Please help to identify the scope!

[Oktagon]

Has enyone heard of Realist Computer scopes?

I just bought unfired Belgian Browning BAR grade III rifle, and it came with a very strwnge scope, installed by its original owner very long time ago.
It is 3-9x40 scope with 1" tuve and a very unusual mount, which rases the scope as you rotate the power selection ring (for parallax correction). The scope is marked Realist USA Computer. It has very strange reticle, which looks like a combination of fine target and german reticles. It appears to me high quality scope. It is marked "made in USA". Any help would be appreciated!

 

[LHB1]

Excuse me. The "mount raises the scope as you turn the power selector ring to correct parallax"??? Who told you this? My ignorance must be showing. Have never heard of such in 40+ years of active shooting as an adult. Raising or lowering the scope tube has NOTHING to do with parallax. Parallax occurs inside the scope and refers to the apparent movement of the crosshairs across target if you move your head away from center line of scope. Would like to know more about this mysterious moving mount and how/why it is tied to the power adjustment ring.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

ps: A light may have appeared. Was Realist one of the early scopes with "range finder" function built in or have one of those cams which adjusted impact for long range shooting so that you could dial the setting and then aim directly at the target?

 

[Oktagon]

I misspoke, when I called it parallax. I know what parallax is. It is not actually caused by anything inside the scope. It has to do with distance between the optical axis of the scope and bore axis. That's why higher rings have mre potential for parallax at londer distances and higher magnifications.

You are right, it is a cam thing in the back of the scope, which is attached to the power selection ring, so as I oinctrase the magnification, it rases the back end of the scope. I have always been a Leupold man, and have never seen a scope like this. Amazingly Google search on this company returned nothing. It must be a short lived brand sometimes in early 80's

It is actually a decent scope. Quite sharp and bright.

 

[LHB1]

Oktagon,
Your understanding of parallax is wrong. Quote below is from Leupold Answer Guide:

The Leupold Answer Guide

What is Parallax?
What is parallax? Parallax is essentially an optical illusion. It is the apparent movement of the target relative to the reticle when you move your eye away from the center point of the eyepiece. It occurs when the target does not fall on the same optical plane as the reticle. Maximum parallax occurs when your eye is at the very edge of the exit pupil. (Even in this unlikely event, our 4x hunting scope focused for 150 yards has a maximum error of only 8/10ths of an inch at 500 yards.) At short distances, the parallax effect does not affect accuracy. (Using the same 4x scope at 100 yards, the maximum error is less than 2/10ths of an inch.) It is also good to remember that, as long you are sighting straight through the middle of the scope, or close to it, parallax will have virtually no effect on accuracy in a hunting situation. For more information, please consult our list of "frequently asked questions" at www.leupold.com/tifaq.

Quote: "That's why higher rings have mre potential for parallax at londer distances and higher magnifications." Also incorrect. Has NOTHING to do with parallax.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

[daniel (australia)]

The Realist Camputer scopes appeared on the market in the late 1960s, surviving only a few years. They are a Leatherwood design, and the principle is essentially that the scope's rangefinder system is linked to a cam in the mount, so that as the range is measured (using the reticle's stadia wires) the scope's elevation is simultaneously adjusted to compensate. Of course the cam had to match the trajectory of the round being used, and so the scopes were supplied with a range of cams "to suit most popular calibers"

FWIW According to my 1971 Gun Digest a 3-9 Realist Camputer had a MSRP of $129.50 in 1971, making it quite an expensive scope: comparable in price to a 4-10 Nickel, dearer than the top-line Redfield 3-9 and considerably dearer than any 3-9 by Leupold, B&L or Weaver.

 

[Oktagon]

Thank you Daniel! This is it. Exactly what you said!
I wonder why there is so little information available about these scopes? I did bunch of searches, and found nothing!

I found the exact year of manufacture of BAR, and it is 1971. I am still having some issues identifying it as Grade III though. It might be a Grade IV, in which case I really scored, buying it NIB with Browning suitcase for $800.

Cheers mate!