Mystery No.32 Mk3 variation - solved!

[Nigel]

I can't remember which forum, probably Culvers, but a few years ago a member posted a picture of a strange No.32 Mk3 with modified elevation and windage drums - see picture of his scope. There was much speculation at the time whether this was a civilian or military modification. I have recently been trawling through some old Ordnance Board minutes dating from between November 1947 to September 1949. The minutes reveal that they were trying to solve the problem of the slipping scales being too easy to slip -sometimes moving under recoil! A modification was designed to secure the scales. Scope No. 17,664 was modified - see the drawing. Another scope No. 17,700 was also modified using a different method suggested by one of the Board members. Either scope was a one off exercise - will the lucky forum member who owns it please step forward and take a bow!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Peter Laidler]

The problem was probably solved with an uprated WASHER, spring (or Washer, lock for the L1A1!) which was introduced in 1954. After that date, the drum has a torque setting to prevent it rotating.

There was another idea mooted at the time and that was to allow the sniper/user to focus his own telescope by moving the erector cell using '.... a simple sliding motion common with those pre-war telescopes' Presumably this is the Patt 18 etc type of screw and plate. Anyone have this arrangement on an odd No32 scope?

While the locking range drum shown by Nigel and the user focussing idea might have made the users life easy (?), the down side is that it made it easy for moisture to get in too. And moisture inside telescopes isn't a good mix. And quite how the operator would re-set the focus or lock the range drum while wearing thick mittens in a rocky shell hole in Korea hasn't been answered

Nice find and good info Nigel...........

[Surpmil]

"Thad" was the owner of that one and from the partial serial number in the photo below, it looks to be No17664. Thought it was genuine at the time.

Were the rifle numbers recorded as the bracket has been renumbered at least once?

[Nigel]

Scope No. 17,664 was fitted to Rifle No. D360663

[Surpmil]

Thanks. Seems to be on rifle No 32385 now...for some reason that number is oddly familiar. Must look through my old photos. Think I had the bracket at one time; or was it 38285??

[Enfield trader]

it is number 17664 and is on rifle D30663 - Nigel thanks for the trawling and the new info as I have wondered about the scope and most thought it was a civilian mod. Rifle was "sporterized" and then re-blued even the bracket, that is how I bought it.

It appears that the scope was matched to the rifle originally but another bracket was later matched to the rifle. Number is weak do to the sporterizing but you can make it out.



here is a better pic of the scope






Bracket number




Rifle number

[Surpmil]

Interesting. A candidate for a bead blast and a coat of suncorite at BDL Ltd.

Someone certainly leaned into the buffing wheel with that one. Good thing they left the scope alone.

Do you have a photo of the serial number on the barrel?

[Peter Laidler]

Mmmmmmmm It looks like a linished and overstamped 30663 on the rifle and remarked bracket. Or am I just suspicious?

[Enfield trader]

I bought this back somewhere around 2005 and I bought it for the scope and mount as I could see how heavy it had been buffedand I needed a scope and mount for another No4T. The numbers looked "different" like maybe they were overstamped and my thought was that the guy that buffed the heck out of it and reblued it restamped the numbers because he buffed the heck out of it.

I decided not to use this scope and mount on the other T and eventually sold off the other T. I kept this together because it had matching numbers. I did pretty good on the deal as I only paid $860 for it.

Here are a few pics of the other numbers on it

[Peter Laidler]

It's quite unusual that former trials kit like this telescope remained like this. And I'm bound to ask whether anyone has a No32 (or even a No42 or 53 but unlikely....) that has an externally focussing feature as per the old Patt 18 scopes and others of the era.

We did loads of trials with GPMG's and L1A1's and later some SA80's in permanent .22" rimfire configuration but after the trials, they were converted back to bog standard and sent back into the Ordnance system. Where they had been played about with and couldn't be retro converted, they were scrapped.

We had some specialist Bedford lorries too, but they were used as hard targets.

Looking at the drawings of this scope, you can see the locking principle (friction again). Good idea but not really practical.

GREAT bit of detective work Nigel and others