What does it take to bring a vintage scope back to factory standards? And why you should care.

At Vintage Gun Scopes, we don’t sell used scopes. We meticulously recondition our scopes so they can once again be relied on as they were before 50 years of aging stiffened grease and fogged glass. Each scope is reconditioned to like-new working order, meeting or exceeding factory specifications. The handy guide below will help you understand the components in each level of reconditioning offered when you purchase from Vintage Gun Scopes.

Cleaning: A scope’s #1 problem corrected.
An internal and external cleaning, paying special attention to the various glass surfaces. A basic vintage scope has around 18 glass surfaces, most of them cemented together. Many people think vintage scopes are not bright. In fact, many vintage scopes have terrific luminosity ratings, some even rivaling today’s scopes. However, 50-100 years of laminate glue breakdown plus scale buildup on multiple high-magnification lenses, unprotected by nitrogen purging for so many years, translates into big losses in luminosity with even the slightest amount of grime/scale/delam. Our most common testimonial is “Wow, I don’t think this scope was this bright when it was new!” Well, it was. Decades of oxygen inside the tube simply did its damage, and we reversed that.

Clean & Lubricate Adjustments: Why won’t my old scope adjust or hold zero?
Due to the robust nature of all metal materials used in most vintage scopes, coupled with the simplicity of design, most vintage scopes enjoy more durable adjustment mechanisms than modern scopes. However, most un-refurbished vintage scopes floating around today simply will not adjust and track properly. It is not because the adjustment components have worn out. It is because the “axle grease” that they used in the adjustments 50-100 years ago has hardened to an earwax type stickiness, or even may have turned hard, causing your adjustments to freeze up completely, or worse yet, stick inside so that the reticle does not respond to your requests for adjustment. We clean, degrease, and re-grease those adjustments with modern lubricants that are safe for the components inside, especially laminate glue. This will reset your adjustments back to factory new standards.

Re-seal: Why is my scope fogging?
Scope sealing is accomplished with grease, gaskets, and o-rings. Over time, all of these will break down, allowing the outside atmosphere inside your scope. Once it has oxygen inside the tube, it fogs. Further, the process of breaking down the components and scaling your glass begins, which greatly affects clarity even if your scope isn’t currently fogged. Many scopes were not nitrogen purged prior to the 1950’s. However, prior to this, companies like Lyman were making their scopes “all weather” in an attempt to keep the outside out. The development of scopes to keep the outside out also does the opposite by keeping the inside in. So many companies were already making sealable scopes even before nitrogen processing was invented. We believe in keeping the integrity of the historical scope. Therefore, we do not do non-traditional modifications to scopes like boosting or changing adjustments, or making non-centered reticles centered. However, there are some simple manufacturing changes, such as adding grooves to accept neoprene 0-rings, that do not change the form of the scope in any way but create a much more stable, sealable scope, which we will do with some models to make them less likely to fog. And when we seal your scope, you can be assured that it will not fog, guaranteed.

Function Check: Will this old scope work better?
We rarely see any unrefurbished vintage scope these days that doesn’t have at least one problem. Normally, they will have several, rendering them virtually useless as a trusted shooting companion to your rifle. We function check all scopes using commercial collimators from the actual Weaver scope factory to make sure that adjustments are working and tracking. From my experience growing up, scope companies set their parallax to some acceptable tolerance, which we see varies from company to company. Our tolerance for parallax adjustment is none (or as close to that as the original scope components and glass allow), assuring that the average scope that leaves here is MORE accurate than it was when new. This is a major advantage that many vintage scopes have over many modern scopes when shooting for accuracy, since parallax can be nearly fully removed for ranges from 100 yards to infinity. Further, we center the reticle. A scope works best when all of the glass is utilizing its centermost points. We check to be sure that focus is replicated perfectly through all powers in a variable scope. Once again, on a collimator we check to make sure the scope adjustments are responding and tracking cleanly and perfectly. Scopes leave here literally functioning at or above new.

Reticle Centered:
All centered and non-centered reticle scopes are centered before leaving here. This ensures that you are starting the mounting and sighting-in process with the scope adjustments in the center of their range.

Nitrogen Processing:
All scopes, regardless of age are nitrogen processed which takes the inside atmosphere of the scope to <2% humidity to insure against fogging and we guarantee it.

Grading: Why do you grade scopes?
We refurbish all of our scopes so that they are clear and function like new. But not all scopes receive new finish because not everyone wants a bright, shiny vintage scope for their rifle. Often, you will want a scope that matches the condition of your rifle. If it’s your grandpa’s gun that has years of use, you might want an optically refurbished scope for perfect functionality, but an original exterior finish to match the rifle.

Modern Glass:
For certain models, we offer glass replacement utilizing modern glass. Most original glass is really clear once we’ve refurbished it. However, the original glass lacked the coatings to enable it to manage the light most efficiently, especially with respect to glare. Our modern glass gives you modern light transmission and luminosity levels in a scope that retains its vintage look with no limitations on shooting in low-light conditions. Modern glass is included in Re-glassed scopes, some restorations automatically, and included as an upgrade in other model restorations.

Refinished Exterior:
Restored scopes include re-bluing or anodizing of all finished surfaces inside and out. If you have a mint or newly refinished rifle, you will want a fully restored scope to match.