Nikko Stirling Gold Crown [4x40]

[NTSOG]

Thanks for the further information oliver13. My perception is that the Gold Crown is a well made scope. I can't see it ever being a 'budget' scope given the obvious quality of construction and the clear 'glass'. It was sitting amongst a lot of old and quite 'tired' scopes at a local gun show and the price was just $A30 - I suspect many people ignored it. It has a few scratches as one might expect, but it is a solid piece of kit and the view through it is very sharp compared to many scopes of later manufacture.

Many thinks,

Jim.

[rabbitwrecker]

Good scopes back in the day, as was the Platinum range...

[Geezer]

Good scopes back in the day, as was the Platinum range...

Still good scopes now, and they look just right on a 1980s springer.

[NTSOG]

Hi Geezer,

They are a very stylish looking scope. Do you have any idea about their capacity to tolerate springer recoil? The one I found will go on a springer, but were they built for heavy or light 'duty'? Were they actually made, in the 1980s, with spring air rifles in mind or should I just be conservative and put it on a lower power rifle?

Jim

[Geezer]

Hi Geezer,

They are a very stylish looking scope. Do you have any idea about their capacity to tolerate springer recoil? The one I found will go on a springer, but were they built for heavy or light 'duty'? Were they actually made, in the 1980s, with spring air rifles in mind or should I just be conservative and put it on a lower power rifle?

Jim

I genuinely cannot give you a definitive view.

I can give you my opinion.

I used a Japanese "ASI" branded Japanese 4x40 intensively (tens of thousands of shots) for ten years on an FWB Sport. At various points the mounts crept, and the scope crept in other mounts, and at one point the front lens ring came loose and had to be tightened, but the reticle did not break, and the adjustments worked.

I have also used a variety of older Japanese glass on springers with no problem. The only scope I have had break was a bargain-basement Chinese Simmons.

I have a feeling that the whole "springer rated" thing was as much a marketing ploy as a real thing. Fact is, cheap scopes break, especially on anything with significant recoil or spring surge. Most "airgun" scopes were not designed for airguns, they were designed for entry-level deer rifles.

Back in the day, the better NS/Bentley/Hakko/Optima/Beeman/ASI/etc Japanese scopes all seemed to work well on mainstream springers. Maybe not on Webley Patriots or Theoben Eliminators.

Ultimately, you have bought an old good scope for about 10-25% of what a scope of equivalent quality would cost new. It is worth a punt on a springer. Which springer?

[rabbitwrecker]

I've used Gold Crowns on a variety of springers without incident...

[landymick]

Yep I've had & still got the Silver Crown versions & these are still Ok all on various springers & as Geezer says cheap scopes don't last on untamed springers.