I'm not going to lie to the readers of this archive and say I don't love Weaver scopes. I really do, and they're actually quite hard to love. Weaver made boatloads of scopes of varying quality throughout their many years, and for every nice example there's probably five less than stellar. Being the "Working man's scope" of their time, American hunters used them hard for decades. Generally, when you hear someone speak poorly of a Weaver scope, you ought to take into consideration the model and condition of their example before taking it as gospel. 

As much as I'd love to dive into the history of Weaver scopes, that is far too much to cover in this article. After all, this is about the V8 specifically.

By the late 1950's fixed power hunting scopes dominated the North American scope market. The Weaver K4 was wildly successful, and hunters had grown to trust fixed-power optics. Variable optics still had questionable reputations. Weaver had experimented with the KV in the early 50's - one of the first successful variable-power scopes, but it pales in comparison to the success of the K4. The V8 is a 2.5x-8x variable power scope. Though this might sound normal by today's standard, this was quite an ambitious feat for any scope maker in the 1960. The V8 was a bet that variables were the future of hunting optics. A do it all scope, sufficient for the big woods to long range varmint shooting, and in principle they were right.

The features of the V8 are interesting. Some things feel cutting edge, and some dated but proven. The V8 is externally adjusted, similar to other scopes of the time such as B&L and Unertl. After researching the Weaver catalogs, the V8 first appeared in 1960, with advertisements showing it as new in 1961. By 1966 the V8 had disappeared from the Weaver lineup, with it being replaced by the internally adjusted V7 and V9. From this, the catalogs suggest the V8 was phased out around 1965-1966, and the debate about external versus internal adjusted scopes was settled as it pertains to the hunting market. Externally adjusted optics would be mostly confined to target shooting sports from here on out.

The external adjustments are refined though unusual if you aren't used to them. Perhaps not as precise as comparable Lyman or Unertl mounts, they're compact and relatively streamlined. The scope itself features a constantly centered reticle (due to the external adjustments), neoprene O-ring seals, and nitrogen processing for fog proofing; very similar to optics of today. The glass is clear and features a simple fine wire crosshair, the biggest perk of vintage glass. The variable adjustment is the one qualm I have with this optic. It's takes a lot of force to turn, and I wouldn't want to have to throw it in a pinch. It's difficult to turn without accidentally adjusting your ocular focus, not a dealbreaker, but something to take note of. 

Back porch photo of the V8 on a Rainy afternoon

Bottom view of the V8

The variable adjustment

The objective lens, battling the elements of Arkansas June humidity

The ocular lens

Thanks for reading this article on the Weaver V8. If you have any additional information or stories on the V8, feel free to contact us via the contact page and potentially be featured in this or future articles on this optic. At the time of this writing, this V8 is currently for sale on our eBay store, ozkprovisions. A portion of the sale of this optic will help assist in funding future research projects for this archive. Shoot straight

- Hayes