No.32 Scope Caps - reproductions or fakes?

[Beerhunter]

Here is another example of vendor selling reproduction items with spurious markings.

Lee Enfield Rifle Sniper 32 Scope Cover British Army | eBay

As I have said the past, marking such as those, turn an honest reproduction into a fake.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

Our equipment repairers at the main workshops used to have the correct leather for repairing eye caps etc and other leather acroutrements. It was certainly unlike the common fakes in that it was quite hard and noticeable in that the ends of the cups didn't fold in on themselves while being stitched across at 45 degrees. But, rather, remained square. At Aldershot, Bob Weyman used to repair all the leather and saddles, drummers aprons etc etc (I wonder who does all of this stuff now.....) and had a BIG tub of eye caps that he'd set about every so often.

Shall I go on........................ He used to clean it in a bath of something that got rid of years and years of brown polish. Then once under the layers of bull shine, he could see what the REAL state of the leather was. If it was still good, he'd chemically clean it and then re-sew it or add missing bits. The two piece eye caps, he'd just join both ends together to make one piece. He berated the cheap, thinner L1A1 era eye caps saying that they weren't even worth repairing. Then he'd dunk in a bath of lanolin and after that it'd last another 60 years.

The white or brown cotton was heavily waxed and he'd pull it through a wax candle to keep it waxed while he stitched away for hours. He had a series of angled punches that he'd use to follow the stitching line. He could re-make/repair a set of eye caps while you waited using the original leather including sewing in the ends............ |Self taught as a lad working in an upholstery shop and then for a saddler.

I sent him a few old, hard pistol holsters where the stitching had broken over the years from the weapons collection that he re-stitched like new but he's long gone now. Mind you, I did take the big bucket of eye caps and some of the leather T slings and a few lengths of the real genuine leather from the Shadwell Leather Company. He left before he got around to making my leather whips and bondage gear!

Sorry to go off at a tangent chaps

[MJ1]

We are getting short handed on skilled old hands. I love these stories Peter. I'm so reminded of many instructors who had been through the shops and field company level stations who came back to pass on the skills to us new boys headed to the field. Sadly we were often just urgent parts changers in the field in the dark of night.