Balvar scopes

W

WPH

New member
I am a younger guy so these were before my time. What are the Bausch & Lomb Balvar scopes like? I found a 1.5-6 and am thinking about buying it.
 
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I think you mean Balvar?
They are excellent scopes, way better than anything else at the time. Hard to adjust because the adjustments are in the mount but dead on once you get them adjusted.

Many benchrest shooters are going to the external adjustments because the scope makers can not make internal adjustments reliable enough to be competitive at the top levels.

Jack
 
I had one in 1965. A 2 1/2 to 8 and had it on my 30'06 for deer and then had a mount on a Rem 722 in .222 cal for hogs.
I would just switch it onto the 222 for groundhogs in the summer then back on the '06 for deer in the winter. As long as you had the mounts sighted in on both guns it was pretty good. Good enough for hunting anyway. If you wanted to punch paper real small groups then you had to fine tune it after you mounted it on each gun. The tube had no openings on it like the regular scopes for windage and elevation. It really never caught on, and after a couple years you couldn't find them. I think my nephew still has the o6 with it on. Sold the 722 like a dummy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
WPH, after reading your post that is not true. If I remember correctly it had a flat spring underneath the scope that you hooked onto two bars on the mount and then you turned a kinda wing nut tight. Then on the side you had big turn knobs you had to turn with a large coin or big screw driver. They were lines on them but not clicks, just smooth. You would just turn them to whatever line you wanted. One was in the front and one was in the rear. One for elev. and one for windage.
 
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I had a Balvar 2.5-8 on my first custom rifle I had built in 1957. It used the external adjustable mounts as made by Kuharsky, in Erie, Pa. It was a fine scope in it's day, and I thought at the time that it was the best. I sure liked it and shot a lot of game with it back then. But, it was 1950's technology, and there have been significant improvements in glass and coatings over the years, so there are probably better scopes made today. I personally wouldn't have a problem buying and using a Balvar today, since it was good back then, it will be good today. But, it won't equal the best scopes available today.
Martyn
 
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I have a 2-8 Balvar that has internal adjustments...don't know how old it is but I am still using it...great scope. My scope has a heavy cross hair.

Optics are on par with the Leupold Vari X II.
 
Yes my post is true. I took the adjustment caps off and tried the the adjusters. Obviously, it has internal adjustments. I have a rifle that has a Leupold Vari X II from the 60's and it performs well. I do not think the Balvar scope is ancient. I am thinking that the scope is frome the 70's or 80's, is that possible? If it is a good scope like the older Leupold I have, I think I can buy it for a good price to put it on a used rifle. If the technology and quality is surpassed by today's cheap cuts then I will leave it alone.
 


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