Scope repairs:

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
Why is it that older scopes seem to go "Bad" while standing in the gun cabinet on rifles? I have had this happen to more than one scope over the course of time. I have a nice older Redfield that this happened to this year.

I visited my Favorite Cousin for dinner last night and he mentioned that his older Redfield- Widefield with the Eupeoran Reticle had done the same with him. He loves that scope for the hunting he does and would like to have it fixed. He had it "Fixed" once for $75. plus shipping and it has failed in the same way again.

This got me to thinking; is there a source for receiving instruction on scope repair? Are there tool available to be purchased and is there a source of repair parts available? My cousin opined that if people build them every day it should be easy enough for a person to learn to repair them.

I haven't checked on line yet as I thought if there are any hobbiest's repairing old scopes they might "Hang" here some.

Thanks,

Pete
 
I got one of them Redfield Widefields on my .270 FN. I don't use it enough to say whether this has happened or not.
It'a 3x9. Maybe someday I'll find out and remember this article, but honestly can't imagine any reason why it should do what you say.
 
Joe Maisto said:
I got one of them Redfield Widefields on my .270 FN. I don't use it enough to say whether this has happened or not.
It'a 3x9. Maybe someday I'll find out and remember this article, but honestly can't imagine any reason why it should do what you say.
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I have had this happen to other scopes as well. My thinking is either the lube in them varnishes up and doesn't allow the parts to move as they should or the springs, over time, loose their tension, perhaps both. My Redfield is a 2-7 with the regular Duplex reticle. It is in great shape externally. I would like to fix it and continue using it as would my cousin his. @ $75.00 plus shipping only to have it happen again in a few years is a bit much; kinda like throwing good money after bad.

Great product limited expensive service available.
 
I have an old 20X Japan Tasco maybe 18" long very nice BUT!!!!! It is very clear and good with light. I was redoing the external adjustments - should have tried to find some... anyway for some stupid reason i took off the eye piece, stuck it back on and noticed my unmovable cross hairs were broke............ i stuck it in the closet -shucks- joe
 
Easy to fix: Find a spider webb and use those filiments to recreate the X; screw the ocular back on.

I saw one of those scopes on a rifle in a Gun Show years ago. I wanted the mounts to use on a modern 6X scope but the price was too high on it for me. Nice looking stuff; hey, wanna sell the mounts?
 
Pete Wass said:
Easy to fix: Find a spider webb and use those filiments to recreate the X; screw the ocular back on.

I saw one of those scopes on a rifle in a Gun Show years ago. I wanted the mounts to use on a modern 6X scope but the price was too high on it for me. Nice looking stuff; hey, wanna sell the mounts?
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Well if the spyder web trick works........... um -no, lol Thanks for the tip! joe
 
Pete Wass said:
Easy to fix: Find a spider webb and use those filiments to recreate the X; screw the ocular back on.

I saw one of those scopes on a rifle in a Gun Show years ago. I wanted the mounts to use on a modern 6X scope but the price was too high on it for me. Nice looking stuff; hey, wanna sell the mounts?
Click to expand...

Bill Ackerman uses Black Widow spiderweb for the fine crosshairs in his T-6 conversions. I would suggest you need to talk to someone like Bill before you go just using whatever you get your hands on. Also, I seem to remember someone mentioning using Kevlar (Aramid) fiber for crosshair replacement.
 
David Halblom said:
Bill Ackerman uses Black Widow spiderweb for the fine crosshairs in his T-6 conversions. I would suggest you need to talk to someone like Bill before you go just using whatever you get your hands on. Also, I seem to remember someone mentioning using Kevlar (Aramid) fiber for crosshair replacement.
Click to expand...

I think, when he was freezing scopes, jackie schmidt used unwound dental floss. I think I remember him saying it was ok but fuzzy.
 
I have frozen and rebuilt the cross hair in a Weaver T36. The freezing part was intentional. The finger thru the reticule was .....dumb. I rebuilt about 5 of them before I got it figured out. I used a single filiment of Kevlar cloth. As near as I could measure it, it was .0002 in diameter. Now I have a T36 that is frozen and has a tad thicker cross hair than the original. If you want to take apart a scope you need to stop and think about what the next thing is that you need to do. They are kind of tricky but no great problem. just requires a bit of thinking as you progress. Not sure I would want ot do another one. Even thought I sat next to Jackie when he did a Leupold 36.

Donald
 
Pete, could it be that there.....................

are two things going on here? If you are referring to the adjustments going bad, well, I have found that most people will get a good scope, then go cheap on the mounts. On a hunting rifle, good, solid steel rings, preferably with adjustments that will allow one to "save" most of the turret adjustments on a neutralized scope, by allowing the "rough" windage to be realized, are probably best. Also, when most of those scopes were built, they didn't have the springs they have now. When you look at the old Leupold Vari-X IIs, they were good in their day, but didn't have much adjustment, it was easy to have a reticle tube that may be way over one side or the other, then the spring, from sitting that way for years, takes a "set", and will no longer answer the adjustments.

Safes are another source of problems. Most people will get the largest safe they can afford, and will put a large Goldenrod in there. After all, big safe? Big rod! Well, I have had guys open up the safe to show a handgun, and when they open it up, even at 70-80 degrees outside, the interior feels warm. I recommend even with the larger safes, a smaller rod, even in the high humidity areas. And, if you live in a coastal environment, it can be in your best interest to buy a butter dish, and swipe a piece of steel in some local salty water, then lay it in the dish in another room and check it every day for a couple days to see when it rusts. Chances are, when you see it rusting, if you go and look in your safe, nothing there is rusty. You only want to change the interior of the safe enough to be a little cozy for the things inside. Everyone thinks of the harsh rusting as a result of humidity, but think of this: If you get a power outage in a rainstorm, or a hurricaine comes by an knocks out the power for a week, that nice WARM safe you have is going to suck up the moisture big time, and may even make the interior damp. I had one friend open a safe in his unheated garage on a hot summer day, maybe 85 or more, and the interior was WARM when I put my hand in there. Well, I said something about it, and his response was, "Well, that's all I got." Anyway, he moved some stuff to his inlaws, and the safe went into a shipping container for a couple months before moving, well, we went shooting one day, and I happened to look at one of his guns, and asked if I could pick it up. Well, I opened the action and looked down the bore.......and it looked like the bow of the Titanic, as it looks TODAY. Not thinking (unaware) he put the safe in the container, didn't think about powering it, and it just sucked all kinds of badness in there. Also, I've seen some of the old Belgian Brownings rust overnight.

Another thing that may happen with those safes is for the glue which holds a compound lens system together, may start to de-laminate. I don't know how that would be repaired. I've had two people tell me they had that happen.

Anyway, just some food for thought, I hope someone else doesn't have to go through what these guys did. HTH ;)
 
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It could be just once and a while working the scope adjustment back and forth. Sometimes they take a set.
I noticed that on one of my scopes i hadn't used in a while. I just worked the clicks back and forth and they started to work
Again I think the culprit is the spings that are inside. I think they take some kind of set after being in the same position for long periods of time. Bill Ackerman can clean and repair just about any scope . I would give him a call if it doesn't loosen up after working the turrents. maybe it just needs a good cleaning and or a drop of oil in the right spots.
 
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