question on M/39-43 Ajack sniper scopes
As far as my books tell me, the Finns received a partial order of 500 Ajack 4x90 scopes from Jackenroll, in Germany. With these scopes they built small quantities of the sniper rifle model M /39 - 43, some of which saw service during WW2. The balance of the 2,000 scope order was never delivered, as the Germans needed them for their own war effort. Of these I believe a number were used by the SS but am not sure about that fact.
The 500 Finnish scopes remained in service until well after WW2 was over. What I am looking for is the serial number range of these 500 scopes. The 2nd volume of Markku Palokangas' book (vol 2 pp. 105-106) lists a serial number range of 60001 to 60500, but because I can't read the text I can't be sure if these are the scope serial numbers or not.
K-H Wrobel's book pretty much repeats the information in Palokangas' book, and I am on firmer ground there because I read German. However he does not list the serial numbers anywhere that I could find in either volumes 1 or 2 of his book.
So if anyone knows the serial number range of these 500 Ajack scopes I would very much like to hear from you! Thanks for reading this,
Kari (Kari@calmoto.com)
More information on the Ajack/equipped Fin Sniper 39/43
Thanks to all the people who helped me with this research so far.
I am paraphrasing what I learned from a couple of collectors overseas who have pieced together the story on these Ajack 4x90 scopes that made it to Finland before the Germans stopped shipments at the end of 1943.
The range of Jackenroll serial numbers is thought to start at #00501V and end at #00900V - the V suffix is the determinant that they were part of the Finnish order. (More on the "V" suffix below.)
The highest number recorded by these collectors is #00812V.
The delivered scopes also have a Finnish serial number which matches the serial number on the M/39-43 to which it was issued.
All 500 rifles were in consecutive numbers in the 50000 range. To identify the scopes further and match them to the rifles there was a scope marking of SA50XXX M 43 on the side of the elevation housing. The lettering of "Ajack" is different than other Ajack scopes of this period as well.
It is in upper/lower case letters like the first 4x90 pre-war scopes,
leading to the possibility that old stock parts were being used to manufacture these scopes. There is also an "SA" in a box on the topside of the objective of the scope, and the scopes usually are equipped with the sunshade and focus ring.
The "V" suffix was probably used to indicate that the scopes were not
made to the German army pattern of 1943. The "V" suffix was often used in other applications to indicate German items that differed from the standard production version, and also on prototype or pre-production samples.
I am indebted to the individuals who made this information available to me and respect their desire to remain anonymous.
Kari Prager
Scrmblerkari