That's something!!! All the cool stuff falls your way,  I didn't see/notice that there.    
So according to what I remember these would have come around shortly after they moved from Creedmore to Sea Girt and the military had their fingers in it?   
Nice find!

JLouis wrote on Jun 17^th, 2017 at 3:17pm:


There are no maker's marks John, but it has a serial number and is French built. Most of these long range spotting scopes from the 1800's were French.
Had a gentleman come by my table right after I purchased it, and asked if he could look it over. I knew very little at purchase, but he seemed to be quite expert at these. He looked it over, and looked at the serial number. Then he began to get excited and asked me how I came by it, and when I told him I'd just purchased it, and the seller had told me he bought scope and tripod separately, he was amazed! He said that not only was it the correct tripod for the scope, but they were 1892 French vintage. He also told me the tripod was far more valuable than the scope, although both were very desirable. 
I just thought it was pretty neat, and very affordable, and fell in love with it.

Flatlander wrote on Jun 17^th, 2017 at 9:00pm:


This was a Friday before the show opened purchase.

Joe Do... wrote on Jun 18^th, 2017 at 11:25am:


Don't believe that at such long-range matches, the individual shooter was ordinarily doing his own spotting--his team-mate did so from some position other than laying prone on the ground, as is usually done at BPCR matches today.  Here's one of the many Harper's prints depicting shooting at Creed's Moor.

JLouis wrote on Jun 17^th, 2017 at 3:17pm:


I'm a bit embarrassed, as I thought I'd looked this old scope over quite well! But this morning I was looking it over again and found the maker's rollstamp! The rollstamp reads as follows:

SELSI
E. VION PARIS
RIFLE RANGE TELESCOPE
Power 33 Times
Made in France

From what I've found, Selsi-E. Vion was not importing scopes into the US until the post WWI era. And before WWII the company name changed to simply "SELSI". Then after WWII the company no longer made their scopes in France, and instead had them built in Japan. 
They also made scopes for maritime and astrological use. Since this one is marked, "RIFLE RANGE TELESCOPE" it's obvious it's a long range spotting scope, and not for other use.

Is your BUSCH-SELSI a 5 segment scope? I found reference to a Busch-Selsi when trying to find more data on mine. Not sure if the responder was correct (it was the internet!) but he said it was around WWII or after.

rkba2nd,
Please tell us about the news paper test.

Frank

frnkeore- Wally's method was really quite simple, used to compare resolution only. It involved only tacking the front page of a newspaper to a target frame at a given distance and comparing the smallest print discernible. Two to three hundred yards seemed to separate the men from the boys.. simple but effective. best regards Krag

rkba2nd wrote on Jun 21^st, 2017 at 5:38pm:


Not familiar with "EBTH" auctions? Who are they?
Nevermind. Google search found them, but not the scope.

If you have no other place to spend your money ....

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Some really kool optical targets. 

The nice ones are chrome on glass then etched with lines at known separations. 

frnkeore wrote on Sep 11^th, 2017 at 11:46am:


Wonder what they mean by "a bullet mark"? I'd be surprised if it would show a hole in paper, but if shooting at steel it could easily show a "bullet mark" from the splatter at impact. 
I took my old scope to our summer long range shoot and set it up on a table to view the 990 yd. dinger, and I could see bullet impact marks with it.

we must remember how things were done in the day.
yes good optics would show a bullet splash on a steel target on a clear day. here in oz in bad mirage it is often difficult to see a spotting disc at 1000 yds on the modern paper target.
tall tripods would have been de rigeur.
there was no string shooting in any rifle events up until 1912 when black powder rifles were concerned.
shooters took turn for their shots as with muzzle loaders.
in fact some were still muzzle loading breech loaders quite late, and breech seating was more prominent then fixed ammo.
wiping was done with up to 5 rods for different purposes, and barrels were often oiled and wiped dry after normal wiping.
this was not practical in the prone position, or the more common supine.
you checked your target while wiping and/or breech seating, standing up.
keep safe,
bruce.

I do not remember seeing a .45  bullet hole in a target at even 500 or 600 yards and we have lots of bright days without mirage.  

I even tried setting up a white backer to the side of an aiming point but couldn't spot the shots in the white paper at 500.

here in oz you mostly can't see bullet holes at 300 with a good scope.
in the day at creedmoor ranges at least, a guy hid in a pit with a steel lid, beneath the steel target.
prearranged signals allowed him to come out, mark the shot and score, and take cover again. next shot fired again after a prearranged signal.
on going to canvas targets this system continued. possibly why this is still referred to as "pit duty".
the canvas target was patched out using paper covered with glue made from flour an water. this built up in thickness strengthening the target like paper machet.
the man in the pit was called a "marker".
good scopes were used to see the fall of shot and score.
keep safe,
bruce.

where a lower tripod would have been useful to a creedmoor shooter is when they were about to shoot.
a last look at the mirage can be critical in making a windage adjustment.
of course as well as "any rifle", there were also military events.
these were shot prone on the belly, and some events would have required a scope.
keep safe,
bruce.