Weaver Scope Repair

Parabuteo · January 8, 2010, 11:25 PM

My father, who was a shooter all his life, passed away not long ago. As I have cleaned up and gone through the boxes of reloading gear, gadgets etc, I have come up with about a dozen of his old Weaver target and hunting scopes that he had put away at one point or another. Most of them are fixed power but there a couple of variables, most are about as old as I am I suppose. I have always pretty much been a Leupold man but have had some steel tube Weavers like these and they performed very satisfactorily.
All of Dad's scopes are all blue steel with 1 inch tubes except for one of them. About half of them are foggy and need to be serviced or tossed. I would like to put them on some of my rifles and would like to be able to use them again.

Where can I send these scopes and be assured that I will get timely repair service so that I can get these scopes back into service within a reasonable time period ? Thanks.

L_Killkenny · January 9, 2010, 09:23 AM

Go over to the forums at leverguns.com. There is a guy there that is retired from the old Weaver USA plant where the scopes were made. Sorry, can't remember his name but he is a Weaver Scope God. Just join, start a thread about your weaver scopes and he'll be along.

LK

madcratebuilder · January 9, 2010, 11:03 AM

If you check evil bay you well find a large market for old Weaver scopes. You well find they are bringing pretty good money, even when in need of repair. You may be setting on a gold mine.

taylorce1 · January 9, 2010, 12:23 PM

Here ya go!

http://www.ironsightinc.com/About

Parabuteo · January 10, 2010, 12:30 PM

Thank you Gents! If there are any other folks who might have any info concerning getting these scopes put back into shooting order I would sure appreciate the direction. Thanks again.

Scorch · January 10, 2010, 03:47 PM

FWIW, while the old Weaver scopes are a bit of Americana and lend that old nostalgia look to older rifles, the optical quality of scopes from the 1950s and 60s leaves a lot to be desired. Even a relatively cheap scope made nowadays has better optical quality than some of the average quality rifle scopes from that era (I know someone is going to chime in any second and tell me about the amazing clarity of his 1930s era Zeiss, Bausch & Lomb, Groenlander, or Unertl, but those are top-notch scopes).

Also, while it may sound cool to use an old scope your Dad used, many of those scopes' crosshairs were made from spiderweb (really!) or silk, and as such they are relatively fragile, and are irreplaceable if damaged. Metal crosshairs were a late 1960s to 1970s innovation. If you do have the scopes serviced, use them on a period-correct rifle restoration and avoid shooting the rifle very much.

Parabuteo · January 11, 2010, 06:01 PM

Scorch,
Thanks, those are good points to consider. I'm not short on Leupolds etc. or other rifles of periods way before and after Dad started shooting to current production. I'll have to think all this over a bit. I'd hate to invest in restoring them just to have them sit around from now on. Take care.

bamaranger · January 26, 2010, 03:20 AM

Dunno about Weavers, but the ironsight people rebuilt a usa redfield/widefield 4x for me 5-6 years ago maybemore ,and its been doing fine.

Seems like the guy was a retired trooper or something..
I had a question and the owner came on the line w/ me.........!!!!!

Pahoo · January 26, 2010, 12:15 PM

Good morning Parabuteo
As stated, an old Weaver on and older lever action, is a great match. In fact, I would not put anthing else on my Marlin - 39A. There are guys out there that love to collect these. I have about six of these old kids and they are just neat to have. There was a time you could buy a basket full for around $25.00 each but not anymore. My guess is that they are worth fixing up.

Be Safe !!!

January 8, 2010, 11:25 PM	#1
Parabuteo Member Join Date: November 24, 2009 Location: SE Posts: 36	Weaver Scope Repair My father, who was a shooter all his life, passed away not long ago. As I have cleaned up and gone through the boxes of reloading gear, gadgets etc, I have come up with about a dozen of his old Weaver target and hunting scopes that he had put away at one point or another. Most of them are fixed power but there a couple of variables, most are about as old as I am I suppose. I have always pretty much been a Leupold man but have had some steel tube Weavers like these and they performed very satisfactorily. All of Dad's scopes are all blue steel with 1 inch tubes except for one of them. About half of them are foggy and need to be serviced or tossed. I would like to put them on some of my rifles and would like to be able to use them again. Where can I send these scopes and be assured that I will get timely repair service so that I can get these scopes back into service within a reasonable time period ? Thanks.

January 9, 2010, 12:23 PM	#4
taylorce1 Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2005 Location: On the Santa Fe Trail Posts: 8,242	Ironsight Scope Repair Here ya go! http://www.ironsightinc.com/About

January 10, 2010, 12:30 PM	#5
Parabuteo Member Join Date: November 24, 2009 Location: SE Posts: 36	Weaver Scope Repair Thank you Gents! If there are any other folks who might have any info concerning getting these scopes put back into shooting order I would sure appreciate the direction. Thanks again.

January 10, 2010, 03:47 PM	#6
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	FWIW, while the old Weaver scopes are a bit of Americana and lend that old nostalgia look to older rifles, the optical quality of scopes from the 1950s and 60s leaves a lot to be desired. Even a relatively cheap scope made nowadays has better optical quality than some of the average quality rifle scopes from that era (I know someone is going to chime in any second and tell me about the amazing clarity of his 1930s era Zeiss, Bausch & Lomb, Groenlander, or Unertl, but those are top-notch scopes). Also, while it may sound cool to use an old scope your Dad used, many of those scopes' crosshairs were made from spiderweb (really!) or silk, and as such they are relatively fragile, and are irreplaceable if damaged. Metal crosshairs were a late 1960s to 1970s innovation. If you do have the scopes serviced, use them on a period-correct rifle restoration and avoid shooting the rifle very much. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

January 11, 2010, 06:01 PM	#7
Parabuteo Member Join Date: November 24, 2009 Location: SE Posts: 36	Weaver Scope Repair Scorch, Thanks, those are good points to consider. I'm not short on Leupolds etc. or other rifles of periods way before and after Dad started shooting to current production. I'll have to think all this over a bit. I'd hate to invest in restoring them just to have them sit around from now on. Take care.

January 9, 2010, 09:23 AM	#2
L_Killkenny Senior Member Join Date: February 2, 2007 Location: Iowa Posts: 2,676	Go over to the forums at leverguns.com. There is a guy there that is retired from the old Weaver USA plant where the scopes were made. Sorry, can't remember his name but he is a Weaver Scope God. Just join, start a thread about your weaver scopes and he'll be along. LK

January 9, 2010, 11:03 AM	#3
madcratebuilder Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2007 Location: Northern Orygun Posts: 4,923	If you check evil bay you well find a large market for old Weaver scopes. You well find they are bringing pretty good money, even when in need of repair. You may be setting on a gold mine.

January 26, 2010, 03:20 AM	#8
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,300	redfield rebuild Dunno about Weavers, but the ironsight people rebuilt a usa redfield/widefield 4x for me 5-6 years ago maybemore ,and its been doing fine. Seems like the guy was a retired trooper or something.. I had a question and the owner came on the line w/ me.........!!!!!

January 26, 2010, 12:15 PM	#9
Pahoo Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Location: IOWA Posts: 8,783	Good morning Parabuteo As stated, an old Weaver on and older lever action, is a great match. In fact, I would not put anthing else on my Marlin - 39A. There are guys out there that love to collect these. I have about six of these old kids and they are just neat to have. There was a time you could buy a basket full for around $25.00 each but not anymore. My guess is that they are worth fixing up. Be Safe !!!