Can someone please help with this WW1 sniper

[Patrick Chadwick]

"The scope is obviously much too far offset to be either practical or original."

Some collectors should get out more - like go to the range and try shooting with their "rarities". Then they might realize that what they have in their hands is a non-functional nonsense.

For shooting in the prone position, that setup would be an abomination. I would not risk one single shot with it, as the scope is likely to end up in the eye socket.

The only way one could use it safely would be to shoot in a sitting position, using the left eye for aiming. Hardly likely for a sniper, but plausible for a hunter sitting in a hide.

Even then, the scope is set alarmingly far back. Over the years I have seen several German hunters with the unofficial "badge" of a half-moon cut on the eyebrow, the typical result of having a scope set too far back, and putting the eye too close to the scope in an unconscious effort to get closer to the target.

A hunter in a hide would have the scope set up for the most favourable distance (say 100-150 yards), and the horizontal variation of the POI resulting from the offset would be about 1" over that range - seems acceptable. Useless for long ranges of course, but they would never be attempted.

In short, IMHO this is a rifle/scope combination that was cobbled together for a hunter who could not use his right eye.