Canadian Scope 1943 No. 42 Mk 1 R.E.L. not No. 32 Mk 1

[kryten]

He's just machined the No42 tube to accept the No78 turret assembly. In that the focal point of the No78 grat is at the identical focal point as the old No32/42/53 scope. Crikey, what a lot of work for what is just a ....er....., well, a nothing now really!

Although you do have a scope which is functional and to the untrained eye, looks the part. All for a fraction of the cost of the original. If I had of known the desirability of these old scopes when I was an Instrument Artificer, I would have had more " projects " to do in the workshops during less busy days

[read6737]

The seller got it 10 yrs or so ago as part of a deal with some German WW2 gear and just packed it away as he only collects German stuff,
He has never used it.
He is going to send me, I hope, some measurements.
Which I hope will be of interest to us all, expectantly Peter and wheaty.

[read6737]

A few more pics an this is the info he sent me.

'I just took some pictures with a ruler next to the scope which I hope will answer many of your questions. Pictures number 5 through 8 are taken with the ruler left in exactly the same place with me just moving the camera from left to right so hopefully that will give you some good relative dimensions.


Looking through the end lenses I cannot see any inserts near the ends; it looks to me like the cross hairs are etched on glass but of course without disassembly you cannot be sure.

As far as optical quality is concerned the scope is excellent; I mostly collect rare German scopes from WW2 and this scope appears to be optically as good as the best Ajack and Zeiss scopes I have seen - in fact it compares very well with a WW2 contract Ajack that I have which was acquired by the Swedish Army during the war and used by their snipers from the 1940's through to the 1990's (with their "Swedish Mausers"). These Ajacks were coated post war by the Swedes to improve optiocal performance and they are a beautiful optical quality; in terms of light gathering performance and clarity this No 42 marked scope compares very favourably with a Swedish issue Ajack.

Hope this helps.'

[Surpmil]

As far as optical quality is concerned the scope is excellent; I mostly collect rare German scopes from WW2 and this scope appears to be optically as good as the best Ajack and Zeiss scopes I have seen - in fact it compares very well with a WW2 contract Ajack that I have which was acquired by the Swedish Army during the war and used by their snipers from the 1940's through to the 1990's (with their "Swedish Mausers"). These Ajacks were coated post war by the Swedes to improve optiocal performance and they are a beautiful optical quality; in terms of light gathering performance and clarity this No 42 marked scope compares very favourably with a Swedish issue Ajack.

A rather nice little endorsement of REL's quality.

[read6737]

Well an update.

Here is a copy of the last email receved regarding the REL scope.
It is self explanitery.......


FYI I just had a further look at the No 42 and discovered that the windage/elevation section is a purely cosmetic add on. As the price has gone up quite a bit since my listing it, and as I certainly do not want to mislead anyone about what they are bidding on, I have therefore just amended the listing and emailed those that have already bid as follows:

"Hello, Thanks for bidding on this scope. Please note that I have just updated the listing based on a further inspection of the scope. The comments I added are: "UPDATE 25 May - in response to many questions and given the high level of interest in this scope, I have had a much closer look at it. The windage and elevation section of the scope appears to have been added by someone (not me!) for purely cosmetic reasons - although the knobs rotate they are not connected to any internal parts and in fact when forced the whole adjustment section will simply rotate as one piece around the scope tube as it has just been push fitted onto the tube (no screw fixing at all). It appears therefore that the cross-hairs are permanantly fixed in a dead centre position in the field of vision (I do not know whether this is standard for a No 42)." If this info causes you any concern please don't make more bids. I've also told the high bidder to withdraw his bid if he is concerned Best regards Eddie"

So I guess your previous confusion about the internal alterations to the scope are solved - they presumably haven't been!

[Peter Laidler]

I did wonder about the optical set-up because the turrets weren't aligned with the linear position of the graticle. So wondered just HOW turning a drum in that posiution could adjust a grat further to the rear....

Now I know. It doesn't!

[read6737]

You know,
It makes it evident that at times you need to, and MUST as questions of the seller.
He really did not know,
and I had many questions about the scope, so he looked for me, pics etc etc etc etc.
So a lesson for all,....... not all is as it looks,

SO ASK QUESTIONS,

I did and look what I know know, I learnt a lot as well,
Many thanks to Peter, wheaty,and surpmil. ....and the seller.

[paulseamus]

Gentlemen

Thank you for all of your input to answering my question regarding this unusual scope.
Unfortunately rather than being something of value with a unique providence, it was just something that "Bubba" had created.
Full marks to the vendor who has, with the help of members of this forum, recognised that it is just a No42 scope with a useless addon.
It is pleasing to see that he has modified his listing accordingly. He appears to have contacted all ebay bidders, including myself, to advise the correct nature of the scope and to allow all bids to be withdrawn. There still appears to be some honour on Ebay!
Again to all who contributed to this thread, particularly READ6737, thank you.

Paul

[Peter Laidler]

Just thinking out aloud here........... There has always been a call for a 'look-a-like' scope that could replicate a No32. So I wonder if there is some scope (if you'll excuse the terrible pun.....) to see whether the mechanical parts of a No78 could in fact be inserted into the bowels of a No43/53 so that it could be fitted into a replica bracket...., onto a replica No4T that could be used regularly instead of constantly using the real thing. The tube would need to be skimmed slightly of course.

The bonus is that in doing so, you'd still have the important optical spares if you needed them at a later date.

Having said that, the ocular lenses that were as rare as rocking horse sh....., er...., droppings are now available. But I digress.................

[read6737]

Peter,
The ocular lenses that are now available, are they of good quality?
and is the price right? putting in perspective the cost of the 42s and 53s.
What other major? parts are available