7x61 S&H wildcat?

[Bigjoe38922]

Are you wanting a Unertl target OR hunting scope ?

Would love to find this one.

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[Bigjoe38922]

I bought a new 2" 15x ultra varmit in around 1973 for $200. My son still uses it on his 40 x Rem 6.5x06 which is another classic. They can still be found on Ebay, but the prices have gotten pretty high.
Actually a better choice for hunting, was the old Bausch&Lomb Balvar 6x24 variable target scope with the original external adjustment removed and replaced with a Kuharsky micrometer setup that looked like the Unertle micrometer. They were more user friendly as for getting back on target following a shot.
The old Lyman target scope was used also, and they all looked very similar as for appearance.
If you wanted to dial with any of those externally adjusted scopes, the mount block spacing distance was very critical.

Bet that 6.5-06 is a shooter I was gonna go with that in a AI on this action until I saw dude had this barrel for sale. I'm stoked to finally get my baby together I've been holdin it since 2006.

 

[shortgrass]

Well being as old as i now am, i have quite a few memories, and one involves a guy i really never got to know who had a 7x61 S&H. He also had a green Willys wagon of the 50s era. We would see him on occaison but not
often at some of the places we hunted. Anyway it would have been in the early 60s as i recall that my brother and i were hand glassing from a spot where we could see a long way down the valley as well as straight across the valley. I had found a few deer together down the valley and one was a buck with one horn broken off maybe 3" above his head. So we got in our 55 Chevy suburban hunting rig and coasted down the road till we were opposite the deer. There was snow on the ground so seeing the deer wasent all that hard. It was a pretty hard uphill angle shot for me and the first shot caused the scope to whack me hard on the eye brow causing lots of bleeding. Anyway i didnt really need more excuses for not killing the buck, but thats the one i used. When i stopped shooting i turned around to find the Willys wagon sitting there with the guy watching me shoot thru his glasses.
The back side window had a gun rack with a fairly heavy barrel gun with a Unertle scope on it. I asked the guy what it was, and he said a 7x61 S&H. Next morning my brother and i glassed off a few fields at first light, then headed down to where we had been the day before. When we got up the mountain road to where i had shot,
the green Willys wagon was parked and they were loading the broken horn buck on the roof. They had their act together and we didnt obviously. I dont recall ever running into that guy again after that. But needless to say everytime i drove up Montours Run rd i think of that as i go by that spot.
But now we fast foward many years, till about the mid 90s, maybe even 96 or 97, it was the last day of the Pa buck season, my son was driving my 93 Pickup and we had packed it in about 3 pm to head back to our camp in Driftwood. He was driving, and as we approached Montours Run rd i said why dont we just drive up to the top of the valley which is maybe 2 miles or so then turn around and go home from there. As we passed the spot i again reminded my son who hadnt been born yet when the story took place. As you drive up that valley you come to a very sharp curve in the road which is a good place to park and glass.
It is actually where we had been parked when we first spotted that broken horn buck many years back.
But this time as we rounded that curve it was though i had seen a ghost, because there sat the green Willys wagon. I was actually beside myself, and couldnt believe what i was seeing, probably good i wasent driving. We of coarse pulled past and parked, and i walked back and spoke with the guy. Same guy, same Jeep wagon, but of coarse a much older guy and Jeep. He did remember the incident of coarse, and told me this was the last trip for the Green Willys wagon due to very serious rust issues making it unsafe to be on the road. I only wish id had the presence of mind to take pictures. And i also didnt think to look for the gun rack and the 7x61 S&H with the Unertle scope.

Great story, yobuck! As for the 7 X61mm S&H, there's not a thing wrong with it, except it is on the verge of obsolescence. Scoop-up a good supply of brass, get a good set of dies and keep her shootin'. A good Mauser '98 should make a dandy. I will ask where your Mauser was made. The CZs are tough and well heat treated, The Yugos are pretty tough, too. The Steyr made are so few and far between I check those closely and usually have those re-carburized, just so I don't ruin one. I've found quit a few DWMs and FNs to be on the soft side and have those re-carburized before I use 'um.

 

[yobuck]

Unertle didnt make very many traditional hunting scopes. They made a line called the (Hawk), but it was never all that popular. We still have one around in 4x that was my fathers that he bought new in the early 50s.
They also made a shorter version line called the Vulture, it also was externally adjusted, and i believe only made in 10x. A good friend of mine still uses one for LR hunting. Actually there are more of these type scopes still in use than you might think in places like Pa.

 

[Stiltsville]

Unertle didnt make very many traditional hunting scopes. They made a line called the (Hawk), but it was never all that popular. We still have one around in 4x that was my fathers that he bought new in the early 50s.
They also made a shorter version line called the Vulture, it also was externally adjusted, and i believe only made in 10x. A good friend of mine still uses one for LR hunting. Actually there are more of these type scopes still in use than you might think in places like Pa.

Unertl made a lot of hunting scopes.

Falcon 2&3/4X
Hawk 4X
Condor 6X
Vulture 8X and 10X

There are usually a few for sale on Ebay.

The later ones (white dots) have click adjustments. Earlier are friction.

A good one is VX-2 quality.

USMC used target style 8X as sniper WW II, Korea and a few in Nam
Later USMC used a special made 10X w/internal adjustments.
Genuine ones of either are crazy expensive.

Along with Kollmorgan & Bausch, the best post war scopes.

 

[yobuck]

Well you would get an argument from me over them being Leupold quality based on what ive seen of the Hawk we have. They made a great target scope that will still do a good job today for those who understand how to best use them. And thats why they arent very popular. Like a 55 Chevy, they were great in their day.

 

[Stiltsville]

If you have ONE Hawk, that hardly tells the story. I own 5 "white dot" Unertls as well as 3 Target models. I did say VX2 not all Leupolds.

 

[camodave7]

Now you need to get an old Unertle scope to put on top, just to keep it authentic.

No e on the end of Unertl. Some of the best glass ever made in the USA

 

[camodave7]

Sad to say the urban myth about S&L actions persists ever here, being repeated by Lone Traveler. (who never owned one)

Odd that Roy picked it as the only action suitable for the 378 WM.

The Schulz action was way ahead of its time having low bolt lift and short bolt throw.

Many were rechamered to 7mm Rem Mag as 7x61 ammo was hard to find. Don't recall any of those folks carrying shell extractors in their pockets.

Even Elmer Keith liked it !

"
In all fairness. 1 must admit to having been prejudiced against those rear locking Jugs when J started working with ibis rifle. However, the more 1 use it, the more I like and admire its many good features. The four locking lugs permit a bolt lift of only one-eighth turn, about half that of conventional Mauser-type actions. The flush extractor permits the bolt to be completely enclosed in the receiver. The trigger pull is one stage, no slack to take up. Lock time is very fast. Striker travel is about one half inch. The safety has three positions: fully forward is fire, fully to the rear for safe with trigger, bolt, and firing mechanism fully locked, and the half-way position which locks the firing mechanism but permits bolt to be withdrawn or ammo loaded safely into the rifle.

The rifle bolt is easily dismounted by cocking and moving the safety to the midway position. Then press a small pin on the left side of the cocking piece to rear and rotate the sleeve clockwise 45 degrees, and it comes apart. After much study and considerable shooting, I firmly believe this Schultz & Larsen action to be one of the strongest I have ever used including the well known Magnum Manser actions.

After looking through a lot of factory-made rifles since World War Two and finding many crooked barrels, poor stocking, and rough reeeiver-and-bolt fits, it is a pleasure to test a rifle that comes to the shooter all ready to take into the hills. Merely slap your favorite scope in a set of Buehler split-ring mounts, bore sight and target, and you are ready to go. In conclusion, 1 can only give this rifle and cartridge a clean bill of health and believe the rifle and the 7x61 S & H factory load to be one of the best yet offered sportsmen for all our lighter big game that has to be taken at long range.

Excellent dies for reloading the cartridge may be had from several reloading tool makers, including the fine R.C.B.S. dies. The 7x61 Norma cartridge case takes our commercial large rifle primers, and empty cases as well as loaded ammunition may be obtained from Sharpe & Hart or their dealers."

Calling it a wildcat is like calling the 6ppc a Wildcat. We used to form our brass from 220 Russian. Now you can buy brass from Sako and Lapua.

 

[camodave7]

If you have ONE Hawk, that hardly tells the story. I own 5 "white dot" Unertls as well as 3 Target models. I did say VX2 not all Leupolds.

My Unertl was a Programmer, maybe the best optics I ever used. So long and heavy their were no compromises. I had both 24 and 32X eye pieces.

 

[yobuck]

My Unertl was a Programmer, maybe the best optics I ever used. So long and heavy their were no compromises. I had both 24 and 32X eye pieces.

They were great scopes for what they were designed for, target shooting.
For long range hunting, not so much due to the very limited field.
They were widely used back in the day for one reason, there were very few options.
For hunters, the 6x24 B&l Balvar with a Kuharsky rear mount was a much better choice.
And frankly still today it is an excellent scope for L/R hunting.

 

[camodave7]

Mine was on a 30 pound 'Benchrest Unlimited Class gun chambered in 6x39 built for one of the developers of the cartridge, Alan King with help from Jim Stekl. That cartridge was the forerunner of the 6 BR and very much like todays 6Dasher or 6BR AI except for the 45 degree Venturi shoulder. That cartridge was developed at couple of years before the 6PPC

 

[camodave7]

It was a switch barrel and the other Hart barrel was chambered for the newly designed 7.62x51

 

[cockcroft]

When I was 13 or 14 I read lots about the 7x61 and swore I'd have one some day. 62 now and still don't have one but this post has made me decide to order a reamer and look for brass. Thanks for bringing back a good memory