For some reason I have always liked fixed-power scopes. That may sound odd coming from someone who has spent most of his life hunting with a Leupold 3-9X. The truth is that scope spent most of its time on 3X or 9X. Very little happened in between. Every hunter has drawn a bead on a whitetail and realized the magnification was wrong. It is not a serious problem. Still, an annoyance nonetheless. A fixed-power scope is an antiquated answer to this entirely. The Lyman 4X was designed at a time when a scope and rifle were a lot more single use than our gear today. It did not pretend to do anything else.
The Lyman Gunsight Company was founded in Connecticut in 1878. Long before they built rifle scopes, they built sights. Tang sights, receiver sights, and peep sights found their way onto hunting rifles across the country. By the time Lyman entered the scope business, it had already spent decades helping shooters aim.
In 1928, the company acquired the rights to the Winchester A5 scope and began building telescopic sights of its own. More would follow. The Alaskan, The Targetspot, and The Super Targetspot. The All American came onto the scene in 1954, and the All-American Perma-Center featuring a permanently centered reticle, (exactly like it sounds) being introduced around 1961.
By the introduction of the All American, American sportsmen were moving away from iron sights and external-adjustment scopes. After World War II, the Lyman company began facing fierce competition from relatively new scopemakers. Entrants such as Redfield, Leupold, Bausch & Lomb, and let's not forget about the rise of the Weaver K4 and the trickle in of cheap Japanese imports.
in summary, Lyman was no longer the dominate player in premium optics that it had been, and in an attempt to take back marketshare and keep up with the competition, the All-American Perma-Center was introduced.
Many of them are still in the field today. I wouldn't call them rare, but they are definitely scarce. You do not see them for sale too often, and clean examples usually sell for good prices quickly. Before we get into more specs and variants, let's take a closer look.
The Lyman All-American Perma-Center 4X compared to a Hi-Lux M82G2 2.5X. Ready for the backyard test.
the 25 yard "Clarity board" test in summer shade. a very nice German style post reticle. The glass is exceptional - clear, nice details and color with little edge distortion.
10 yard clarity board test in bright June Arkansas sun. Details are sharp as any.
In 1954, with the introduction of the All-American, Lyman introduced the 2.5X, 3X, 4X, and 6X. By 1957 they introduced 8X and 10X, with 20X and 25X being released later for benchrest shooters. At this time in American hunting culture, the scope was selected much like a cartridge for a rifle, single purpose. Also something to take into consideration, most shooters were using 2.5X or iron sights. 6X was serious long range power for the time. Catering towards the western plains hunters for antelope and early varmint hunters. The 2.5X, 3X, and 4X, are perfect for varying degrees of big woods deer hunting and small food plots. A mount and forget optic, and in places like North Arkansas, I have rarely, if ever, shot a deer in excess of 50 yards. They aren't as compact as their modern variable counterparts, but once again, there's a reason you don't see many floating around for sale. A low powered iteration, especially with the post crosshair makes for fast target acquisition and the eye relief surprisingly generous. Early All-Americans were all steel tube construction much like the Weavers of their time but after roughly two years transitioned to an aluminum alloy construction. Much like the modern optics we know today.
The Perma-Centers are more desirable than the plain All Americans. Like most optics, the higher the power, the higher the price. I have decided to retain this example for further testing and comparisons of some other optics of this era. I must admit we've got some pretty exciting articles and videos planned for in the future!
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- Hayes