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Got lucky today at a militaria fair. I was standing talking to a dealer friend when a guy approached the dealer trying to sell something. The dealer said it was not really his thing and passed the object back, at which point I realised what it was and exclaimed "I'll buy it".
I am now the happy owner of one of these design masterpieces and I believe it is the 2nd off the production line (roughly 500 manufactured). I now have two (s/n 2 & 58).
Right man, right place, right time.
And THAT'S how it happens... It had to go all the way to UK from Canada for that.
Well done! I believe you have there the tripod for one of the scopes sent over for UK perusal during the war. Hopefully the scope and case are out there somewhere. You asked the seller if he had the scope?
Most/all of the examples over here have had various OD paints applied in the course of their service lives so nice to see the original finish and what is presumably the original lining to the jaws? Also never seen here AFAIK; as long ago lost in service.
Someone in the UK claimed here a few years back to have found several of the scopes and cases "in a skip" some years ago - any connection I wonder?
Still a very good design; pity the Chinese don't bang some out, for practical use I mean, not replication per se.
Designed by a Capt. Gartshore it says in Without Warning.
It was me that purchased the three Canadian spotting scopes that had been rescued from a skip.
I lucked into scope 51 and case 448 on eBay UK a few years ago, the seller said his father (while doing his National Service) pulled it from a box of scopes headed for disposal.
Suggests several of them may have made their way to the UK only to be destroyed when declared obsolete.
Did you happen to get a time-frame for that national service?
Unfortunately not. Seller's age (40s) hints it could have been 1960s, but that's only an unreliable guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Surpmil
If I remember correctly 'National Service' was finished (no more conscription) in 1959 and the last intake to leave was in early 1963.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troglodyte
This is what google says .................... National Service ended in 1960, though periods of deferred service still had to be completed. The last national servicemen were discharged in 1963.
Perhaps his father spent some time in Canada? The mismatches between cases and scopes presumably occurred over time in service. We now have five or six scopes showing up in the UK in contrast to the two sent for appraisal in 1945. But over time rifle teams travelling back and forth etc. could account for that. The kit was sure to appeal to marksmen for range use, and might even have been issued to Canadian service rifle teams? Presumably they were surplussed off sometime around the introduction of the FN C1A1.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troglodyte