New project rifle. Lucky me. It was made by George Honold of Ulm, Germany. Can't find much information on him or his shop but there's a good chance this rifle was made before WWII. The craftsmanship is excellent but this rifle has definitely seen some tough days in the field. The stock is scratched and dinged, and there are a couple small cracks around the wrist that I'll have to repair.
But the next order of business--this thing is gonna need some more modern optics. I like iron sights but I don't intend to own a rifle that isn't a useful hunting tool, and the reality is I'm not confident with iron sights beyond 75-100 yards. BUT, that all said, this is an old rifle and I want to keep the aesthetics consistent. I know, I know, this is the era of the black rifle and I should probably put a vertical foregrip and ACOG on it if I want to fit in with the cool kids. But we can't all be tactical operator extraordinaires so let me be!
Anywho, I know the real classic sporter-y thing to do would be German claw mounts. But I read about the process of fitting those. So no. I am not a professional gunsmith but I prefer to do as much work as possible on my own. So. Anyone got any suggestions for a good scope mount and rings that would fit well on this rifle? Hopefully something made of blued steel rather than aluminum? Something quick-release would be even better so that I could still use the iron sights but I realize that might be asking for too much.
Then, the next thing...scopes. Scope technology has improved quite a bit over the years. My newer Leupold VX-1 is probably as good an optic as the top-of-the-line scopes from 20 years ago. But keeping with the aesthetic thing, are there any vintage scopes that are still effective hunting optics in today's world? There are a lot of old Zeiss, Pecar, Kahles, etc. scopes to be had. Some of the Pecars I see on ebay even have variable magnification which would be nice but a 4x or 6x fixed power scope would probably be adequate as well. Does anyone have any experience with any of these old optics? Are they a pain or do they still have a place in the field?
But the next order of business--this thing is gonna need some more modern optics. I like iron sights but I don't intend to own a rifle that isn't a useful hunting tool, and the reality is I'm not confident with iron sights beyond 75-100 yards. BUT, that all said, this is an old rifle and I want to keep the aesthetics consistent. I know, I know, this is the era of the black rifle and I should probably put a vertical foregrip and ACOG on it if I want to fit in with the cool kids. But we can't all be tactical operator extraordinaires so let me be!
Anywho, I know the real classic sporter-y thing to do would be German claw mounts. But I read about the process of fitting those. So no. I am not a professional gunsmith but I prefer to do as much work as possible on my own. So. Anyone got any suggestions for a good scope mount and rings that would fit well on this rifle? Hopefully something made of blued steel rather than aluminum? Something quick-release would be even better so that I could still use the iron sights but I realize that might be asking for too much.
Then, the next thing...scopes. Scope technology has improved quite a bit over the years. My newer Leupold VX-1 is probably as good an optic as the top-of-the-line scopes from 20 years ago. But keeping with the aesthetic thing, are there any vintage scopes that are still effective hunting optics in today's world? There are a lot of old Zeiss, Pecar, Kahles, etc. scopes to be had. Some of the Pecars I see on ebay even have variable magnification which would be nice but a 4x or 6x fixed power scope would probably be adequate as well. Does anyone have any experience with any of these old optics? Are they a pain or do they still have a place in the field?
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