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Chris W
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Lyman 438 Scope
Jan 31st, 2026 at 11:47am
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Curious if these are any good and will handle recoil ok or not? Saw one for sale but have never personally seen or used one.
  
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marlinguy
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Re: Lyman 438 Scope
Reply #1 - Jan 31st, 2026 at 11:56am
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Chris W wrote on Jan 31st, 2026 at 11:47am:
Curious if these are any good and will handle recoil ok or not? Saw one for sale but have never personally seen or used one.


They are great scopes, but I've never had any of mine on high recoiling rifles. Since they slide in their mounts that should make them able to handle some recoil. Mine are on either .22LR or as much as .38-55 rifles. Never had any issue with a 10 lb. rifle in .38-55 and a 438 scope.
  
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westerner
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Re: Lyman 438 Scope
Reply #2 - Jan 31st, 2026 at 12:01pm
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I have one I used for a short time back in the 80s, 1980s. Made like a Lyman 5A but soft alloy mounts. Tube slides in the mounts so recoil should not damage it. I used it on a 32-40. Mine has fine crosshairs and clear optics. Cheap old scope.
  
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marlinguy
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Re: Lyman 438 Scope
Reply #3 - Jan 31st, 2026 at 12:49pm
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The mounts are what really holds these neat scopes back. Of course the magnification is low power too.
One of mine has Targetspot mounts on it that I found reasonably, and works even better with click adjustable mounts. Mounts are probably worth as much as the 438!
  
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rkba2nd
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Re: Lyman 438 Scope
Reply #4 - Jan 31st, 2026 at 2:44pm
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The 438 was supplied with 3 mounts. the earliest had four contacts and soft metal frame. In 1937 "I believe" the scope was available in 4x as opposed to 3x prior, and with the improved 3 point mount. They had Bausch and Lomb lenses, and were quite good scopes at that point.
  
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