Vintage Redfield scopes opposite adjustments - Page 2

Savvy_Jack · March 5, 2024, 07:36 AM

On a side note, reference Bear Cub...

I am not too awfully familiar with the original Bear Cub scope line...but they were originally manufactured by the Kollmorgen Optical Corp for M.L. Stith between 1950 and 1956. Kollmorgen manufactured scope optics for submarines during WWII. Redfield purchased the rifle scope line rights from Kollmorgen in 1958 or 1959.

I purchased a Redfield Accu-Range 3x-9x (M40) 1964 replica scope from Hi-Lux and thoroughly enjoy it. It has a few extra bells and whistles, called the Tactical Hunter, with BDC holdover marks for the .308 cartridge. Works fine for the 30-06 for my needs.

Ranges out past 250 yards can be estimated by using the built in range finder. Anything inside of 250 yards needs no special attention.

Savvy_Jack · March 5, 2024, 07:47 AM

I'll throw in that forth and fifth photo here

tangolima · March 5, 2024, 11:12 AM

A lot of bells and whistles. A busy and confused sniper one would become. Reticle for hunting should be no more than duplex.

Money has inflated 6x since the 60s. $95 scope back then is equivalent to $570 today. Sounds like a high-end one. I bet a $200 scope today will do the same job, if not better.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Braddock VC · March 26, 2024, 03:32 AM

I have a Redfield widefield 3x9 that came on a 308 I bought, it currently sits on a ruger#3 223 Rem I have and once I got the thing sighted in it's been great.
Sure it has some some idiosyncrasies but what piece of equipment doesn't. For a 30 - 40 year old scope that's never been serviced it done good.

Ricklin · March 26, 2024, 12:04 PM

Technology has not done much with regard to our guns. It's not necessary, the grand old 30-06 round will do the same job today as it did 100 years ago. Unlike many things that round might be fired from a gun of the same vintage.
Optics have changed very significantly over the years. Better glass, check. Better lens grinding? Double check. Superior optical designs thanks to cheap supercomputer time? Certainly.
In addition are the lens coatings present on all but the lowest end scopes today.
Modern technology has greatly benefitted optics, far more than the guns the optics are attached to. Most all my hunting guns are senior citizens, the glass they wear is not.

bamaranger · March 26, 2024, 05:38 PM

If the OP is satisfied with his old Redfield and all he intends for it is to "target shoot" I see no reason to suggest him to change. If it works, why fix it? As to how the old scope will do with 7mm mag recoil can only reman to be seen. Again, if all I was doing was punching paper, I'd shoot it 'till it breaks.

I have some older Redfields, though not as vintage as the one described. I sent two back to the Ironsight OK outfit to be rebuilt, a fixed 4x and a Widefield 2.75x(?), back when it was $50 and the turnaround was a month or so. Neither is mounted on a rifle anymore. Why? A semi-modern Leupold VariX-II from the '90's, a Burris Fullfield from the same era, either USA or import, or recently a Leupold Freedom or a Vortex Crossfire II, all $200 dollar or less scopes when I bought them, offer greater clarity and are distinctly brighter in low or flat light. If one intends to hunt their rifles in all conditions, a more recent halfway decent scope is way ahead of a vintage number. I'll add that if not rebuilt, one is taking a gamble on the old seals. The animal of a lifetime may appear and your scope has gone wonky.

That said, I still have some vintage scopes mounted, a Weaver K12 and an import Redfield 2-7x (?) but both on rifles I either plink/target with, or hunt on clear dry days across open hayfields and pasture where the light is perfect and we are done long before dusk. If a coyote, crow or groundhog gets away because of a wonky scope, who cares?

Finally, for Fudds like me, the huge astronomy optics so common on hunting rifles these days seem a bit much. My biggest scope is a 6-24x, mounted on an F-T/R rifle, and I was underscoped by most of the competitions standards.
I hunt simple 1-4x tidy variables, God forbid several fixed 6x Leupolds, some very Fuddlike 3-9x40mm Leupolds and Burris numbers. I'm trying to talk bamaboy into the loan of a rifle with a 4-16x Burris as a spare rifle for a prairie dog hunt I hope to make and the rifle I intend to shoot most on that hunt (if it happens) wears a fixed 10x. Only the 6-24x is 30mm with a bell of 50mm. Mounted on a .308, seems a bit much for prairie dogs!

Drm50 · March 26, 2024, 06:41 PM

I had several Redfields, all straight powers. From 4x to 16x, only one I have left is 4x on Ruger 77/22, fine squirrel rig.

**44 AMP** · March 26, 2024, 11:59 PM

Quote:

the windage and elevation knobs do actually move the crosshairs in the opposite direction than what is marked..

Which is also the way you adjust iron sights. You move the sight (rear, normally) in the opposite direction that you want the bullet impact to move.

Back in the old days, the up/down and right/left were marked in the direction you wanted the bullet to go, something most people could learn and remember. The way the sight /reticle actually moved (being the opposite) was what it took to move the bullet strike and most people didn't know, or care about which way it moved, only where the bullet went.

March 26, 2024, 12:04 PM	#30
Ricklin Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: SW Washington state Posts: 2,016	Not much change Technology has not done much with regard to our guns. It's not necessary, the grand old 30-06 round will do the same job today as it did 100 years ago. Unlike many things that round might be fired from a gun of the same vintage. Optics have changed very significantly over the years. Better glass, check. Better lens grinding? Double check. Superior optical designs thanks to cheap supercomputer time? Certainly. In addition are the lens coatings present on all but the lowest end scopes today. Modern technology has greatly benefitted optics, far more than the guns the optics are attached to. Most all my hunting guns are senior citizens, the glass they wear is not. __________________ ricklin Freedom is not free

March 26, 2024, 05:38 PM	#31
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,314	old scopes If the OP is satisfied with his old Redfield and all he intends for it is to "target shoot" I see no reason to suggest him to change. If it works, why fix it? As to how the old scope will do with 7mm mag recoil can only reman to be seen. Again, if all I was doing was punching paper, I'd shoot it 'till it breaks. I have some older Redfields, though not as vintage as the one described. I sent two back to the Ironsight OK outfit to be rebuilt, a fixed 4x and a Widefield 2.75x(?), back when it was $50 and the turnaround was a month or so. Neither is mounted on a rifle anymore. Why? A semi-modern Leupold VariX-II from the '90's, a Burris Fullfield from the same era, either USA or import, or recently a Leupold Freedom or a Vortex Crossfire II, all $200 dollar or less scopes when I bought them, offer greater clarity and are distinctly brighter in low or flat light. If one intends to hunt their rifles in all conditions, a more recent halfway decent scope is way ahead of a vintage number. I'll add that if not rebuilt, one is taking a gamble on the old seals. The animal of a lifetime may appear and your scope has gone wonky. That said, I still have some vintage scopes mounted, a Weaver K12 and an import Redfield 2-7x (?) but both on rifles I either plink/target with, or hunt on clear dry days across open hayfields and pasture where the light is perfect and we are done long before dusk. If a coyote, crow or groundhog gets away because of a wonky scope, who cares? Finally, for Fudds like me, the huge astronomy optics so common on hunting rifles these days seem a bit much. My biggest scope is a 6-24x, mounted on an F-T/R rifle, and I was underscoped by most of the competitions standards. I hunt simple 1-4x tidy variables, God forbid several fixed 6x Leupolds, some very Fuddlike 3-9x40mm Leupolds and Burris numbers. I'm trying to talk bamaboy into the loan of a rifle with a 4-16x Burris as a spare rifle for a prairie dog hunt I hope to make and the rifle I intend to shoot most on that hunt (if it happens) wears a fixed 10x. Only the 6-24x is 30mm with a bell of 50mm. Mounted on a .308, seems a bit much for prairie dogs!

March 5, 2024, 11:12 AM	#28
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 3,829	A lot of bells and whistles. A busy and confused sniper one would become. Reticle for hunting should be no more than duplex. Money has inflated 6x since the 60s. $95 scope back then is equivalent to $570 today. Sounds like a high-end one. I bet a $200 scope today will do the same job, if not better. -TL Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

March 26, 2024, 03:32 AM	#29
Braddock VC Junior Member Join Date: January 12, 2020 Posts: 6	I have a Redfield widefield 3x9 that came on a 308 I bought, it currently sits on a ruger#3 223 Rem I have and once I got the thing sighted in it's been great. Sure it has some some idiosyncrasies but what piece of equipment doesn't. For a 30 - 40 year old scope that's never been serviced it done good.

March 26, 2024, 06:41 PM	#32
Drm50 Senior Member Join Date: November 10, 2014 Posts: 1,382	I had several Redfields, all straight powers. From 4x to 16x, only one I have left is 4x on Ruger 77/22, fine squirrel rig.