Thread: Nikko Stirling Gold Crown

One of these has come into my possession on a rifle I bought. I'm guessing its 1970s vintage. It's a 3.5-10×40 duplex. Kinda surprised how clear the optics are although clearly (pun intended) eclipsed by an older Leupold I have and a new Vortex Crossfire II ($400)scope.

I'm not super big on expensive glass as most of my shooting is under 250m. Well, pretty much all of it actually.
So if it holds zero I'll probably leave it on the rifle as it is.

I'm interested any anyone else's experiences of these. Yea I know I should spend 10 times the value of the rifle on an optic.....etc etc... But it would be interesting to know how much bacon (veni), comes home courtesy of budget or less than stellar optics. I have an acquaintance in his mid-70s who showed me his original beat up 222 BSA he bought new as a govt culler back in the day. He had rebarreled it having worn the original out, but still had the original scope on it. Dented, scratched and God knows how he could see thru it but he could still clover leaf 3 shots at 100m with it - an old Nikko Stirling, made in Japan, 3-9×40.

So c'mon guys, we hear plenty about long ranger shots with adjustable this that and the other, with dope cards, anemometers and ballistics calculators. Let's hear about some ordinary rigs that regularly fill the freezer.

Here's my new/old Nikko Stirling Gold Crown...