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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope (Read 11489 times)
marlinguy
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Ballards may be weaker,
but they sure are neater!

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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #45 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 12:51pm
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Hayface wrote on Feb 2nd, 2019 at 12:31pm:
Some years ago Tasco made a long 4x brass scope for blackpowder rifles.  I thought I had seen every imaginable finish method applied on those ranging from very nicely aged brown look by wiping with black powder residue to a garish extremely highly polished GOLD, until a guy pulled one out of a case mounted on the most highly polished Thompson Center Hawken I had ever seen. Everything, including the wood was polished to a mirror finish like an early Weatherby, but the entire length of the scope was engine turned.  Darn near vomited at the sight of the thing, but the owner was proud as punch of all the polishing work he had done on the rig, waves and all.  Ugliest damn scope and rifle I ever saw.

Hayface


I've owned a couple of those, and one marked Tasco, and another marked NAACO. Not sure who NAACO was, or if they were built by Tasco, or for Tasco? But everything was the same, including those horrendously ugly cast brass mounts! Both were polished as Tasco originally sold them.

I had one rebuilt by a friend, and fitted it with better target type mounts. My friend used brass blackening to age it and make it look more antique. He also changed the lenses to increase power from 4x to around 6x-8x? It's a very good scope with the optics and mounts now on it. 
I have a 2nd one that has Malcom style long range mounts, and that makes it more useful for distances over 200 yds. 

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Hayface
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #46 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 2:54pm
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MG,

There is nothing unattractive about that set up, like all the images I've seen of your rifles.  It's a far cry from the one I mentioned.  I'm now pretty sure that the reason that it's so hard to find a Ballard is because they all live with you.

Hayface  

I've got one of those Tascos on the shelf and could never bring myself to mounting it on anything because of those ugly factory mounts.  Your setup just plain looks right.
« Last Edit: Feb 2nd, 2019 at 3:00pm by Hayface »  
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marlinguy
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #47 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 3:40pm
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Thanks Hayface. 
Not a great picture, but the Hepburn in the top of this photo has another mounted in Winchester mounts. Both were blackened with Birchwood Casey's brass black.

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Reverend Al
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #48 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 9:39pm
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[/quote]I've owned a couple of those, and one marked Tasco, and another marked NAACO. Not sure who NAACO was, or if they were built by Tasco, or for Tasco? [/quote]

"North American Arms Company" ... they were based in Ontario and they had a line of sporting products for our Canadian market including several models of .22 and .22 Magnum rifles.  I suspect that any of these scopes that NAACO sold were contracted from Tasco ...
  

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marlinguy
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #49 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 9:42pm
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Thanks Al! One of mine is marked NAACO. I used to see these all the time for $75-$100, and passed on them if they wanted over $100. Haven't seen any in awhile, and the last one I saw a few years ago the seller wanted $200 and it had a chipped lens!
  

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Reverend Al
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #50 - Feb 2nd, 2019 at 9:54pm
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Many of the NAACO products were distributed in Canada by a company that was based out of Ottawa in the 1960's ... Globe Firearms Company.  Again, they were mostly a distributor and I don't think they manufactured many of their own products, they were all contract items branded for them.  They did offer a number of interesting sporting rifles based on Lee Enfield bolt actions and even offered some Russian SVT 40's that were converted to sporters in .303 British and sold as the "MOHAWK" model which were aimed specifically at the Canadian hunting market.

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marlinguy
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Re: eBay find.. Wollensak 4x scope
Reply #51 - Feb 3rd, 2019 at 10:22am
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Link just takes me to Joe Salter's home page.
  

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