Questions about old Fecker scope

T

Tmountain

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I inherited this old Fecker scope (see photo) and I'm not familiar with its construction. Any advice & wisdom on these questions would be appreciated:

1. The scope is held in place just by the front ring and the rear ring (which contains the windage & elevation adjustments). Neither holds it securely, so it shifts during recoil. What am I missing?

2. You can see in the lower image that there is a thin bar on the top of the scope, at the end on which is a tightening screw. I don't have a clue what this is for or what purpose the screw serves.

Thanks-
 

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A lot of these older scopes with straight tubes and windage and elevation in the mounts
used a spring to return them to original position after the shot and recoil. Not really
familiar with this brand but my old Lyman super target spot used this method.
Regards,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
 
Nice scope!

if you mean the scope moves front to back in the rings that's the result of recoil. The rifle recoils but the scope wants to stay put(inertia). Just pull it back by hand against the stop which is a small ring around the tube with a locking nut.

If you mean the scope mounts are not tight on the bases, Fecker rings were a little narrower that Unertl so sometimes you can't get them onto Unertl bases. If you can and they move, make sure the lock ring on the bases engages the little half moon cut in the base.

The focus(parallax adjustment) is the ring in the middle of the scope. you loosen one lock ring and push it fore or aft with the other until in focus and parallax is gone.
 
old fecker scope

correct just pull it all the way back and give it a light twist to settle it in.
 
Right, the scope moves within the rings as a result of recoil. It seems a little odd to me that a scope would be designed to have the shooter reposition it after each shot. I guess in theory it should aim just it did before recoil & repositioning, since the W&E knobs have not moved, but I would still prefer the scopt to stay put.

glp said:
if you mean the scope moves front to back in the rings that's the result of recoil. The rifle recoils but the scope wants to stay put(inertia). Just pull it back by hand against the stop which is a small ring around the tube with a locking nut.

If you mean the scope mounts are not tight on the bases, Fecker rings were a little narrower that Unertl so sometimes you can't get them onto Unertl bases. If you can and they move, make sure the lock ring on the bases engages the little half moon cut in the base.

The focus(parallax adjustment) is the ring in the middle of the scope. you loosen one lock ring and push it fore or aft with the other until in focus and parallax is gone.
Click to expand...
 
:cool:Some have a spring that goes from the ring to the stop, so you don't have to pull it back. A lot of the old timers took the spring off and pulled it back by hand thinking the spring would pull it back too far. On mine I kept the spring and never noticed the difference. I shot all unertls witch are the same , and I am an old timer!
 
Bob

I use mine on 22 rimfires and use the spring and I find it works just fine. If I ever put one on a CF rifle (I only have 2 that are barrel drilled and tapped for the bases) then I would not set the spring because I think it can create a of stress on the scope and it slams back into battery after the sharp recoil pulse.

The rings are fixed to the rifle and recoil back with it. The scope wants to stay put...a body at rest tends to stay at rest. That means that after the shot the scope has to be pulled back against the front stop unless you have the recoil spring set to automatically return it to battery.
 
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I have used the spring on many rifles from 6.5-300 7mm300- and 30 378 never noticed a difference. not saying there isn't any! But I couldn't measure it!
 
I could never tell any difference either but the rifle I was shooting with the Fecker was an inch or so rifle.....with and without the spring. If I had such a setup I'd put the spring on it and leave it that way.
 
Wilbur

Wilbur said:
I could never tell any difference either but the rifle I was shooting with the Fecker was an inch or so rifle.....with and without the spring. If I had such a setup I'd put the spring on it and leave it that way.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying there is, just that I would choose to not use the recoil spring on a heavier recoiling CF. In the event that these old scopes go out of whack, other than replacing reticles, getting serious work done on them is difficult, very time consuming and expensive. I know!! Tks --Greg
 
Questions about old fecker scope.

Make sure to lube the rail on the top of the scope with light oil, when in use.
I twist them to the left to make sure that there isn't any slop in the rail After a while they develop play.
They work the same way lymans and unertl scope do.
 
glp said:
I'm not saying there is, just that I would choose to not use the recoil spring on a heavier recoiling CF. In the event that these old scopes go out of whack, other than replacing reticles, getting serious work done on them is difficult, very time consuming and expensive. I know!! Tks --Greg
Click to expand...

So it sounds like it is normal for the scope to have to be pushed back into place after recoil, whether by spring or by hand.

But I gotta say this surprises me. Doesn't the moving back and forth run the risk of changing the sighting a tiny bit? And of course a tiny bit makes all the difference in the kind of shooting this scope is designed for. Why don't they just make the front ring hold the scope firmly in place?
 
Look up the definition of inertia.
They work quite well this way because there is dramatically lower stress on internals this way. They worked exceptionally well for decades.
 
I've never used one of those type of scopes, but I had a Unertl 36X in my possession to sell for Bonnie Cornelison years ago. Eye relief on the scope was very short like about 1/2" or so. If the scope didn't slide when the rifle recoiled, you'd be getting the scope in your eye every time you shot which wouldn't be a good thing.
 
There's a reason why folks don't use this kind of scope any longer for extreme accuracy. Groundhogs OK - Benchrest shooting not OK. Pretty good piece of glass in any case! Excellent if you're into historical stuff....
 
For years all the guys shooting at Williamsport used them, lots of records set at 1000 yds. Some still use them, however most turned to the variable because they also use them to hunt, and the field is so much better. Most up there used Unertls 15x, 20x, 24x also BV20s and some pulled the scope back and some used springs. I always let the spring on so I wouldn't forget to pull it back .The new scopes are much clearer I had several programers and ultra varmits and bv20s It was the scopes to have until the 1990s And never heard of anyone getting hit by the scope?
 
Bob

Bob Smeltzer said:
For years all the guys shooting at Williamsport used them, lots of records set at 1000 yds. Some still use them, however most turned to the variable because they also use them to hunt, and the field is so much better. Most up there used Unertls 15x, 20x, 24x also BV20s and some pulled the scope back and some used springs. I always let the spring on so I wouldn't forget to pull it back .The new scopes are much clearer I had several programers and ultra varmits and bv20s It was the scopes to have until the 1990s And never heard of anyone getting hit by the scope?
Click to expand...

Did you see a share of Mitchells at Williamsport? They were a fine long focus scope, made until his eyes couldn't keep up with the fine work. Tks
 
glp said:
Did you see a share of Mitchells at Williamsport? They were a fine long focus scope, made until his eyes couldn't keep up with the fine work. Tks
Click to expand...

I cant say I ever saw a Mitchells there! But I only shot up there from 1969 till about 1985 However I do go up once or twice a year just to check things out!
 
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