The Weaver 330. The Most Important Hunting Innovation of the 20th Century

Today the world is full of optics as complex as you want to go - dial to range and windage, night vision, even automatic rangefinding.  But it all started in the early 1930’s when Bill Weaver decided to stop manufacturing license plates and tool up to bring hunting optics to the mainstream hunter. 

Sure, there already were optics of sorts, but none for practical hunting at a price that an average sportsman could swing. Bill Weaver would come out of the gate with his very first design being one of the most sold and used of all time.  The Weaver 3-30, later to be the 330.  Amazingly, 90 years later, you can still find this scope on a pre-war Win 70 or Savage 99.  What’s more, not one of its 45 total parts is made from plastic, so with a little TLC this scope can be brought back to as-new condition, and it will most certainly be around for centuries to come as a timeless collectible. 

To the enthusiast, the Weaver 330 carries with it a more daunting reputation than simply the world’s first widely used hunting scope.  It also was a primary sniper scope during WWII and continued to be re-serviced and used in wars after WWII.  Today, vintage sniper match shooters use the 330 to shoot competitively at 300 and 600 yards!

Aside from sniper matches and the sheer collectible fun that the 330 affords, perhaps the most popular use today is to mount a refurbished or restored 330 on a vintage firearm and go shooting and hunting with it just like our grandfathers and great grandfathers did prior to the War.

 At Vintage Gun Scopes we are proud to announce several new offerings relative to the Weaver 330.  First, you can purchase a fully restored original Weaver 330.  Also, we can refurbish or restore your 330 with your glass, or with precision replacement modern coated optics.