Rifle Scopes Thank you 168!!! Been chasing one of these for years! USO SN-9

[sirhrmechanic]

Thanks to my friend and fellow squirrel-enthusiast @168BTHPM I finally managed to get ahold of the grail of USO... the SN-9.

Not just any SN-9. Serial number 2. Showed up at a Texas gun shop on top of a weird rifle... for $999 for the package. 168 took up the rifle... I got the scope. What a fantastic score!!!

This community is awesome beyond words...

Thinking this will go on my Mk 13 for 'regular duty' and I'll put the Leupy into the collector corner of the case. I'd put on Barrett, but I don't have a place to shoot to potential. With the .300 WM... I can shoot it here.

Yes... it's awesome!

Sirhr

 

[168BTHPM]

Glad to be of help. I hope it serves you well for many years.

 

[Krob95]

Forgive my ignorance, but what’s so special about it? Is there a particular reason it looks the way it does? It’s definitely an interesting looking scope though!

 

[Aescobar17]

I had one of those back in the day, and I can assure you I paid way more than $999 lol cool score!

 

[168BTHPM]

Forgive my ignorance, but what’s so special about it? Is there a particular reason it looks the way it does? It’s definitely an interesting looking scope though!

They are one of the original ultra long range scopes. They have huge elevation capability and great glass. Sometimes the limiting factor to elevation adjustment is the objective hitting the barrel. The only thing comparable now is the March Genesis.

 

[Krob95]

They are one of the original ultra long range scopes. They have huge elevation capability and great glass. Sometimes the limiting factor to elevation adjustment is the objective hitting the barrel. The only thing comparable now is the March Genesis.

View attachment 7478471

Didn’t really realize how long it was either until this picture. It’s massive! That’s badass man!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Forgive my ignorance, but what’s so special about it? Is there a particular reason it looks the way it does? It’s definitely an interesting looking scope though!

First Focal plane....

10-42 magnification x 80 objective on 30mm tube.

Incredible vertical adjustment.

One of the best ELR scopes ever made. Super-limited quantities and one of the grails of scopes.

Built like Ft. Knox. Very specialized, but an amazing unit!

Sirhr

 

[168BTHPM]

First Focal plane....

10-42 magnification x 80 objective on 30mm tube.

Incredible vertical adjustment.

One of the best ELR scopes ever made. Super-limited quantities and one of the grails of scopes.

Built like Ft. Knox. Very specialized, but an amazing unit!

Sirhr

You have to follow up and post pictures once you get it mounted.

 

[Krob95]

First Focal plane....

10-42 magnification x 80 objective on 30mm tube.

Incredible vertical adjustment.

One of the best ELR scopes ever made. Super-limited quantities and one of the grails of scopes.

Built like Ft. Knox. Very specialized, but an amazing unit!

Sirhr

Well congrats on the awesome low serial number score man!!

 

[jbell]

Didn’t really realize how long it was either until this picture. It’s massive! That’s badass man!

 

[Krob95]

View attachment 7478509

 

[Butler12]

Congratulations on a super pick up!!!!
I would love to get one of these iconic US optics scopes .
They were so well engineered way ahead of there time.
PS let me know if you want to make a quick profit.

 

[Jscb1b]

Is it still available?

 

[abn31c]

Is it mil or moa, afaf......

 

[supercorndogs]

Its wild what shows up where.

 

[Anb618]

Very cool find.

Now we need to know;
After the optic swap, what rifle did @168BTHPM end up with?

 

[scharfschutze762]

Very cool piece of history! When USO had really good people working there.

 

[168BTHPM]

Very cool find.

Now we need to know;
After the optic swap, what rifle did @168BTHPM end up with?

It's a .340 Weatherby, Remington long action with a 31" Douglas barrel, McMillan muzzle brake, bedded in a McMillan Mountain Rifle stock. I got 4 boxes of factory ammo, a really cool Harris knockoff bipod and a bitchin camo nylon sling.

 

[gnochi]

1. Awesome find!
2. Let’s see some tall target testing

 

[Anb618]

It's a .340 Weatherby, Remington long action with a 31" Douglas barrel, McMillan muzzle brake, bedded in a McMillan Mountain Rifle stock. I got 4 boxes of factory ammo, a really cool Harris knockoff bipod and a bitchin camo nylon sling.

Nice. Killer deal if you were in the market for a good moose gun. If not, it’s only a barrel swap away...

 

[rhsc]

Nice mix of some old school design... and some really old school design.

The back story about how this very cool piece of equipment found its way to a place where it was likely regarded as just some kind of oddity is probably a sad one. It might have been auctioned off for pennies on the dollar in an estate sale because there were no heirs or they had zero appreciation for what the deceased owner enjoyed during his life. Makes me wonder what's going to happen to my stuff when I die. No children, so no direct heirs. Maybe I'll modify my will so that everything gets put on a funeral pyre and I just take it all to Valhalla with me.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

So have an e-mail off to USO... hopefully, when they moved to NC, they kept all the older records.

So this scope is proving kind of interesting. First, it is an SN9-2a. And it is 6 - 30, not 40. So this may be a complete custom? May be some kind of prototype (low SN?) or who knows. I did find a post out on the Interwebs that the FBI had ordered something like 60 SN9's at some point and maybe they got something 'custom.' No idea.

Hopefully they know. I had an e-mail for JBWIII a few years ago as I briefly did some development stuff for USO, but doubt the address is still good.
It's an amazing scope. Gotta find some bases for it, though. I also asked USO if they still have those and a cone sunshade kicking around. Hopefully, they did not purge out all the older stuff when they moved.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[rhsc]

...It's an amazing scope. Gotta find some bases for it, though. I also asked USO if they still have those and a cone sunshade kicking around. Hopefully, they did not purge out all the older stuff when they moved.

Cheers,

Sirhr

What's the advantage of the cone sunshade on that scope? Or maybe I should ask: what useful characteristics does it impart? Seems like it would lower the light gathering ability, but maybe that's not much of an issue with an 80mm objective.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

What's the advantage of the cone sunshade on that scope? Or maybe I should ask: what useful characteristics does it impart? Seems like it would lower the light gathering ability, but maybe that's not much of an issue with an 80mm objective.

This scope has external adjustment. So the whole tube moves up and down. When you adjust for ELR, you either have to have a short (cone) shade... or no shade. If you put a long shade on it, and run the rear elevation to its potential, the sunshade can hit the barrel.

So they created the 'iconic' cone shade that is so familiar to the breed.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[rhsc]

This scope has external adjustment. So the whole tube moves up and down. When you adjust for ELR, you either have to have a short (cone) shade... or no shade. If you put a long shade on it, and run the rear elevation to its potential, the sunshade can hit the barrel.

So they created the 'iconic' cone shade that is so familiar to the breed.

Cheers,

Sirhr

Ah. Makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

So mounting on the Mk13 is going to be a no-go. The McCann rail on it is perfect for the Leupold and would be fine on the forward extension for a NVG mount. But no way is it going to be rugged enough to take the SN9. Plus, it is a 'stepped' mount. And I am not going to dismantle it...

So that leaves the option of buying another rifle... (maybe). Needs to be a .300 WM or .338 to really get the best out of the scope. And I already load for .300 WM. I knew I should have bought that last TRG 42 at Parros!

Or fitting it to my SSG3000 which is sort of an orphan right now because I don't like its factory 'police kit' Leupold. Gun is a tackdriver. Scope is lame. Now looking at having a Pic rail made for the SN9 to mate it to the SSG3000... It would have to be steel or Titanium and a 20 MOA would be nice. But it also has to be 10" long and cantilevered off the front of the action. Thinking I might see if Murphy Precision has any options. I am sure he can make something up for me!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[gnochi]

It would have to be steel or Titanium and a 20 MOA would be nice. But it also has to be 10" long and cantilevered off the front of the action.

Assuming you want it as stiff as possible, make it steel. While Ti is (pretty uniquely) stiffer per unit cross sectional mass, steel is king for stiffness within a specified cross sectional area.

It will also probably be worth looking into attaching the front of the cantilever rail to the stock or chassis.

 

[camocorvette]

So mounting on the Mk13 is going to be a no-go. The McCann rail on it is perfect for the Leupold and would be fine on the forward extension for a NVG mount. But no way is it going to be rugged enough to take the SN9. Plus, it is a 'stepped' mount. And I am not going to dismantle it...

So that leaves the option of buying another rifle... (maybe). Needs to be a .300 WM or .338 to really get the best out of the scope. And I already load for .300 WM. I knew I should have bought that last TRG 42 at Parros!

Or fitting it to my SSG3000 which is sort of an orphan right now because I don't like its factory 'police kit' Leupold. Gun is a tackdriver. Scope is lame. Now looking at having a Pic rail made for the SN9 to mate it to the SSG3000... It would have to be steel or Titanium and a 20 MOA would be nice. But it also has to be 10" long and cantilevered off the front of the action. Thinking I might see if Murphy Precision has any options. I am sure he can make something up for me!

Cheers,

Sirhr

Raising a thread from the dead browsing haha.

Did you ever get a mount for the scope?
3700 dollar scope at a pawn shop...

 

[dogman]

Everyone needs at least one old school USO in their armory. My ST10 is a tank built for the end of the world.

 

[camocorvette]

I wish I would have gotten in on the OG USO stuff.

 

[Bryan W M]

Finally an old thread worthy of coming back!! We need pictures!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Raising a thread from the dead browsing haha.

Did you ever get a mount for the scope?
3700 dollar scope at a pawn shop...

Yup, it’s on my MRAD!

Shot it Saturday. Worked like a charm!

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Pix….

 

[Bryan W M]

He even got the correct sun shade ! Did you find out anything on why it’s 6-30

 

[camocorvette]

That's amazing! Definitely would be awesome to shoot. I've read a thread the sd9 had some issues returning to zero after a large adjustment. Is that an issue you've had?

 

[sirhrmechanic]

He even got the correct sun shade ! Did you find out anything on why it’s 6-30

I didn’t get the correct sunshade. I made the correct sunshade.

Maggie’s - Machining and woodworking for guns

These are my horn scratchin’ tools, showing a little rust, they havent been used in a while The middle is a scraper the othe two for doing fine work

www.snipershide.com

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

He even got the correct sun shade ! Did you find out anything on why it’s 6-30

Nothing yet. There are supposedly only three of them. JBW3 has one. Nobody’s sure where the other one is.

My guess is they were made for some contract or other. Were they didn’t need the full 40 X. And they never put them into production. Because this one is very different from the regular SN9

 

[tangloppen]

I freakin love those old weird USO. I love that someone said “fuck it” and didn’t give a rats ass about looking different.

It’s ugly and odd, and I love it.

Great thread to revive!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I freakin love those old weird USO. I love that someone said “fuck it” and didn’t give a rats ass about looking different.

It’s ugly and odd, and I love it.

Great thread to revive!

It’s also the best scope I own by a mile.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

It's a .340 Weatherby, Remington long action with a 31" Douglas barrel, McMillan muzzle brake, bedded in a McMillan Mountain Rifle stock. I got 4 boxes of factory ammo, a really cool Harris knockoff bipod and a bitchin camo nylon sling.

So did you ever shoot that Weatherby??

Sirhr

 

[168BTHPM]

So did you ever shoot that Weatherby??

Sirhr

No I never did shoot it. I didn't want to drop the money on the reloading stuff.

On another note I have a super heavy .30-378 Weatherby (like 50 lbs) I would let go cheap.

 

[168BTHPM]

I freakin love those old weird USO. I love that someone said “fuck it” and didn’t give a rats ass about looking different.

It’s ugly and odd, and I love it.

Great thread to revive!

How about one of these March Genesis scopes with 400 MOA elevation adjustment?

 

[st1650]

This thread was 100% worth the necro post.

 

[tangloppen]

How about one of these March Genesis scopes with 400 MOA elevation adjustment?

Same. It’s an oddball, and I love it. If I had a the gold and a usage for it, I would buy one.
I stick with my Premier - because it’s rare here in Denmark.

And I miss my old R700 with my old optic - should never have sold it…

 

[Basher]

The vintage USO stuff is amazing. I never was in a position to order one back then (too young), but I remember spending a lot of time looking at all the options and pricing them all out! Ah, the good ol’ days!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

The vintage USO stuff is amazing. I never was in a position to order one back then (too young), but I remember spending a lot of time looking at all the options and pricing them all out! Ah, the good ol’ days!

There are some real bargains on the older ones if you look around.

They have almost a 'cult' following now. While the youngerns... discount them as "Boomer stuff," some of us recognize how advanced they were when JBW-2 and 3 were making them in LaBrea! They still hold their own.

That said, things do move on. My next 'new' scope will be a ZCO. The coatings/resolution for mirage are like some kind of witchcraft. They are just amazing. The scope world is moving fast too. Like I have said, we are in a golden age for this stuff. Treasure it!

But I love my USO's. They will long outlast me! So if you want one... now is a great time to go shopping!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Basher]

I’ve seen a few pop up here and there, but they’re usually still a little higher than I’d like or they’re T-Pal (my interest lies primarily in the ERGO models). I think a T-Pal 3.2-17x sold here recently for $1100 which was a decent deal but I still struggle justifying that when, as you say, more advanced and better models can actually be had for less (the last scope I bought was an XRS2 w/ G3 reticle and MPA mount for a grand).

But if I have the play funds and an ERGO model SN3 or ST10 pop up with EREK elevation, 44mm objective, GAP reticle, and red illumination…