I spent a lot of hours combing the Internet lately hoping to post some "Good Gun Deals This Week" for my AH friends.
Instead, what you get is a rant. I saw a lot of guns that "were" (past tense) good guns and people irresistably ruining them through optic choice incompetence. Sure, you could unravel the bad optic choices but at that point, they aren't good gun deals anymore because their price tags would be $2000+ too high because of the damned optics and mounts you're forced to buy and then toss on these guns!
So here's the thing. The average gun owner is uninformed and when they buy a high grade or best grade magazine rifle they for some reason lose the plot. They do not understand the comb was masterfully shaped for rapid target acquisition and flawless sight picture with the iron sight arrangement. Thus, when bubba goes to Cabelas and says "sell me the most expensive scope and mounts you got" you end up with a ruined gun featuring medium or god-help-us-all high rings. It was the necessary evil to accomodate the non-functional astronomer's optic they decided to strap on top of their stalking or safari rifle.
Proper optics for best-grade stalking and safari rifles are few and far between. You need something that can be mounted very low so you have your face in relatively the same position as you would with the iron sights on the glorious rifle you own.
Some highlights from the world of stand-out optics you might want to consider:
#1 Stalking Rifle Optic available - The soon-to-be-discontinued Swarovski 3-9x36mm Z3. This is the last 1" tube optic in their lineup and boy is it a dandy. Very light weight, it has excellent light gathering, a long main tube for getting proper eye relief, and the ratio between the 1" tube and the 36mm exit objective lets you mount it very, very low. At an MSRP of $699 and availability in both a plex and a #4 reticle, this is the optic to hoard. Perfect on Rigby Highland Stalkers, single shot falling blocks, and others.
#1 stalking to magnum safari rifle available - The used but new in box Swarovski Z6 1-6x24mm EE (extended eye relief) and the Z6i illuminated EE of the same. With original MSRPs of $1600 and $2400, they were a bargain. Used like new ones seem to be selling for more than original msrp because they were the best there ever was. The 30mm tube with a straight exit objective making them ideal. The long length of the tube gives lots of flexibility for eye relief offset and their weight is moderate, less than the Schmidt & Bender alternatives.
#1 Vintage gun scope. The 1990s era Zeiss 1.5-4.5x18mm. This 1" tube optic had T-coatings and was the best optic made in its day. While its clarity and light gathering aren't comparable to anything listed above, it has an obsurdly long tube that makes it the life-saver scope for vintage guns. If you have a vintage drilling, double rifle, or mauser with some trashy broken scope that is already fitted into German Claw mounts, this is the only scope on the market that has a chance of fitting those existing rings which in turn saves you about $2500 having new rings made. Add to this, many times the original claw bases are so far forward nothing new at all will work for any price, meaning you'd have to hack away on your gun to build a new saddle or new plate into the quarter rib utterly ruining the aesthetics of the gun permanently with the obvious after-thought of a different optic.
As to mounts, there are several choices for ways to mount guns low. These are the ring and mount arrangements you can consider on a "good gun".
1.) Talley lever rings and mounts. While relatively cheap at around $200 complete, they have a low ring and they do return to zero. For a relatively economic mount, there is no better.
2.) EAW Pivot mounts. While they take tremendous effort to measure precisely and gather the correct bits and pieces, at $700-$900 they return to zero flawlessly and can be used with the broadest variety of optics.
3.) German Claw mounts and their corresponding ring or rail attachment. They are great, but they are custom fitted, run $2000-$3000, and you may never get another optic to fit if you decide to change out optics at a later date.
4.) The very costly and obscure. In the $3000-$5000 range you find Holland & Holland and Rigby side mounts. They are very clever in design and do not crowd the iron sights making them occasionally the only option that works and does not destroy the value of the gun if it is so precious you do not want to put a Griffin & Howe side mount on the gun which requires removal of wood and drilling holes in the side of the action.
5.) The $1600 Griffin & Howe side mount. The mount can be very low and never interferes with iron sights and its return to zero is legendary. Its a wonderful solution for American best guns that would fit with the aesthetic of an American mounting system.
When I look for "Good Gun Deals This Week" I'm looking for guns that either don't have optics and mounts, or have the above configurations so that the stock geometry works with both irons and optics.
Unfortunately this week, I have no gun deals to report, only hundreds of ruined high dollar guns that did not consider these things when they slapped expensive, bad decisions on their weapons.
www.gunsinternational.com
Yeesh…. I was not aware of this… Somebody is going to be sick when they find that out.. I sincerely hope my posting the link did not lead the buyer to it.
