I have my eye on a vintage european scope that is advertised as 26mm, which comes out to just over one inch. Never owned one before. Do these scopes work ok with typical 1" rings?

No, you have to get or make 26mm mounts. IIRC Weatherby used 26mm mounts for 1" scopes and filled the gap with a thin strip of rubber.

OK, thank you.

Boy, you will do alot of cussing attepting to insert a 26mm scope into a 1" pair of rings. And, Yes, even if you attempt to splay the 1" rings they mar the scope tube.

Yes, several scope generations ago European straight powered 6x42's & 8x56's were made on 26mm tubes by most of the brand name makers. For the most part the optical quality of these scopes is still oustanding, and if the tubes are in good condition they sum of all parts equals an oustanding optic.

IIC Leupold had some 26mm rings on offer at one time but don't recall who else still makes or made them, perhaps some of the major manufacturers may still have some in stock. They are getting more difficult to come by even here in The Fatherland.

At one time Brownell's (man, am I getting slow on the pickup lately ....) again, IIRC had a set of plastic ring inserts to accommodate 1" scopes in 30mm rings = diameter reduction inserts. May be an option if you would consider using 30mm rings?

I would answer the same as the others here, you need to find some 26mm rings, Weaver used to make them, or have a set of 1" rings opened up to fit. I have done dozens of these over the years.

Strangely enough I just purchased a set of low aluminium Weaver style rings, Simmons brand, to do exactly this to fit a 26mm steel tubed 4x Kahles scope I've had sitting around for a while but discovered that the rings have enough 'spring' to fit the scope and the cap screws enough length to to fully thread into the ring base despite the slightly larger gap. Normally I have found that you cannot fit 26mm to 1" (25.4mm) but the Simmons rings seem to be very close to 26mm and do not need any force for the larger tube size to fit. The scope shot fine in these rings too.

Hello from Britain...here in "Yurrup"!

Three factors to NOTE WELL:

1) 1" rings on a 26mm 'scope will damage it. That is fact.

2) Is this an early 'scope in which case it may not be image moving but reticule moving.

3) If a variable European 'scopes have the reticule in that focal plane which, as the magnification is increased also increases the size of the reticule.

4) If 2) and 3) are not an issue, or don't apply, then as others say Leupold do TRUE 26mm rings and very good they are too. I have used them and they are true 26mm.

I already have the 1" rings that I want for my rifle and they are unique and not negotiable, so I wont be getting the alljagd scope. Thanks for the replies guys.

I have a few 26mm European scopes. I have used 30mm rings with 1" inserts to mount these scopes on rifles where the Leupold mounts will not fit.

There seems to be enough "give" in that system to mount the scope without damage, and it does not move in the mount.

I have had one scope mounted like this for 36 years, and it is still doing great...