I'm just reading a bit of Aagaard, and he mentioned a friend of his using a Weaver 2.5X scope on a .375HH...

Really? I have one on the kids .22.

How many shots would it last if I put it on the .416 Rigby?

Frans

Are you referring to the old steel tube scopes of the "K" series made in Texas? If so it'd fit right well on the Rigby. Give it a try!

What DM said...
I've had one on a 416 rem for a couple hundred shots.

jeffe

the old ones are solid. I have a K3 on my 416 they are lilke gold. You might contact the guys who used to do waranty work for weaver and still does/redoes the old ones in Texas somewhere. Jeffe?

Rich

Blount may be able to tell yeah... I've got one with the post, that I want redone and put on my 458 AR

jeffe

Yep, the K2.5, steel tube. Bit of a funny reticle with a slightly thicker vertical post reaching to just above the hairline horizontal. Picked it up for $40 at a show... they seem to be around here and there if you look. Looks like the kids will be without a scope soon! ;-)

Frans

If you have an old steel-tube Weaver in need of work, here's the place:

Weaver Scope Repair Service
1121 Larry Mahan Drive
El Paso, Tx 79925

Phone: 915-593-1005

I've had reticles replaced, scope overhauled after a flood, etc., and have no complaints.

All my heavy kicking rifles wear new model Weaver 2.5 fixed scopes. They have taken a lickin' and kept on tickin', including the one on my 425 Express which has a brake (which is suppose to be especially hard on scopes), and which came off that rifle with the mounts and hit the concrete pad at our range. Dented the tube, but hasn't effected the scope otherwise. Two more are on 375HH's that I have. In addition, they are a very bright scope. Kudude

Gentlemen, I have a vault full of old big bore rifles with the old steel tube K models, and I've never had one fail! I used to live in El Paso, 1 mile from the W.R. Weaver plant, and the guy who has the Weaver repair service is the old plant manager for Weaver, and bought the tools when Weaver closed their doors!

I have never had a steel tube weaver fail in 20 years and that includes 416 rigby and 2 505 gibbs

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Blount may be able to tell yeah... I've got one with the post, that I want redone and put on my 458 AR

jeffe

Care for another?

you have a pm

I have two old steel V4.5's. They may be one of the best scopes ever made for a heavy rifle. I truly believe they have more useable eye relief than any scope I have ever used, especially at 1.5. The great thing is that the eye relief is non-critical, with a wide range. The key is finding one with something other than the fine cross hairs.

If anyone is looking for one...the other day there was an older but about mint 2.5 Leupold at Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Maine. 207-439-2700 ask for the gun department...$175.00.

I did manage to break one of the Weaver 2.5 power scopes with a post and crosshair...put it on a Browning Auto 5 with a Hastings slug barrel. I think the reverse recoil of the barrel slaming forward did the scope in..broke off the right side of the crosshair. Before that it had spent some time on a Ruger #1 .375 H&H and performed perfectly.

Bob

I'm twice bitten, twice shy ... when they were newly released (late 90s ???) my 458WM at te time broke 2 of them with cracking appearing around the reticle. Both were replaced, no questions asked which was great. I ended up replacing them with 2.5x Leupolds and have never looked back.
Cheers...
Con

I put a Weaver K3 micro-trac on my Ruger No.1 in 458 because of the long tube of the scope allowing for pro[er eye relief[ no.1's can be difficut to properly mpount a scope] and it holds up well.

Had a steel-tubed K2.5 for years and had it on a .416 and a .458 No. 1 Tropical. Finally had it on a Marlin .45-70 Cowboy and sold the whole package. I'm sure it's still in service out there somewhere.

Weaver still makes a 2.5x scope. It's aluminum rather than steel, but I doubt that makes any difference in durability, and may be better in several ways.

http://www.weaveroptics.com/pg10/pg10.html

I don't get all this praise and reminiscing about a discontinued scope, the steel version.

For many years I really liked and praised the virtues of the Leupold 3X, and after they discontinued them, I bought several used at various times. Eventually, I had five of them. None of them ever gave me any trouble. Some turned a sort of purple color, but that was it. I used one on a 458 for over two years, and it showed no sign of any problem. Same for the one on my 375.

Then I bought one of the new 1-4X VXII, and several of the 2-7X VXIIs. After comparing the clarity of the image, the low light ability of the newer scopes, I sold all my 3X Leupolds to a guy who wanted them for his big bores, including his 458 Lott. The scopes are still in service, none have broken, and the guy is happy. I’m happy too, because I don’t miss them at all, being perfectly satisfied with the newer and clearer offerings.

One thing I learned about scopes and big bores is that the weight of the scope makes a big difference. Internally on the lenses etc., and on the rings, under recoil the forces on the scope goes up rapidly with each fraction of an ounce weight added. One reason I used the 3x Leupold on the 458 is because the other scopes I tried would move forward inside the rings under recoil. I tried tightening the screws but that wasn’t enough. I probably could have solved the problem with some kind of adhesive, but the 3X fixed the problem with no mess.

So, my point is that I question the virtues of a steel scope body, when Leupold has proven for years that the aluminum will withstand recoil just fine. I think it’s the way stuff is held together inside the scope, rather than what you see on the outside.

This new Leupold Ultralight 2.5X is consistent with my two notions mentioned above. Light weight is a plus on big bores, plus aluminum is the state of the art, unless you can afford titanium.

Regards,
KB

quote:

I don't get all this praise and reminiscing about a discontinued scope, the steel version.

For me it's simple. I'm putting together this .416 just for the heck of it. I might use on game, I might not. Maybe I'll try for some gophers! ;-)

I just happen to have an old K2.5, which according to replies above, should do just fine for some plinking fun, without having to spend several hundred on a modern scope.

Frans

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:

quote:

I don't get all this praise and reminiscing about a discontinued scope, the steel version.

For me it's simple. I'm putting together this .416 just for the heck of it. I might use on game, I might not. Maybe I'll try for some gophers! ;-)

I just happen to have an old K2.5, which according to replies above, should do just fine for some plinking fun, without having to spend several hundred on a modern scope.

Frans

That's easy enough to understand, and appreciate. My comments were not about anything you said, because I didn't take it that you were "praising and reminiscing". You just wanted to know if anyone had specific experience with that particular scope used on a big bore. It's a reasonable question, and the answers were reasonable too.

From my perspective, like the old 3x Leupolds, it's just and old discontinued scope, which may have some good life left in it, but it's not some kind of magical, special or precision instrument worthy of lamenting it's absense in the market today.

Good shooting...

KB

quote:

Originally posted by Kabluewy:
Weaver still makes a 2.5x scope. It's aluminum rather than steel, but I doubt that makes any difference in durability, and may be better in several ways.

http://www.weaveroptics.com/pg10/pg10.html

I don't get all this praise and reminiscing about a discontinued scope, the steel version.

For many years I really liked and praised the .

Regards,
KB

Kabluewy, I think you misunderstand! It isn't the fact that the scope tube is made of steel, rather than aluminum, it is simply a method of identifying the old K-model true Weaver scope made in the USA, from the aluminum ones, made in Japan.

There is nothing wrong with either one of them, they are simply made by different people! The name "W.R. WEAVER' was sold to OLIN, back in the early 60s,after Bill Weaver commited suicide in his home in El Paso, Texas. The doors were closed, and the company is "Weaver" in Name only! Sort of like the California Jefferys!

Why the old steel K-models get so much praise is because there are few scopes that are as strong as the old fixed power K-Weavers .

As I said in my other post, I have several of them, and I shoot very heavy recoiling rifles, and the only one I have had fail is a V-8 which was discontinued, after only one yr of production, because they were too fragile. I went into the plant to have mine fixed, and they told me I could have any scope they made if I'd let them put the V-8 in a metal shear, and I walked out with the then new V-9 a 3-9, by 40mm with paralex adjustment on it! I still have that scope as well!

I agree with you about Leupold, I have several of those as well, and never a problem!

Gentlemen, it appears that Weaver has discontinued the current Japan built K2½x20, I checked the net a week ago and found that to be the case at my usual sources, unfortunately, Jon no longer lists it at The Optic Zone. I bought my last one from him.

http://theopticzone.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=73

Kabluewy,

generally speaking, most of the "old" stuff that has been replaced by "new and improved' (a firearms industry euphemisn for cheapened materials and shoddy workmanship or offshore production) is better built, materials and construction. The old model 70 is, perhaps, the best illustration, but the new scopes available today, excepting Leupold of course, are glued together. Witness Bill Ackerman and the old Weaver steel tube linup. Bill is making a very good living rebuilding and modifying USA Weavers. You can't do that with the newer scopes, they skip all that tedious handfitting by slapping the parts together and epoxying everything in place. I have friends at Leupold and have toured the plant several times. The reason Leupold can offer a lifetime (of the scope) warranty is because they use screws and snap rings to hold things together. They can be disassembled and repaired.
The gentleman who said he had replaced all of his Weavers with Leupold chose to upgrade in glass, but NOT! in workmanship and quality. Thirty years from now, my great-grandchildren will be sending USA Weavers off to somebody to be fixed, not replaced.

hope this clears the cobwebs...

Rich

Thanks Rich, your info did indeed clear the cobwebs. I had no idea that the USA Weavers were made that way. If I ever see one for sale, I'll probably buy it because of this new knowledge.

For a few years I tried various brands of scopes, but none worked out as well as the Leupolds. I tried Burris and they were OK, and I still use some of them. I had a Simmons, which I gave to my nephew, but it seemed like a good scope. I heard they were quality, and have a good warranty, but I don't know for sure.

I always wanted one of the Swarski 1x4, but so far I can't justify the expense.

KB