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Thread: Optima Moonlighter 3-9x45 for sale.

  1. #1
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    Optima Moonlighter 3-9x45 for sale.

    Optima Moonlighter 3-9x45 for sale, condition 8.5/10. Missing a side cap. BDC with gold ring early mid 80's model, no scope covers. £95, because its missing that cap.

    Good used example with no tube crush but some mount rub marks; most will be covered by any mounts. Honest used example, nothing horrid, pretty good actually.
    I have reparallaxed this scope to 25m at x9 so covers air rifle ranges well, optimal from 15-35m.

    Price £95 because it has that missing cap; if it wasn't missing then I'd be asking £130 for this example.
    I can do a good set of two piece flat top, HW down pin, Sportsmatch??, mounts £15.

    I have two Moonlighters so the third spare, I just shoot them set at x9 and they give a good sight picture. I'm not a fan of BDC's within farmyard ranges, so don't use that feature. Perfect compromise between a x40 and x50, not too small not too big.
    They look great on HW35E, 80, 77; Original 45 and FWB Sport.

    Now in Sales Section, please reply "I'll take it" to secure it there first.
    Last edited by Muskett; 14-09-2018 at 11:56 AM.

  2. #2
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
    Hsing-ee is offline may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
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    Just curious Muskett, but how does the scope stack up against a similar modern acope?

    They were a big deal in the early 80s, Optima supplied 'only the best' HW35 and Feinwerkbau Sport rifles and this was their premium scope. Until the 'Super Moonlighter' came out!

    I agree it would be an ideal choice for someone wanting to make up an authentic 'retro' combo with an HW35 Export.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post

    I agree it would be an ideal choice for someone wanting to make up an authentic 'retro' combo with an HW35 Export.

    Plus an Apel o/p mount.
    Founder & ex secretary of Rivington Riflemen.
    www.rivington-riflemen.uk

  4. #4
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
    Hsing-ee is offline may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
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    Quote Originally Posted by I. J. View Post
    Plus an Apel o/p mount.
    Which you have stockpiled.....

  5. #5
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    I prefer the Monlighter over the Super Moonlighter because its a decent compromise scale to rifle. The 45 giving a tad more glass over say a 40 or 32; grabs a bit more light without the bulk. Same today with 44mm objectives. John Darling on his .22 Venom HW80 had a SuperMoonlighter.

    In the old days these scopes often came with two piece mounts that failed. One piece Apel Mounts were hard to find and expensive, plus only just held the scopes on; there were two types of retainer recoil pin cross FWB Sport/Omega and drop one for HW. They did look the biz though. They do rust.
    Then arrived Sportsmatch which look bulkier, weren't gloss, but do hold.

    3-9 mag has always been popular especially in the USA. Makes a good sight picture within the farmyard and for those White Tale deer. However, parallax starts to show at the closer ranges at x9. Most scopes in the day were fixed parallax to 100m or if lucky 50m, which isn't great in the farmyard. Optimas came from the factory set for 30m or so to start as they were for air rifle ranges. Later they came with anything as the factory just got lax and most give a poor picture at say 20m on x9 mag. The reason I reparallax them to 25m which gives 15 to 35 not bad at all. (Wind the objective lens out a few turns.) This makes 100m a bit off for crispness but then thats what binos are for. With fixed parallax scopes its always a compromise. For the Optimas I shoot them at x9, I have enough rifles with x4 fixed. At x9 the FOV is plenty big enough.

    I find my reparallaxed Moonlighters a good springer scope. Correct for the time. I have one with Apel Mounts and one with Sportmatch. Those that have passed through my hands generally have mount marks quite forward as most were fitted on HW's and Sports that demand they are.
    I can get them to give a excelent bright sight picture on par with say a Simmons WTC...just. They are not better. Some of the best Tascos are better, though not all Tascos are that good; all about what done that year.
    A PA scope can be made sharper at all ranges 10-10m at high mag; which is the whole point of an AO. But then there is more to do which isn't so clever when hunting. A poor PA scope can fail to keep POI, unlike a fixed.
    I think on the whole modern glass is better. Optima glass is OK but nothing fantastic. Even in its day a Liensfield?? or Leupold were far superior in build and glass.

    Optima put the BDC top turret on in 1984?? They do work but the build quality is only just enough and clicks a bit undefined. I don't use the facility preferring to aim off. John Darling did for his longer shots; he could shoot to 45m with his .22.


    I also have a 4x40 Optima on a FWB Sport 127 with Apel mounts and just looks and shoots great. And thats the point of fitting an Optima on an 80's rifle, they are correct for the period. If you want the whole experience of 80's springers then that requires a period scope. Then you might understand what a leap there was in the 80's. And how there have been several leaps since.

    A good amount of Omegas were sold as they suited and were well priced. They tend to stay on the rifle they were bought with, because they do the job.
    Price wise then Moonlighter or Super Moonlighter I think:
    £75 rough.
    £130 very good.
    £ name your price mint. £180 wouldn't be robbing anyone.
    The value is in the desirability and that no more are going to be made. So many rifles they can go on. HW35E, HW77, HW80, Webley Omega, FWB Sport, Original 45.

    I like mine, they take me back in time to that advert in AGW and AirGunner; double spread three pages in I was a teenager then

  6. #6
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    Just compared. My modern Bushnell and Hawke Sidewinder Chinese made do give a brighter picture, but then they have side parallax. I think modern glass is better than what was available in the 80's. Those Simmons WTC's circa 1992 show their age too. Only Leupold really have kept that classic timeless look and then only some models.
    But modern scopes look so wrong on a 1980's air rifles.

    Modern PCP's then put modern glass on top. Vintage rifles then match them to the older scopes. As a general rule I think collectors rifles from the 80's should be scoped. Pre 1980 then open sights. Because thats how they were shot. I don't agree with rifle collectors who think the scopes aren't important; I think they are and without the scope are of lesser worth. Lesser worth not from value but authenticity.
    Getting a scope to match is increasingly hard unless they came with one. The rifles faired better than the scopes. Scope build just wasn't that great. Annoyingly scope and mounts rarely add to the fine lines of the rifles. Buts thats what was done then. Sometimes a full combo can be made to look "just right"; but its darn hard to acheive. Far easier today with PCP's because they are designed for scopes. Most 80's rifles were still harking back to the old days of open sights. Frankly they were dated then and we knew it, just the manufacturers refused to budge.

    To repeat myself an 80's rifle should be scoped with a period scope. The challenge is to have them look correct.
    Last edited by Muskett; 16-09-2018 at 01:24 PM.

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