New treasure -1916 Aldis scope

[Woodsy]

I had known of this scope for some months before I finally traded it off the guy. It is a very tidy example of the 1916 Aldis scope with Purdey mounts and bases, as well as the leather carry case. I am a happy camper!
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[Roger Payne]

You certainly ought to be a happy camper! It took me about twenty years of collecting to find my first Aldis complete with rings & bases. Oddly enough, that also turned up in NZ. Congratulations!

And if you ever get fed up of it, I'll buy/trade it with you!

I'm green with envy!

[mrclark303]

Wow, what a fantastic find! I would love to build an SMLE Sniper up one day, what are you going to do with it Woodsy?

[Woodsy]

Wow, what a fantastic find! I would love to build an SMLE Sniper up one day, what are you going to do with it Woodsy?

I am currently looking around for a tidy 1915/16 dated SMLE No1 MkIII by Enfield, and I will then build a sniper unit up. A fellow NZ collector wants it when I have finished playing with it (if I ever do!). I had a scarce NZ issue No4T by Long Branch with the Lyman Alaskan scope that I was convinced to sell many years ago and, although I got a very good price for it, I regretted getting rid of it as it was a superb shooter.

[Roger Payne]

The one I got from NZ came from a collector in Invercargill, the late Bruce Gorton, who was a good pal of mine. Tragically he died young from pneumonia. He sold (or was it swapped?) me a scope pretty much identical to yours, complete with rings, dismounted bases, & leather carrying case. I used the bases as patterns for my late machinist to make up a few sets for keen collectors, but haven't done any for years.

This is a real find. Museum rarity. Good luck with the setting up once you find a rifle; I'd certainly agree with an EFD 1915/16.

[CINDERS]

Great find Woodsy looks optically perfect like the day it was produced but boy those Purdey mounts & bases would be even rarer than the scope. There are some serious $ values in that little lot make no mistake.

[Woodsy]

The one I got from NZ came from a collector in Invercargill, the late Bruce Gorton, who was a good pal of mine. Tragically he died young from pneumonia. He sold (or was it swapped?) me a scope pretty much identical to yours, complete with rings, dismounted bases, & leather carrying case. I used the bases as patterns for my late machinist to make up a few sets for keen collectors, but haven't done any for years.

This is a real find. Museum rarity. Good luck with the setting up once you find a rifle; I'd certainly agree with an EFD 1915/16.

I knew Bruce well and his death was a loss to the NZ collecting fraternity. His good mate and fellow Invercargill collector, Wally Logan died just a few weeks ago. We are part of a disappearing breed!

[CINDERS]

Thing is Woodsy are enough of the X-Y generations even interested enough to preserve and understand what we do in the world of Milsurps and keeping the tradition alive, I for one hope the ANZAC spirit will carry on forever between our countries and the bonds we have formed with over seas forces through numerous desperate do's and war's carries on long after we are ash.
I look around the bits and bob's I have amassed and its not much by any stretch but I have tried to interest my son in what his Granddad did in his 4 years away in WWII but the interest is not there I just hope the flicker starts soon as it worries me that through the next generations the real sacrifice all the troops made from every nation to solicit freedom from tyranny & oppression will not have the same meaning or impact as it does with me and others of the same genre.

Only the serving and soldiers that have served really understand what is what when it all goes down and myself as a civie will never understand what they went through the only thing I can do is to respect what they did to preserve the freedom we all enjoy.

[mrclark303]

Beutifully put Cinders.... I think you voiced something that many of us here are concerned about.

I didn't have any kids, but I am happy to report that my 16 year old nephew in the states is showing a flicker of interest and thoroughly enjoyed his first Full-bore shooting experience when he visited this year .. As an american, it had to be my 1903A4 build of course!

[Roger Payne]

Yes, Bruce's death was a great loss to the collecting fraternity. He came over & visited me on one occasion, together with PL, the Pattern room & so forth. My set of Aldis over bore mounts came from him, as in his latter years of collecting he kept mainly to No4 sniping derivatives.

I have four kids aged between 35 & 27, one of whom is serving, but none of them have ever been interested to the extent that I am, although the youngest (in the RAF) & one of his elder brothers are starting to show some more enthusiasm as they get a little older. I live in hope.