Howdy All,

I have a couple pics here of the stevens 44 1/2 .22lr that I got off of gun broker thanks to a tip from a fellow member.  It is a interesting gun and in really good shape. Perfect bore, has an ejector that will put your eye out. The barrel has the odd Stevens marking as pictured. There are no gunsmith markings on it anywhere after pulling it apart. The scope is interesting as well. It looked murky when I first looked down it so I took it apart to clean it. As you can see from the pics the objective lens slides into the outer objective bell. There was a now missing screw that held it in place and I think was meant as a means to adjust the objective. I can't figure out how to remove the component of the scope that holds the cross hair in place. There is a brass sleeve inside the scope that holds it but it looks like there is a blind screw that colds the sleeve in place. I was able to get the scope cleaned up enough that it is shootable. I think it is around 4-5x. I do believe that it was built as a gallery scope. you can adjust the objective so you can read the fine print on a newspaper at 30'. It looks like a dead ringer for a FH Souther scope. If there is a mark on it anywhere I can't find it. Am interested to hear your thoughts. best,

Zack

you all think it is a Souther ?

Not sure there's anything else that looks like a Souther? You got yourself a heck of a buy on that gun and scope!

Souther and Gerrish-Southard are not the same scopes, but equally rare & desirable.

I had to remove one of the reticle cells* from a Cummins scope I have.  It was indeed held in place by a tiny grub screw going thru the cell wall from the inside.  It was a fussy job that tried my patience no end, but using a needlenose forcept I finally got it.    Sounds like you have the same thing. 

I then had to make up a special tool to re-insert the cell and turn it to the correct orientation.  Another patience-trying task. 

*The Cummins had two cells, one at each internal focal plane.  The forward one is the horizontal crosshair, and the rearmost is the vertical.

uscra112 wrote on Aug 6^th, 2016 at 2:01pm:


What conceivable reason would justify such a bad idea?  As opposed to a screw through the tube wall from the outside. Evidently, at some point Cummins himself must have recognized the stupidity of it, because the Cummins I have has screws through the tube wall, a total of three. Another Cummins I once had must have been constructed the same way, as I disassembled it without such extreme measures as you found necessary; I'd never have attempted it otherwise.

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And this must be why it's impossible to eliminate parallax!  You can adjust the focal plane of the objective to fall on one of the wires or the other, but not both simultaneously.  Trying to do so drove me mad, until I finally gave up; moreover, I remember the error as being extreme, not the little bit that can be tolerated in other scopes.  The best part: I found this out AFTER I had filed two slots in a barrel for the Cummins mounts!

I have a copy of an 1892 Cummins catalog, in which there are very detailed instructions for mounting and adjusting the crosswires, but NOT ONE WORD about adjusting for parallax.

uscra112 wrote on Aug 6^th, 2016 at 7:38pm:


Copy I have was made from original in the possession of the Vermont Hist. Soc.; it's the first, has 27 pages, and there was at least one later ed.

Even if it is possible to adjust for parallax (baffles me how!), seems like it might have been kinda helpful to explain the procedure to the owner!  I combed Shooting & Fishing for comments about it, but found only one, and it was by a user who also complained about parallax.   

I'll provide you a copy of this catalog, but I'd like to find out how to make the adjustment you described--because I've STILL got the barrel with two slots cut in it!

uscra112 wrote on Aug 6^th, 2016 at 9:23pm:


Sure wish this info had been at my disposal when I was struggling with mine; however, that was over 10 yrs ago, and haven't touched it since.  Going to have to rip into mine again to see if I can replicate your adjustments, though my confidence level is not high--especially if that special tool is absolutely required.

One shown on the Stevens is identical to mine, without the windage adjustment.  Really like that low mounting position on the barrel, an advantage with the low combed stocks of most SSs.