How do the RA  Litschert  scopes  compare with J UNERTL?   THANKS JB BOOKS

Litschert scopes were a very serviceable scope, but what we might call a low end economy scope. Rather than a raised Pope rib guide on the tube they indented the tube as a guide. The 1-1/2" Spot Shots had a unique way of adjusting parallax by loosening a screw on the side of the bell and sliding the bell back and forth. Not as accurate an adjustment as a threaded Lyman or Unertl but it did the job and did not require a lot of turning.
Some of the ring dovetails were split lengthwise and actually clamped on the dovetail base so it made no difference as to brand or style. Somewhat ahead of its time in that area.
I wouldn't be afraid of getting one.

bjm

Gentlemen, resurrected this thread ... I just bought a Litschert Spot-Shot 15X with lens caps off eBay for $409 with free shipping. Did I get my money's worth for the scope with Unertl mounts or did I over pay?

John Boy the Unertl mounts are worth close to what you paid for the scope. When I built my tube sight I picked up a sacrificial Fecker just for the mounts that were as new. It cost me a little more than the price of your scope. In regards to which scope is the best Unertl would be at the top of the list and Litschert would be at the bottom based on as new condition. The Unertl mounts put it at the top as the Lyman's lack having the same quality. Just because a scope has real good optics it doesn't have anything to do with how well the scope will perform. The biggest issue with externally adjustable scopes is point of impact changes and if one does not recognize when this is taking place the scores and or groups will suffer drastically. I once owned two Lyman Super Targetspots and a Unertl, all in as new condition and all three had point of impact change issues and are long gone. Take your scope out and shoot it and if it holds point of impact you have a winner and have done exceptionally well with your purchase.

J.Louis

Bob it would vary, I would get off shots as much as 1"-2" at 200yds. If I gently returned the scopes to battery by hand and depressed the plunger a couple of times I could minimize the effects. Try to think of it this way, how much does .0005 to .001 variation in the mechanics from shot to shot move you off at 200yds. That is the effect you will see on the target. One can generally get that much movement in the Pope rib and front mount alone from wear. Then take into consideration the spring plunger and all of the contact points on the rear mount that could also have some wear and it compounds the effects from the front mount. I have seen some windage and elevation contact points with just the slightest amount of wear. The wear is in the form of the tube radius, now try and picture what happens at those contact points if they are not perfectly flat and or the tube is no longer perfectly round as they rotate on the tube. The return to battery after recoil will also change after the adjustments due to the contact point being different from the previous setting.

I hope this helps to answer your question.

J.Louis

Your very welcome Bob.

I lost some permanent vision in my right shooting eye Nov. of last year so I know the feeling. I now have to play the odds to my favor to the best of my ability and I am now starting to get back to being very competitive once again. I can longer shoot Irons or use a tube sight but my 42X Nightforce BR scope has helped me tremendously, it helps to make up for my loss. 

J.Louis