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Weaver k3 scopes

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D.Rossi View Drop Down
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    Posted: May/07/2014 at 14:23
I purchased a couple of weaver K3 scopes (with the post and crosshair reticle of course) to put on my Mosin Nagant. Trouble is, I don't think it will hold up to the big recoil. The first one I bought is a k3w Wide view scope. It feels very sturdy and solid and has a good weight to it, so I assume it will hold up a while. The second is a k3 60 but it is significantly lighter which worries me. I want to make sure the k3 60 will be alright to take a beating
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2014 at 15:52
Well, the K3 60 is about 55 years old.  Jack O'Connor had an old K2.5 on a 416 Rigby back in 1959.  

The W wide ones would be from 1973 till 1983.  I had Weavers from that era on 30-06s and they were rock tough.  I, personally, would not get excited about Weavers that are over 50 years old....because there are too many newer Weavers out there.  I like the K dash 1 series and the K dash 1 Micro-Tracs which I think have better coatings than the K dash 1s. The Micro Tracs came out in 1978.  Bulletproof.  Brighter than Leupold M8s.    
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mickey1010 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/10/2014 at 13:17
I bought a K3 for my first deer rifle - a Marlin 30/30.  If it is still a comparable quality to the one I bought I do not believe it will suffer under the recoil. As I read the tables the recoil on a Mosin should be between a 308 and a 30/06 both of which were common when I bought my K3 and I never heard any recoil issues. However though it was a good reliable scope for me, it was really dark and I often wished I had purchased a 4x scope with much better relative brightness. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote powderburn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2014 at 10:40
I wouldn't worry about it too much. I in the past I used several older weaver steel K series scopes for years w/o issue. My friend has used my old K2.5 mounted on his 450/400 for a number of years now. Still going strong. I used a K3 on a 30-06 for years and killed my first deer using that rifle.
I'll say one thing for the old weavers , They had the best design in terms of size and proportion of any scope ever made. The older weavers always seemed to fit about any rifle or action length you had but yet never looked out of proportion. Optics engineers take note.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CalFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2014 at 14:26
Originally posted by Son of Ed Son of Ed wrote:

Well, the K3 60 is about 55 years old.  Jack O'Connor had an old K2.5 on a 416 Rigby back in 1959.  

The W wide ones would be from 1973 till 1983.  I had Weavers from that era on 30-06s and they were rock tough.  I, personally, would not get excited about Weavers that are over 50 years old....because there are too many newer Weavers out there.  I like the K dash 1 series and the K dash 1 Micro-Tracs which I think have better coatings than the K dash 1s. The Micro Tracs came out in 1978.  Bulletproof.  Brighter than Leupold M8s.    


I recently bought a K4-1 on ebay and wondered whether all K4-1's were micro-tracs. Sounds like they might not be.

Here is the ebay link. You can scroll down for all the pics, and even click to expand them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weaver-Riflescope-Weaver-K4-1-w-Weaver-1-034-Rings-Made-in-USA-/191178392914?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=ErogMNQj7e12GRljDijbJSVMMYY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Any idea whether this one is a micro trac?

Thanks
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote D.Rossi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/29/2014 at 18:21
I am getting the just of it, but I'm still having trouble finding the differences between models. I have two k3's. One's a k3-60, and the other is a k3-c3. The 'c3 is SLIGHTLY heavier and has a more minute reticle. That is to say that the reticle is noticeably thinner all around. I have no idea when they were produced, unlike the '60-b. I'd really like to find a k3 Micro Trac model, but I haven't seen any since last year. I'll mount the 60-b and see how it holds up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/31/2014 at 08:05
The old Weavers had certain codes for their respective series.  Right after WWII Weaver introduced the amazing K series which actually set the parameters for all scope companies to follow...One inch tubes, and 32 mm objectives on their four power K4....everybody else followed suit.   

They were simply the Weaver K...they had brass trim around the ocular and objectives.  They started with 2.5X, 3X and 4X.  I think by 1950 they came out with the K6...originally a 32mm objective also.  ( They did not expand the 6X objective till 1963...)  

In the old days scopes did not have permanently centered reticles.  You could adjust your scope and wind up with the crosshairs off-center in your tube!  That was a big problem with scopes.  Finding the answer to that was like discovering the source of the Nile River was to the ancient explorers.  

Well, Bill Weaver did it.  In 1954 he came out with the 60 series.  Weaver scopes that say K4-60 are permanently-centered scopes of that first generation.  [ ...or K 2.5---K3--and so on...]  

Next was the 60 B....then the 60 C....these are late fifties, early sixties...by this time they had lost the brass trim....

During the sixties Weaver was out-selling all the scope companies in America combined, year in and year out.  Other series came out---I don't know the chronological order...but there are Weaver K F,  K C,  K C3, etc...

Weavers were always made of steel.  In 1970 Weaver came out with an aluminum scope.  But they discontinued them after three years...they are rare.  The Weaver Classic.  They had the Classic 300 ( 3X), the Classic 400...etc.  One, the Classic V900 was a 3X9....

Anyway, about this time Weaver again re-designed and came out with, basically, the last version of their scopes that would remain in the line until Weaver closed in 1983.  

These scopes were heavier for some reason.  They had different shape and checkering on the adjustment caps. The K4 of this period weighed 13 oz rather than 9 oz from the old days.  The K6 was 15 oz...and the V9 was a breath-taking 22 oz!!  I don't think these scopes had another letter code. They called it the K4-1. The scope was recognizable by being different!  The writing on the scope said WEAVER K4-1-USA....

By 1977, Weaver invented Micro-Trac adjustments and put it in their target series. By 1978, all Weavers had Micro-Trac except some of their less expensive lines ( by the late sixties Weaver had come out with less expensive lines of scopes ---like the Marksman, etc...) 

The Micro-Tracs will say Micro-Trac on the adjustment turret saddle on the left side. The body of the scope up by the ocular will say WEAVER  K4-1  USA still....but Micro-Trac is present on the turret....That's a Micro-Trac!  In my opinion, Weaver also improved their coatings at this time because I noticed a brightness difference over the previous model.  



   


The very last K series was the Steel-lite II series. Everything else was the same, except, I guess, they were supposed to be a little lighter.  Those final Weaver scopes said K4-II.  ( Also, in 1973, they had introduced the Wide Field ocular....which was the same scope in a wide version... the K4-W...)  


The Micro-Tracs will say Micro-Trac on them....if it is a Steel-lite II it is still a Micro-Trac....

If it doesn't say Micro-Trac it is an earlier one.  



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote D.Rossi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/31/2014 at 14:29
Great info! I don't intend on meddling with other versions of weaver scopes, but I do have a k3-w that has different adjustment turrets and is significantly heavier than the other k3's. I'd like to use that one to mount on my rifle, but the tv-like lens gets in the way of my bolt handle. If I were to get another vintage weaver, it would be a k6, but with Micro Trac. WOULD be, if one can be found anywhere
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/31/2014 at 14:56
Right now there are two of them ( K6 Micro Trac ) on ebay but they are $199 Buy-it-now which is a lot...there's also a Wide Micro-Trac....but it's a wide one....

The scopes are great...but you could get them cheaper....but, you have to wait around to find them....

...in the meantime you could buy a new scope.  There are plenty of good scopes in the world....but, if you are really wanting an old El Paso Weaver for any particular reason, the Micro-Trac version is the way to go.  

If you go to ebay punch in:  Weaver Micro Trac.  Otherwise, you have to mess around with 10,000 entries.....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/01/2014 at 09:54
I also like the previous series....the regular K4-1 and K6-1, etc...they don't have the New Micro-Trac adjustment system, and I think they were not quite as bright, but they are a good scope!  I've had them!  

After Weaver went out of business, the company was dormant for a couple of years.  Then the Omark/CCI group bought them ( or the name...) and the next scopes were made in Japan...still Micro-Trac.

Well, after a few more changes of hands, the Micro-Tracs stopped.  Micro-Trac might be available on some models, but I do not believe it is present on the current K series or the V series.  But, I could be wrong.  It is just a system to keep the erector centered.  Like EXACT-Trac in Sightron! 

I would not hesitate to buy a Japanese Weaver.  I think the are neat...and they look great!  They are also LIGHTWEIGHT!!    

Not to mention reasonable!! 


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