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Lyman Alaskan
Ambrose
Member Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
Anyone know DOM of these scopes based on serial numbers?
I have #53654 with plain cross hair.
#40155 with dot & Litschert Varmint Master attachment.
#158 with dot. Not an all-weather & main tube is aluminum alloy.
Comments
There are no "official" records on DOM's but some search would say the 53654 serial is mid 50's.
Some of them Alaskan Lyman with the little black dot are collector items for the old military gun owners. (some a sleepers so check your out as maybe a collectors item)
Maybe they were some of the first snipers type scopes??? Think maybe mine was a 7/8 steel tube and the dot was so fine it could not be seen if you were in a shade. Really showed up good against snow background or in sunlight. Mine laid in a desk drawer for several years, tried it on a 22 rifle for squirrel hunting, but could not see the black dot on a cloudy day in the woods.
I noticed such as a collectors scope and posted mine on flea bay few years ago and guys were fighting over it immediately. Brought around $350 and the guy that bought it was a redneck from the south and said he needed couple weeks to pay because he would have to sell some of his hogs first and he really wanted the scope to complete his military gun restoration. Mine was the bare scope no scope mount, but I think it had the steel tube. The guy already had the correct scope mount.
I think maybe Leupold made a clone scope few years back of the Alaskan Lyman. (within last 20 years)
Okie743,
You are correct in that the dots that are in two of my scopes are tiny. Not so much of a problem for the one with the power booster but the dot in #158 is hard to pick up. I have a collection of old Stoeger's catalogs and the 1940 issue lists the weight of the Lyman Alaskan as 8 oz. while the post-war catalogs list the weight as 11 oz. So apparently the early Alaskans had aluminum tubes and later switched to steel. #158 came to me on a much abused early Winchester 54 ".270 WCF" in a Griffin & Howe side mount. I didn't expect much from the old rifle but it turned out to be a shooter. My notes indicate I paid $235 for the rig. I came across #53654 several years ago while I was leaving a local gun show. It was laying on a table with a bunch of .22 scopes marked "choice, $10". It even had Redfield rings on it!
You're right, too, in that Alaskans listed on the bay have sellers that are awful proud of them and many are listed as "snipers". If I have the story right, the War Dept. wanted Alaskans for the 03A4 rifle but Lyman couldn't make the quantities required so the Weaver was second (probably only) choice.