Unertl or Lyman or...

[CalFed]

There seem to have been four major scope makers back in the day of the external adjustable scopes...Unertl, Lyman, Fecker and Litschert.

Any consensus as to which was the best?

 

[nilebartram]

Unertl, Lyman 2nd.

 

[Bench shooter]

Just my opinion just the way you have them. Unertl, Lyman, Fecker and Litschert

 

[6and7mm]

Based upon popularity, expense, and longevity of staying business for optics, my vote would be Unertl first, with Lyman a distant second, and the others would be honorable mention. It is hard not to love the externally adjustable Unertls and Lymans.

 

[mcnanysa]

And if you're partial to Pittsburgh, always Unertl.

 

[LCazador]

Interesting you only list the top four but there were several others that deserve honorable mention. Two who I think were definite leaders the Edwards co. and Bausch & Lomb. Then there were others like Mossberg, Marlin, Malcom, Winchester, Remington, Stevens, and Belding & Mull. No doubt that Unertl with it's military contracts overshadowed the competition with popularity. My pick as the top four: Unertl, followed by Fecker, Litschert, and Bausch & Lomb. Interesting to note that Edwards and Litschert were both of Indiana. Good topic but not for classifieds.

 

[dellet]

The mounts mean as much or more than the glass of an externally adjusted scope. Tasco made a knock off of the Bausch & Lomb in the 60’s that was possibly a better scope, but the mounts were terrible.

Redfield is also under rated and one not mentioned yet that is arguably better than Unertl is a Mitchell.

The other thing to remember is you’re talking about 40-100 year old glass, I have seen a number of Litschert scopes that are about half the price of a Unertl, but due to care, are a much better scope to buy and use.

Fecker has a unique parallax adjustment that I appreciate and all things being the same, would buy one over a Unertl of the same power, tube and objective diameters.

Many things to consider shopping old target scopes.

 

[6x6 elk]

I’ve looked through a lot of the scopes mentioned and IMHO the Bausch and Lomb Balvar has some of the Sharpest Optics and
has an advantage of being Variable. Followed by the Unertl being a close second.

 

[FNSafari]

Unertl, Lyman 2nd.

I have to agree. Both are, optically, kissing cousins. The adjustment of focus on the unertl imo is easier than the Lyman STS. I have both and use both but my nod slightly has to go to Unertl. You can't go wrong with either in the end, imo.

 

[FNSafari]

The mounts mean as much or more than the glass of an externally adjusted scope. Tasco made a knock off of the Bausch & Lomb in the 60’s that was possibly a better scope, but the mounts were terrible.

Redfield is also under rated and one not mentioned yet that is arguably better than Unertl is a Mitchell.

The other thing to remember is you’re talking about 40-100 year old glass, I have seen a number of Litschert scopes that are about half the price of a Unertl, but due to care, are a much better scope to buy and use.

Fecker has a unique parallax adjustment that I appreciate and all things being the same, would buy one over a Unertl of the same power, tube and objective diameters.

Many things to consider shopping old target scopes.

The B&L BalVar scope is a nice optical unit but the rear mount is simply a rube goldberg affair and if it goes bonkers on you good luck getting it fixed. It was so prone to trouble that years ago Kuharsky made a unertl like rear mount for it. Today, you can get an excellent unertl style rear mount for the B&L BalVar 6-24X from Steve Earle products.

 

[dellet]

The B&L BalVar scope is a nice optical unit but the rear mount is simply a rube goldberg affair and if it goes bonkers on you good luck getting it fixed. It was so prone to trouble that years ago Kuharsky made a unertl like rear mount for it. Today, you can get an excellent unertl style rear mount for the B&L BalVar 6-24X from Steve Earle products.

A couple others who also make scopes for those who may not be familiar

DZ arms reproduction scopes and mounts

D.Z. Arms Custom Universal-Style (Posa/Original style) Mounts - DZ Arms

D.Z. Arms Custom Universal-Style (Posa/Original style) Mounts NRA Approved and Designed to fit all 3/4″ Scopes including MVA Here is the scope mounts you have been waiting for. These are a copy of a Universal (Posa/Original style) mounts with an additional .200″ of elevation (no clicks)...

www.dzhepburn.com

Montana Vintage arms makes quality scopes and mounts in Unertl, Malocolm and Winchester styles.

MOUNTS - Montana Vintage Arms

montanavintagearms.com

Just hard to get a tube over 3/4" or a scope over 10X. The mounts are better than almost all of the originals.

 

[swd]

If your thinking about buying one it’s best to look through them if you haven’t already. Many of the smaller tubes have a very small field of view, eye relief can be tight and on higher powered ones the parallax adjustment is critical for focus. I will say the glass on my 25x and 30x Unertl’s is excellent. They are classic and cool looking but modern glass is much more user friendly.