Gun show find today

[marlinman93]

Sitting at my gun show table today when I heard my friend behind me ask another friend if he was interested in a Lyman Targetspot he was selling? The other friend passed, and I asked him if I'd be stepping on his toes if I wanted to buy it? He said he had no interest, so I asked to look at it.
It was in it's original brown box, with an orange Lyman label on one end. I've seen a lot of Lyman boxes, but always orange boxes, with metal reinforced corners; never a plain brown box? Took the scope out and it looks like it's either never been used, or used very little! It's marked 10x and has the rubber eye cup on it also. The label has a price of $60 marked on it, and says it's for a "Lo W 52" which is maybe a Win. 52 or Low Wall, or both? The price seems low as a 1940 ad I found states $75, so guessing this is much earlier. I think Lyman brought these out around 1934-37 era, but getting conflicting dates from my resources. Either way it's pre WWII era, and a gorgeous scope!

[Bazoo]

Wow, that's an awesome find!

[armoredman]

Nice! Gonna pair that with a vintage rifle?

[marlinman93]

Nice! Gonna pair that with a vintage rifle?

Yes. I need to look through my collection of Ballard and Remington single shot rifles and see which ones might be deserving of this scope.

In the last 24 hrs. I got some more info that leads me to believe this is a first year Targetspot scope! It having no serial number, plus having the "Pope rib" underneath the tube, and finding out the Targetspot name was dropped just after a couple years when the Super and Junior Targetspot models were introduced in 1937.
I've sent info into Lyman and hopefully they'll shed light on the scope, plain brown box, lack of serial number and the $60 price mark, which may further pin down the year.

[Plate plinker]

I hope you didn’t pay full retail of $60!

[Bazoo]

Thanks for the update, it'll be interesting to see what Lyman has to say about it.

[marlinman93]

Thanks for the update, it'll be interesting to see what Lyman has to say about it.

Still no response from Lyman, so looks like they're not going to answer at all.

[Bazoo]

That's a shame. Maybe they'll eventually get back to you.

[gc45]

Doubt Lyman will respond, they have gone to china and nobody there knows anything anymore other than new stuff they have made for them. Great scope, hope you bought it!

[Green Frog]

Dadgum!. I thought I posted this a couple of days ago. Since then I’ve remembered the Nick Stroebel book on old rifle scopes. Also, I heard years ago that for a small fee, Lyman would “upgrade” your Targetspot to a Super Targetspot, which may be why we see so few of them. Also it’s something like “Vintage Scopes dot com” that might help you with values.
Froggie


Vall,
You’re not likely to get much historical help from the current folk @ Lyman. Anyone who knew anything at all about the old days has long since retired or left otherwise. It’s almost as if they’re trying to forget their heritage. Back during their centennial celebration most of what was known then was recorded in their “Centennial Journal” and IIRC, there was a chapter about the scopes. Not much, but if you want more, some serious, widespread searching will be required. There is a guy named Alex(?) who has a website specializing in old scopes, but I’ve never dealt with him.
Froggie

[marlinman93]

Dadgum!. I thought I posted this a couple of days ago. Since then I’ve remembered the Nick Stroebel book on old rifle scopes. Also, I heard years ago that for a small fee, Lyman would “upgrade” your Targetspot to a Super Targetspot, which may be why we see so few of them. Also it’s something like “Vintage Scopes dot com” that might help you with values.
Froggie


Vall,
You’re not likely to get much historical help from the current folk @ Lyman. Anyone who knew anything at all about the old days has long since retired or left otherwise. It’s almost as if they’re trying to forget their heritage. Back during their centennial celebration most of what was known then was recorded in their “Centennial Journal” and IIRC, there was a chapter about the scopes. Not much, but if you want more, some serious, widespread searching will be required. There is a guy named Alex(?) who has a website specializing in old scopes, but I’ve never dealt with him.
Froggie

I have a pretty good idea on current values, but pricing for these scopes when new is a bit vague. Making it more complicated is what each store sold them for, as most didn't sell at list price.
I have Strobel's book, but it leaves a lot unknown for details.