scopes were 7/8" tube scopes & were only offered in 2 1/2 power. The later ones (& the one I have) have screw on turret caps & are marked "All-Weather". They were offered both with & W/O internal adjustments & the internal adjustments were not permanently centered.

Leupold offered a 7/8" tube scope similar in appearance to the Lyman Alaskan but with permanently centered internal adjustments in 2 1/2, 4 & 6 power called the Leupold Alaskan for about 2 years around 1999 & then discontinued them.

Lyman followed up the Alaskan with the Challenger in the early 1950's. The Challenger was a 4 power 26 MM tube scope with steel main tube & alloy ocular & objective bells & internal adjustments that were not permanently centered. The 4 power Challenger I have is also marked "ALL-WEATHER" in the same script as the Alaskan. The Challenger looks like an Alaskan on "steroids".

I never had a Wolverine but if I remember correctly they were higher powered versions of the Challenger in (I think) 6x & 8x

The All-American was introduced around 1958 and was based on a 1" alloy tube. The earliest ones did not have a permanently centered reticle but that was added early on as the Lyman "Perma Center" reticle. None of the All-American's I have owned carried the "ALL-WEATHER logo. I've used All-Americans from 3x to 10x over the years & I always thought they were excellent scopes optically & with better adjustments than most others. I still have and use a couple of 4x & a couple of 10x models.

Actually the Leupold Alaskan was made 1989-1990. It's a great looking scope to put modern, high quality optics on a vintage gun.

Flygas,

Thanks for the correction on the Leupold Alaskan scopes (I was only off by 10 years). I agree, they are very nice scopes & it's a shame they weren't better received by the market. I wish I had bought a few back when they were more available. They now bring a good price when you can find them. Recently there was a NIB 4X & a 6X for sale on E-Bay.

Lyman rifle scopes are like hens teeth in New Zealand and I was lucky to buy this as new six power from an Estate sale and put it on my BSA 5.6x50R Martini.
I find a six power ideal for most of my hunting, in this case one to two hundred metre rabbits.
Most modern scopes I find have too large a bell at the rear end for ease of inserting and ejecting a cartridge on Martini's
Great glass and a duplex reticle.
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I also wish I'd bought a boxcar load of Leupold Alaskans instead of the single 6X I got to fit my Savage .25-20, which had been T&D'd for a Weaver mount and "Savage" marked 7/8" rings and then fitted with a no-name Japanese 4X ".22" scope.

The Alaskan is clear and bright for such a small scope, and fits the 23B well in balance and appearance. Needs no suppressor: makes less noise than a .22 LR high speed. Kills stuff.

Nero, do you shoot deer with that 5.6x50R?

No I have another BSA Martini 7mm Waters for deer.
Generally use the iron sights for the bush and put the scope back on for more open country.
The gunsmith I bought my sleeved barrel H&H Rook rifle in 5.6x50R used to use it for deer.

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Neat conversion jobs on your Martinis! I only have one left, a .25-35 (or 6.35x52R if you prefer).

When I started shooting Silhouette many years ago several Lyman LWBR scopes on the line. Good friend of mine had a 24x LWBR on his Anschutz 54 MS. Tried to buy it from him many times. I was using, and still own, Weaver T's thought the Lyman was the better scope.

Always thought LWBR stood for Light Weight Bench Rest. Built to stay within weight rules. May or may not be true.

Boats

My three are in 17 ACK Bee (Reed), 17 ACK Bee (Ackley), and 218 Bee(Me :)), what fun, what fun
All Steel Tube Weavers K-8, or K10 or K-12



Mike

Awhile back, I got a Lyman Alaskan off of ebay. It was on a partial Stith mount that obscured the serial number,
I was fiddling with it today and removed the mount. The serial number is 1550, it is an All-Weather scope, but here
is the strange thing. It has an alloy tube. I googled and found that the early Lyman Alaskans had alloy tubes.
Wow, this is one of the those days when I did learn something new.


Fred

Mike A.
I have shot deer with my 5.6x50R ( Brno not Martini). I load it with 60 gr Nosler Partition bullets. They work great, they are simi-spitzer so are not too long for the twist. Even 1 in 1`4 twist in 222 will stabilize them.
Mike