Thread: Modern scopes on older rifles

Bought a couple of new scopes to upgrade the glass on a couple of my shooters.
Ran into trouble.

Bolts are a 90deg lift. Scope ocular are far too large.
Cant open bolt enough.

Tried all sorts to make them work. Scope height would've ended up ridiculously high and shooting position wouldn't be any good.

So looking for more glass that will fit.
Trouble being modern scopes have large ocular ends and simply aren't suitable.
Most modern rifles now have 60deg, or similar, bolt lift so its not a problem.

Anyone else struck this?

I have plans afoot that hopefully will work but it could be a long wait.

Nah I've been lucky I guess
I have a Leica Er on a 1957 30 06 and vx3 on a 1962 9.3, both have plenty of bolt clearance, both Husky's
Its the modern ones I've had trouble with especially the CZ 527, friggin pain in the arse trying to get a scope low on those rifles, had two goes with two rifles as like them, however have given up now, run a Tikka 223
Damn.

I’ve found the Leupolds ok to fit on my older BSAs. In Parker Hale rings which are pretty damn low, bolt handle clearance is ok, but not much in it!
That’s basically the reason I keep going back to them

I have recent model Loopys on my 1991 Brno's and no issues.

Ive had the same. If your scope is like 50mm objective youre forced to mount it high anyway. One time i thought id file off a little bit from the ocular aluminium so i could get the bolt past it …

Only Leupold have small enough ocular. Im not sure about theVX5 but VX3 is good. I think the drawback is less field of view and “eyebox” than weve cone to expect.

US Army did this:





Bubba be proud

Originally Posted by cambo

Bought a couple of new scopes to upgrade the glass on a couple of my shooters.
Ran into trouble.

Bolts are a 90deg lift. Scope ocular are far too large.
Cant open bolt enough.

Tried all sorts to make them work. Scope height would've ended up ridiculously high and shooting position wouldn't be any good.

So looking for more glass that will fit.
Trouble being modern scopes have large ocular ends and simply aren't suitable.
Most modern rifles now have 60deg, or similar, bolt lift so its not a problem.

Anyone else struck this?

I have plans afoot that hopefully will work but it could be a long wait.

What rifle?

If it's a junker, just bend the bolt handle down and inlet the stock to accommodate.

Yeah, I found an issue too. Some later Swaro's don't fit the Sako Vixens due to the ocular bell being too large. Leupy's no problem.

Originally Posted by caberslash

What rifle?

If it's a junker, just bend the bolt handle down and inlet the stock to accommodate.

2 rifles.
Both bolts already been modified some.
Not junkers. Tools for pest control. Just not new

Might have to look for some leupys....

My deer hunting rifle is a .30/06 Husqvarna 1600 (commercial M98 action) of 1950's vintage, fitted with an East German (pre 1990) Zeiss 8x50 in steel Burris mounts. I have had it for many years and it is still in very tidy order and shoots 1-1.5 MOA with factory ammo. The scope has a heavy 3 post reticle but it is a cracker for fast acquisition and optically excellent and I wouldn't consider changing it. Sometimes new is not always better.

Originally Posted by gundoc

My deer hunting rifle is a .30/06 Husqvarna 1600 (commercial M98 action) of 1950's vintage, fitted with an East German (pre 1990) Zeiss 8x50 in steel Burris mounts. I have had it for many years and it is still in very tidy order and shoots 1-1.5 MOA with factory ammo. The scope has a heavy 3 post reticle but it is a cracker for fast acquisition and optically excellent and I wouldn't consider changing it. Sometimes new is not always better.

Going from trademe $1 reserve specials to something that I can actually see through was called for lol.
I mean 1 was a Nikko Sterling and the other a Superstrike. Both had glass similar to a beer bottle found in the sand at the beach.

I sold my 2 Kahles scopes and swapped to Swarovski (all second hand) for the same reason,leupolds also have really small occulars.

Leupold vx3’s and Z3’s should work for you. Vx2’s also and older model euro 1” tubes


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Well if they are good rifles and you need better glass then Leupold is good, some others are better.
Sounds like Leupolds might solve this. Swarovski are nice but pricey.
Higher mounts might be an alternative if you can stay within a reasonable range.