Civil War rifle scopes

[major bill]

Rife scopes were only a couple of decades old by the start of the Civil War. I was wondering how effective they were.

 

[redbob]

They were relatively low powered and like most of the optics of the time; the best ones were imported from England or France. The Whitworth's scope was mounted on the left side of the rifle instead of on top as you see now.

 

[JOHN42768]

I would think that the percentage of scoped rifles would be .0001% maybe

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The original question about scopes was "...how effective were they...?" They were very effectively because of the enhancement to the naked eye.
J.

 

[johan_steele]

Period scopes were about on par with a modern 4x Tasco. But they were far more fragile and highly expensive.

 

[gary]

First scoped rifle in America was made by Boston instrument maker David Rittenhouse for (portrait painter) Charles Wilson Peale, then a lieutenant in the militia and later in the Continentals. It even had a spring loaded recoil pad so Peale wouldn't get his black eye from its recoil (didn't know about cheek weld).

 

[Craig L Barry]

There is an anecdotal story of Patrick Cleburne or Leonidas Polk using a Davidson scope from a Whitworth rifle for impromptu field binoculars. Don't have the citation, but as to whether the 4x scopes worked...I would imagine they were quite an improvement over the naked eye for long range use. Also though, very rare as to be inconsequential in total numbers even for sharpshooter units. IIRC, I read you could end up with quite a black eye if you weren't careful.

 

[redbob]

There is an anecdotal story of Patrick Cleburne or Leonidas Polk using a Davidson scope from a Whitworth rifle for impromptu field binoculars. Don't have the citation, but as to whether the 4x scopes worked...I would imagine they were quite an improvement over the naked eye for long range use. Also though, very rare as to be inconsequential in total numbers even for sharpshooter units. IIRC, I read you could end up with quite a black eye if you weren't careful.

Patrick Cleburne.

 

[AUG]

There is an anecdotal story of Patrick Cleburne or Leonidas Polk using a Davidson scope from a Whitworth rifle for impromptu field binoculars. Don't have the citation, but as to whether the 4x scopes worked...I would imagine they were quite an improvement over the naked eye for long range use. Also though, very rare as to be inconsequential in total numbers even for sharpshooter units. IIRC, I read you could end up with quite a black eye if you weren't careful.

I actually happened to have saved that account. Its from a Confederate Veteran article, "Sharpshooters With Hood's Army" by Isaac N. Shannon. Cleburne borrowed the scope while scouting out the Federal lines at Franklin.

https://archive.org/stream/confederateveter15conf#page/122/mode/2up

We were from a half to a mile in advance, and ran great risk of being captured. We soon advanced to the top of a high, rocky hill about a thousand or twelve hundred yards south of Franklin and on the west of the turnpike, which is known as Merrill's or Murrell's Hill. Here we had a fine view of the Federal works and the open field in front of them, but not a Federal could be seen. While waiting Gen. Pat Cleburne rode up to where we were standing and remarked that he had left his field glass behind and that he wished the use of a telescope. Lieutenant Ozanne (who always carried the gun of the man left with the mule and camp equipage) quickly detached the long telescope from his gun, adjusted the focus, and handed it to General Cleburne, who laid the telescope across a stump and looked long and carefully over the field, and remarked, "They have three lines of works," and then, sweeping the field again as if to make himself certain, said. "And they are all completed." He then returned the telescope, thanked Lieutenant Ozanne for its use, and with kindling eye and rapid movement mounted his horse and rode rapidly back to where his division was forming.

 

[UCVRelics]

I believe that during the CW especially on the Whitworth it was more of bringing the center mass of your target area into view and eliminating outside area than putting a cross-hair on a target.

 

[5fish]

History... early...https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/brief-history-rifle-optics-united-states.html

The first serious rifle optic in the US, and in fact anywhere in the world, was invented between 1835 and 1840. In The Improved American Rifle, a book published in 1844, John R. Chapman described the rifle sights then being produced by Morgan James of Utica, NY. Though basic by modern standards, the sturdy construction of these optics meant that they stayed relatively true even after a number of shots had been fired, and were therefore the first practical rifle optics.

From about 1850 onwards, a number of US manufacturers began to produce their own sights. The Chapman-James sight was an early success, and was based on a collaboration between civil engineer John Chapman and the manufacturer Morgan James. In 1855, new technology was implemented on these scopes. Early rifle optic manufacturers primarily looked to telescopes to improve their designs, and 1855 saw the introduction of achromatic lenses in rifle optics, initially on the scope produced by William Malcolm of Syracuse, NY.

Malcolm's scope also incorporated windage and elevation adjustments, and these were also to become standard features of rifle optics from that point on. The magnification on these scopes is thought to have been between x3 and x20, though very few survive for analysis. Overall, the Malcolm scope was able to greatly improve the performance of rifle shooters, and became standard equipment for sharpshooters – essentially the first snipers – in the American Civil War.

Later...

The years running up to World War I, where many nations were arming themselves and seeking even incremental advantages over their competitors, saw big advances in the technology of rifle optics.

One such advance was the development of refractor scopes. These scopes allow light to pass directly to the eye of the shooter, improving their ability to see targets in low light conditions. Though refractor telescopes had been available for quite some time, it took until 1880 before the lenses required could be made small and rugged enough for hunting and military use. A related development, also designed to give marksmen an advantage in low light conditions, was the introduction of scopes with extra long eye relief. These low light systems also started the later holoscopic sight revolution.

 

[gary]

As to effectiveness, Winslow Homer wrote he looked through a scope rifle and observed a Confederate officer leaning against a fence. It was about 10 x. Homer could not bring himself to shoot and wrote it was the closest he ever came to murder. The scopes were not nitrogen sealed (of course not, we're talking 1861-5) and at Lee's Ferry (near Ball's Bluff) the First Andrew Sharp Shooters found their scopes had fogged up; rendering them useless for a while.