Quality of Repro scopes for NO4 T

[Peter Laidler]

I have done a few, albeit by default! Screws threaded into thin brass were useless. Never truly happy with any of the results. After the first miserably failed the standard 'fastness' test, I never subjected another to it. The No32's would just take it all in their stride.

Save twice to buy once I say. Even a rusty old No32 with a beat-up tube and double focus can be resurrected. Not so an Asian copy. Just my opinion of course Think Mickey Mouse watches. Good to look at but not so good when it comes to telling the time.

While there is still demand, maybe now is the time for an entrepreneur to start converting No42's or 53's to the simplified Mk3 spec. Simplicity itself with current CNC facilities.

Ask me for detais

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[S12A]

Even a rusty old No32 with a beat-up tube and double focus can be resurrected. Not so an Asian copy.
Ask me for detais

Exactly what i did in the end.

[Peter Laidler]

That scope is not even HALF as bad as several of those that have come my way, believe me.

A genuine in woorse condition than that is better than a repro, any day, I say. Just my opinion though

[Surpmil]

Exactly what i did in the end.

Attachment 130554Attachment 130555Attachment 130556

There is a filler called Lab-Metal which is claimed to produce a smooth and indistinguishable surface under powder coating, so that could be the way to deal with extreme pitting.

Powder coating probably being the closest substitute for Suncorite these days.

[Wernher von Beige]

What Peter Laidler said.

I don't have any direct experience with the Red Star Mountain replicas of the No. 32 scope, but I do have some experience with [somebody's -- no idea who the perpetrator is] Far Eastern replicas of the German / Czech ZF4 scope used on several German WW2 guns including the G43. In fairness -- if we knew these replicas were made in Japan, I'd buy them in a heartbeat -- I can't think of a single Japanese product that disappoints, especially in the field of optics. But I think it's a safe bet these are not made in Japan -- that country is by no means a "low cost" producer.

My G43 was sold by an alleged G43 Guru as having a genuine modern Czech repro. Said guru was either lying or willfully ignorant because the thing was obviously a Turd World copy. When cranking the elevation drum, the pointer (visually like the pointer in a No. 32) described not a straight up-and-down line but a sort of S-shaped curve -- think of a hysteresis curve or an "integral" symbol from high school calculus. And not by some small amount -- it was many minutes of arc -- more than the apparent size of a standard target.

This being unserviceable, I found a new, recent repro made by Meopta in the Czech Republic, at the same factory (in WW2 operating under the name Optikotechna) that made them for the Germans in WW2. The Czech repro works fine.

Out of curiosity, I took both scopes to the local courthouse where they have a scanning device to check for nasties being smuggled into the building. I asked the sheriff's deputies there to compare the two. I took photos. The insides are not even remotely similar. The Far East repro was designed to be cheaply made.

I eventually sold the Far East repro, with full disclosure that it's unserviceable trash, to somebody who wanted it for stock. It's his karma, not mine. I think it would be perfect for "re-enactors" -- people who run through the woods pretending.

My own No. 32 works astoundingly well. And no wonder, since Peter Laidler himself overhauled it! (Thanks ever so much, again, PL!)

I just looked at Red Star Mountain's web site. What total thieving trash. They even have copies of ancient Swiss K31 diopter sights (far better to buy the redesigned American ones from Swiss Products; or a genuine Swiss vintage one for less than the fake); a ripoff of Swiss Products' K31 clamp-on scope rail; repros of the scope for the M1903 Springfield (why not just buy a genuine Lyman or Weaver as allowed by the rules...) even fake stock discs for Swedish Mausers. Geez. Yup. They're in Shanghai.

The two takeaways from my long-winded story:
1) Avoid cheap Far Eastern repros. Of anything.
2) Peter Laidler knows whereof he speaks. If he says they're trash, then they're trash.

[scharfschutzen63]

I restored a No4t and started shooting it with repro scope and mount. Accuracy was okay, but nothing to get excited about. I put an original Mk2 scope and mount on the rifle and groups shrank astonishingly. In my experience, the originals are the best. Don't waste your time and money on junk.

[Cordite burner]

Anyone have experience with the replicas sold by Waffenmeisters? -

https://www.waffenmeisters.com/optic...-mounts-c-83-1

They offer both Mk. 1 & 2 versions. The Mk.2 looks a lot like Numrich's current offering. Numrich's current Mk.2 is made in Taiwan they told me. Waffenmeisters told me theirs are made in Taiwan by a "reputable defense contractor using Japanese optics" plus come with a 1 year warranty.....maybe the same place Numrich gets theirs from?

A warranty sounds pretty good compared to sending your money to China and being SOL if you have issues. Numrich has no warranty on theirs.

[CINDERS]

Why not put a cheap 4 power scope on it like a Weaver to get you mobile then save up for a good MK 3/32 scope that way you can shoot the rifle then on sell the scope when you get your proper No32.

[Roger Payne]

I think JB Weld is similar. I recently had to redrill the locking screw hole in an objective shade for a No32 Mk1 & I used JB Weld for the first time for filling in the old hole. When rubbed down, lightly bead blasted, & lastly suncorited, it really looked the part.....

Many fillers don't take suncorite very well & look a different colour once the paint is dry.

However, if pitting is not too deep I spend the time it takes in carefully striking out as much as I can using a Swiss file, & being careful not to put flats in the scope tube. You just have to accept it's going to take time....

[Surpmil]

J.B. Weld is very good for filling, but I was told it would not work under powder coating; hence my inquiries which led me to Lab Metal. I have a tin, but haven't had reason to use it yet.

I polished a few No32 tubes on a wood lathe by mounting between a dead center in the spindle and a live center in the tail stock. The cone of the dead center fit the objective end of the stripped tube and the cone of the body on the live center happened to be about the right size to fit into the ocular lens retaining ring. One had to be careful not to put too much pressure on the tube or the files/paper!