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"Maxfield Smith" Scope?

mljackso
I am considering a 1950ish rifle with a scope described as a "Maxfield Smith" on Burris mounts. When I Google, I get nothing related to rifle scopes. Today Burris makes a "Fullfield" scope. Maybe this is a 50-year old Burris scope with a similar name. Anybody ever heard of a "Maxfield Smith" scope? (Maybe the seller is reading the model, not the make, on the old scope....)
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9 comments

Date Votes
  • mljackso
    To clarify.....This is a classic custom rifle by a famous gunsmith (Roy Gradle) for collecting purposes, not shooting. I will not put new optics on it. I want period correct optics. I do not intend to change the scope. It has some positive impact on my purchase decision, IF IF IF it is period correct.
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  • mljackso
    I can thank you for that. Thank you! (I did not know Burris was so "new.")
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  • mljackso
    I made a data input mistake. The base/rings are BUEHLER not BURRIS. Does Buehler date back to the early 50s? Might these mounts be original to the rifle? This rifle was shipped out of Gradle's shop in October 1951.
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  • Ambrose
    The first Buehlers were 1963 according to Stroebel's book.
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  • Herschel
    According to the book Old Rifle Scopes by Nick Stroebel. The Maxwell Smith Co. produced scopes from shortly after WWII until approx 1950.
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  • Herschel
    Buehler scope mounts are listed in the 1950 Gun Digest.
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  • mljackso
    OK. Youse guys are astute detectives. If Maxwell Smith made scopes to about 1950, and Buehler mounts/rings were available in 1950, and this rifle was delivered late 1951, the scope and rings COULD be original to the rifle! Perhaps Roy Gradle built this rifle exactly this way in 1951 and the rifle remains original today. It looks possible. The problem I had in the original description was that the scope was called MAXFIELD Smith rather than MAXWELL Smith.....
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  • mljackso
    Concluding remark... I am always amazed at the breadth and depth of knowledge that can be tapped on this board. Thank you all!
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  • Ambrose
    I found Buehler mounts listed in the 1953 Shooter's Bible, too. I guess Stroebel is in error on this one.

    EDIT: Can you tell which scope you have. My reference book lists the G88 (2.5X; .875 tube dia.), Vectra (2.5X; .875 tube dia.), Omnicron Z-2 (2.5X; 1.024 tube), Omnicron Z-4 (4X; 1.0 tube), and Omnicron ZL-5 (5X). I seem to remember ads in old American Rifleman magazines for the G88. These scopes appear to have faded away in the early 1950's. Of course the above is from Stroebel's book so--?
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