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.