Post World War I riflescope development continued in Germany and Austria in earnest. The “Great War” had shown the effectiveness of sniping as a means to pin-down enemy troops and demoralize them. However, major weaknesses in scopes were exposed in “the trenches”. Major improvements were afoot. The Germans improved the seals around the lense and scope tube. Austrian engineers began to investigate evacuation of moist air from scopes before the optical lens was inserted. The rudimentary beginnings of anti-fogging technology had started.

By the beginning of German hostilities in 1939 Zeiss rifle scopes had become standard on German sniper rifles (the Mauser). Fixed power was still the technology of the day, but 4 power scopes were more common than not and optics were much clearer – allowing for dusk and dawn accuracy unknown to snipers in WWI. I am not going to recount a history of WWII but most avid shooters are familiar with some of the classic sniping duels between German and Russian sharpshooters during the battle for Stalingrad.

The result was that many GIs returned home from WWII and sought riflescopes for sporting rifles based on the effective long range shooting they had either witnessed or heard of during the war. The era of sport/hunting optics was about to begin. 

Rifle Scopes and WWI

The advent of war in Europe began with grand plans on both sides that their armies would sweep the enemy from the battle field. After some rather dynamic gains on the Western Front as the war in France became known, the French entrenched themselves along a “front” and dug in. The German advance was halted and the era of “trench warfare” ensued. Pitched battles among thousands of troops charging across the barren shell pocked “no-mans-land” has been recounted in numerous movies and books. I am not going to give a history of warfare in World War I. This is about the how and why of rifle scope development.

Suffice it to say that between the massed charges across no man’s land to capture the enemy’s trench, that life in the trenches was fairly static. Troops were often fairly close (often only several hundred meters or less). The rifle scope had developed somewhat more sophisticated optics by this time. A major problem was that scopes were still frail by battlefield standards. A British manual for their scopes recommended “frequent cleaning” with a “clean cloth” something that became often impossible in the mud of trench warfare. So scopes were used, but without mass acceptance and often a good old country boy with some hunting savvy using iron sights could hit a target (helmet stuck above the top of the opposite trench). Scopes fogged often rendering them useless early and late in the day when temperatures cooled. Rain was a constant problem since the scopes of the day were not waterproof. Snipers did prove that scoped weapons shooting from a distance could inflict psychological havoc on enemy morale. There was nothing wrong with the concept of rifle scopes – but the scopes themselves needed major improvements and innovations. Scopes would be very different by the outbreak of World War II.

the development of the rifle scope...continued

Post American Civil War the major improvements in telescopic rifle sights seems to have migrated to Europe. Two companies stand out in the early development of a more practical riflescope. Around 1846 Carl Zeiss began grinding optical lenses for telescopes and integrating them into smaller telescopic sights to be mounted on a rifle. By 1892 Zeiss had a “workable” rifle scope – which would be considered bulky and awkward by any hunter today. Simultaneously Karl Robert Kahles, Simon Plassl and Karl Fritch (Opto-Mechanical Co.) were grinding telescopic lenses and working on “rifle telescopic sights” It is interesting to note that in spite of the devastating psychological effect of “sniping” in the ACW – most European armies believed in iron sights on military firearms.

In 1898 K. R. Kraals, S. Plash, and Opto-Mechanical merged to form Kahles Company which would along with Zeiss become a force in the development of rifle scopes as we know them today. By the beginning of the outbreak of WWI these two companies had control of practically the entire production of high-grade optical lenses of a size small enough to be used in a rifle mounted telescopic sight. Which resulted in one of the most bizarre trade agreements of the century; it seems that through their colonial holdings that Britain controlled the vast majority of rubber exported to Europe. But the British made practically no optical lenses, while the Germans made the finest optics in the world at the time.

Although there was a trade embargo between both countries and their allies at the time; it appears that Britain obtained an exchange through Switzerland of some 10,000 lenses needed for telescopes, binoculars and rifle scopes and Germany got rubber – which went into tires for military transport trucks. So eventually British Snipers shot at German soldiers with German scopes while those soldiers rode to the trenches on British tires.

And so it begins...the use of precision aiming to hit specific long distance targets. 

Rifle scopes were invented back between 1835 and 1840. Rifle scopes were meant to give the shooter a more accurate way of hitting the target at longer ranges. Early rifle scopes resembled long, thin tubes often almost as long as the rifle barrel. And early scopes had some problems. Small objective lenses did not allow good visibility in low light. Narrow scopes made for reduced field of view at a distance – like looking through a knot hole. Fogging of lenses due to moisture was common. Some early scopes had no “crosshairs” so aiming was still more skill than science.

With the advent of the American Civil War, rifle scopes demonstrated their ability to hit targets at extended ranges. By 1855 the original scope invented by Morgan James of Utica, NY had been tinkered with by John Chapman and resulted in the Chapman-James scope. Meanwhile, W. Malcolm of Syracuse , NY had improved on the original scope by adding achromatic lenses (telescope type) and windage and elevation adjustments.

Scopes had improved to a point where L. M. Amidon (from Vermont) made a scope that became the standard during the American Civil War.

Hi! My name is Robert, and I have spent over 40 years looking for the best hunting rifle scope. I have a family owned business that sells the top brand optics for the outdoors. We have formed our opinions about certain products in the field, under harsh conditions on "the hunt of a lifetime", when equipment failure is not an option. We will discuss the pros and cons of different types of rifle scopes and binoculars here; for technical specifications on any specific brand and model of rifle scope or binocular please feel free to visit our Rifle Scopes & Binoculars store!