I'm looking for comments about the quality of B. Nickels, German-made scopes. Am looking for a scope that would look right on a Mannlicher Schoenauer M1903 or 1920's Mauser. Not after a modern scope or a real antique, either. The Nickels scopes look good, but I know nothing of their quality.
Thanks,
Roger

Come on guys! Surely, some of you are experts on B. Nickels scopes.

Thanks,

Roger

Well, RGW, I have collected at least 10 Nickel Supras and Supralyts and I like them very much. Some say they are not as waterproof as some other brands but they have excellent lenses, coatings and field blending, good flexible eye boxes and some of the toughest reticle-movements.

(I cut up an old one and found the reticle cell ran up and down in a solid dovetail housing, with a stout spring holding it against the single turret screw. That would have prevented recoil from breaking it down, unlike modern scopes with massive articulated erector tubes at the mercy of hard kickers.)

Bernhard Nickel was apparently one of the engineers picked up by the US Army from Zeiss Jena in 1945 before the Russians got there. But instead of going to Zeiss Oberkochen, he made his own scopes at Marburg, about 50 clicks up the Lahn from Wetzlar. Hertel & Reuss got the business about 1970 and some people claim the lenses were not as good afterwards. I've got and used at least two of these later scopes, though, and can't fault them. H&R eventually made image-movement versions and the brand has been recast as Nickel AG this century. I haven't looked through one of these and, since they cost the earth and are only sold by mail order, don't expect to.

Nickel made many different models after WWII, some with the windage knob on the l/h side, esp. for the Mannlicher Schoenauer it seems. I've used three Nickels on my rifles, a 1.5-6x36 on a Sako 338WM, a 2.5x21 on a Zastava 9.3x62 and a 3-10x42 on my Anschutz .22 (it steadies the rifle well on off-hand shots ). The 1.5-6x may be a fraction heavier than my similar Zeiss and Hensoldt scopes but I like the others and they are still in place.

Unlike Zeiss and Swaros of the time, they had click adjustments and I've found they hold zero well.

I've heard their lens cement could be brittle but have only found fungus in one scope here. The 2.5-6x scope I cut up could focus the reticle OK but not the target, apparently a problem with the erector set, and I've heard of one other owner with the same problem. Mine was bought at a for-parts price and for all I know they may have been the same scope.

I’m no expert but I’ve had two Nickel scopes. One was a 3-10X variable and the other is a fixed 1.5X. Both were very clear and both had 26mm tubes.

If you are going to use one of these scopes I would suggest you also use mounts that are adjustable for windage and elevation. IMO you want to try to keep the reticle centred using the mounts’ adjustments before you use the scope’s adjustments for fine tuning.

When I get the 1.5X refurbished (the controls have frozen but is still super clear) it will be put on a Ruger No.1 that I had built in 50/90. The scope has an unusual reticle and huge field of view which should make it ideal for that application.

You should consider other older European scopes made by Pecar, Kahles, Zeiss and Swarovski to name a few as they are similar in quality but are easier to find. Being fairly old they will likely need to be refurbished but the quality and workmanship is outstanding IMO.

I know those scopes well, JFE, though my 1.5x12 is dural with a rail. I guess your reticle is the picket post with halo like mine.

With steel scopes my favorite mounts are now the 1" Burris Signature rings bored out to 26mm, or sanded out using a mandrel. If the elevation, windage (or both) are out, you can substitute Burris's eccentric inserts to fix it.

Yours is the first Nickel I've heard of seizing up, though I've bought old Swaro and S&B scopes in that condition. My theory is they'd held zero so well the owners didn't touch the knobs for decades.

Good suggestion. I’ve been meaning to take a look at those Burris rings and inserts.

The reticle on my Nickel 1.5X is a picket post with thin horizontal bars and a small circle. I’ve not seen this type of reticle before and assume it’s designed for taking running game, as your eye quickly picks up the centre of the scope.

Yes, JFE, that's the same reticle I've got. Mine is sitting on a black hump, possible meant to cover open sights, though I doubt it would.

Colin Shadbolt seemed to think that circle may have been to help with leading birds when the scope is mounted on a shotgun.

If you have trouble finding those rings, let me know. I got mine from a bloke near Gundagai but also have some unused inserts that might help.

Funny you should mention Colin Shadbolt’s comment as I think mine might have come off a combination gun. The claw mounts it came fitted with are the same height.

Mine also has the hump at the bottom and also suspect it’s to cover any open sights.

I bet your claws are well forward on the scope. That must make any scope vulnerable to bumps.

If the claws are still there and you need to take them off, there may be a way to do it without stripping all of the optics. My fitter-turner mate sawed the ones off my Hensoldf Diasta reasonably close, then put it in a lathe and turned down the rest. As this proceeded, friction heated the demi-rings to a point where the solder melted, letting him remove it without too much heat getting to the scope.

Here's one I got several years ago still new in the box. It's a 26mm-tube plain-crosshair fixed 4 power with only vertical adjustment and I had intended to mount it on a lovely 9x57 Sauer '98; sadly that never happened. I still have the scope, still new in the box.

Very nice!

That's an early one, too, and only the second one with a box I've seen. By about 1970 they came in a greenish box with mountains and fur trees on it, if I recall correctly.

Oh sambarman I bet it's more than the box that is a little green
That little scope is a beauty, original leather covers and all. I note it is called a 4 x 81, same as the early 4x Pecar scope was called. The 81 referred to the light gathering number if I recall correctly?

Would love that scope on a classic rifle of some sort, say a BSA Hunter 7x57, yum.

Yes, Eagle, jealousy is a curse. Nickel usually gave the power and objective diameter, which should be 36mmm, with L81 following.

The relative luminosity is indeed relative because squaring the exit pupil dia suggests it is square. To get a truer one we could calculate the area of the round exit pupil in mm but that's a fraction more complicated. An easy way to do that, I've found, is to reduce the relative luminosity by 21.5%. I call the result True Luminosity, hoping that will get pictures of me lining encyclopaedias along with Francis Bacon, Newton and Darwin

Since I'm aging out and unlikely to be able to use this one properly, it is for sale should anyone be interested. Not sure how to price it, but I would like to see it go to a good home.

Get behind me, Satan!

The complications of getting anything gun-related out of the US probably saves me from this temptation, not to mention that the true worth of that scope is probably beyond me this year.

Nick Stroebel valued the 4x36 Nickel Supra from 1953 to 1974 at between $400 and $750 just before the GFC in 2008 and, though his values for European scopes seemed a bit full-up over the following 10 years, I think they are about right now.

He seemed to have a bifurcated outlook on values, one part based on collectability, the other usability. In this an early, rare, scope could be worth thousands but an image-movement 1960s one was $50 more than the previous reticle-movement iteration.

So, from a usable point of view, if this scope lacks weather-proofing turret caps, it might only be worth $650. However, if the old-style turret adds to collectability, it might be $1000 or more, considering it comes with the box and leather caps.

That, considering the sad state of the South Pacific peso, means at least $A1500 - a bit much for me.

Thanks for the pricing info, much appreciated. As I said, I'm more interested in this one finding a good home than in generating piles of cash. As in about half of the amounts mentioned above.

I guess there's your answer, Roger.

Though Steve's scope is post-WWII, it's got the old-timey look you want. Not having a rail or demi-rings soldered on is a real advantage.

If I were mounting it I'd get 1" Burris Signature rings and bore or sand them out to fit. They won't scratch or bend your scope and if they don't line up, Burris have made eccentric ring inserts that fix both elevation and windage if needed.

I have one in 4x, rougher than the one in the pics. Came without caps, but the price was certainly right, it was a gift. Quite nice glass, I have an old 9x57 Mauser I would like to put it on, maybe I can get it done this year. - dan

Almost a month since the last post, I'm wondering if there are any developments.

Did you take up Steve's invitation to treat, Roger?

Hello Sambarman,
I actually purchased a B. Nickels, Marburg, Supra 2.5-6 E/S back in October that I have yet to mount. Just got word that the claw mount components I ordered then are now in transit. The scope will be mounted on a M1903 Mannlicher Schoenauer 6.5x54. I'll let you know how it works, but it may be a while.
Roger

Happy New Year, Roger (and everyone)!

Glad to hear it and hope it all works - getting a claw mount properly installed in North America could be a challenge.

I'm a bit envious of your MS 6.5. I sporterised a Greek Breda and was intending to put a scope on it until I deduced it has setback. The barrel is dark but shoots well but finding a replacement receiver here is about as likely as hens teeth.