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Seeadler Riflescopes

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https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1421043/m/6601022972

15 September 2024, 16:43
Michael Robinson
Seeadler Riflescopes
I can’t find much information out there about this scope maker or its scopes. It appears to be a German company.

What little I could find was fairly derogatory, which surprised me since German glass is generally so good.

I’m buying a German rifle with one of these on it. I’d like to know if I should consider keeping it or not.

Seems like it’s probably junk.

Thanks.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
16 September 2024, 07:05
sambarman338
They are almost all junk these days, Michael. If it's coming anyway, give it a try - it may be no less mechanically stable than most of the others.
17 September 2024, 04:51
Michael Robinson
Thanks, sambarman.

I picked up the rifle.

The scope is a "Seeadler International" 3-9x42mm "Jagermeister" model with a one inch diameter main tube.

The ocular end of the scope has that information printed on it, along with the forward facing head of a royal red stag, and the words "wasserfest" and "schussfest" - which I think are German for "waterproof" and "shockproof."

It has a duplex reticle in the first focal plane.

I learned that the German word "Seeadler" means "Sea Eagle" or "White-Tailed Eagle" in English. So, it seems to be a catchy name chosen for marketing reasons.

The image quality is not terrible but not very good either - comparable to a Bushnell or Tasco.

I'm going to remove it from its rings, which are steel and well-made, and which fit into equally well-made two-piece steel mounts, and replace it with a Minox ZA 5 2-10x40 mm I bought on sale and have had laying around for a few years.

The price of the rifle reflected nothing in the way of a mark-up for the scope, which more or less tipped me off in the first place.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
17 September 2024, 07:00
sambarman338
That's interesting, Michael: 'see' by itself means lake in German but shunt the two words together and it does change to sea eagle.

Does it say it's made in Germany?

If the reticle stays centred when you wind a knob a fair way, you may actually have something of value, already mounted properly.
17 September 2024, 07:04
Michael Robinson
There are no other markings visible on the scope as mounted. I'll take a look at it more closely after I remove it from the rings.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
18 September 2024, 23:18
Michael Robinson
Not another mark on it.

No indication of where it was made, no serial number, no nothing. It really does seem to be rather cheap glass.

Oh, well.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
19 September 2024, 23:52
Arild Iversen
I remember seeing such scopes here in Norway some years ago.
The rumour said that they were made somewhere in Asia.
Could be China, Philippines, Taiwan, I don`t remember.
The German "touch" is just a marketing thing giving the impression that it was a German brand.
The bottom line was that the scopes was just junk.


Arild Iversen.



20 September 2024, 00:22
Michael Robinson
Thanks. At least the scope mounts are genuine, German-made MAK two-piece steel bases and rings.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
20 September 2024, 10:05
sambarman338
I suppose there's an analogy to be made with another brand often seen in these page, which conjures Germany in its name but is made somewhere else.

In Australia there is even a bunch that dares to use the respected name of Pecar but has nothing I can see to do with either the original makers or the reliable reticle-movement they used continuously until the Berlin factory closed.

Michael, if you can think of nothing else useful to do with this Seeadler, gut it (if not pluck it) and see the travesty that comprises the mechanics of virtually all modern scopes.
21 September 2024, 05:12
Michael Robinson
I may do that, sambarman. Might be fun.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.