They're here! Reproduction No32 scopes.

[Roger Payne]

Thanks MJ1. Much appreciated. This thread would seem an opportune place to mention that I will not be getting any further batches done when the present lot have all sold. I've been doing them for thirty years now & I'm more than happy for someone else to take over the reins if they wish to! At present I have about twenty left from the batch of 100, so they're still available, but if sales continue as per usual they won't be for too much longer.....

ATB.

[nath75]

I will send you a "PM" Roger

[Warren]

I just wanted to make a comment and a warning here regarding the repro scopes being tight in the mounts.
DO NOT USE THE CAP SCREWS TO FORCE THE SCOPE INTO THE MOUNT. Tapered screws transmit tremendous force on the scope seating it into the mount cradles and will actually break the turret block loose from the tube.
I have repaired several and it is not a nice job. To take the repro scopes apart normally takes special tools which l have made, but still not a nice job and no parts other than the small lot l have from scrapped scopes.
Be careful mounting the repro scope in the repro mounts and if you have to remove the aligning stud on the scope.
If you need more info or help, feel free to PM me if you need help and l will do what l can for you.

[Hybridfiat]

OK I hope no-one minds but I thought I would do a teardown on the Red Star Mountain No32 Mk3 reproduction scope.
A brief explanation: Six months ago I bought one for my No4 Mk1 to use on the range in competition. I got the full package that includes the repro mounts and the drill and tap.
I have a 1942 Savage No4 that was picked up by a friend in North Queensland in the 1970s while he and his girlfriend were sailing 'across the top' of Australia.
Their trip required regular forays into the rivers to collect fresh water.
Now for those of you who don't know, Australia's biggest and bitiest predator lives in the rivers of the Top End.
The Salt Water Croc is an animal to be respected and only observed from a long distance or behind a substantial fence.
There's nothing they like more than the soft flesh of an unwary tourist.
So, said friend felt the need for some insurance; not being a shooter he bought the rifle that all the croc hunters at the time swore by. The venerable 303. $40au.
He and GF and another couple sailed away feeling safer by .303 of an inch.
They stopped at a deserted island, anchored in the bay and he set off to test his new purchase with some of the 174 FMJ 1942 CDC rounds that came with the rifle.
And lo! There was a fridge washed up on the beach. He duly took aim and squeezed of 1 round, just one!
Big bang! The recoil came as a very unpleasant surprise.
The rifle, uncleaned was wrapped up in a blanket where it remained.
One day 50 years later as we inspected his new shed, he asked if I would come and shoot the possum that was constantly getting into his shed and running riot.
I said "NO, I don't shoot possums".
And besides, "haven't you got a rifle?"
He said "yes but it's a 303"
2 cartons of beer later it was mine, ALL MINE Bwa Ha Ha Ha!
Where was I?
Oh yes, it was in very good nick, so I cleaned it and found that it had centre bedding, an Australian heavy barrel from Lithgow, and Singer sights.
I won’t go into the mounting except to say I followed the instructions of Peter Laidlaw to the letter.

It now has a cheek rest mounted. (I got it off FleaBay from a bloke in England). Very nice!
The scope would not hold zero. So, I complained and much to my surprise they sent me another scope.
This looked the same, was marked the same, but was NOT the same! It had less magnification and a finer stadia. Also, the deflection movement described an arc. What to do?
I decided to take it to work with me (on an oil rig over Christmas) and pull it down and find the issues and see if my original scope is fixable.
I have done that and thought that you guys might like to see what I found.

[Hybridfiat]

So to pick up on the story:
The clarity is fine on both scopes, and they aren’t complex so I thought I would have a bash at fettling the freebie one.
On both of my RSM scopes the screws were barely tight. Sort of understandable as the body is made of brass, but annoying too.
(Be careful if tightening screws as the body is brass threads may strip easily Don’t use high strength Loctite anywhere).
The entire drum assembly does not have to be dismantled, I have taken one apart; only to show you what is in there.
You can see the little grub screw in the turret that locks the drum to the adjustment mechanism that winds the internal block back and forth.

Remove the grub screw and unscrew the serrated knob.
between this on top of the graduated drum are 3 wave washers, don’t lose them.
Unscrew the 4 screws that hold the drum block to the scope body.
It is under slight spring pressure from the detent pointer that is in the strange looking angled block on the side of the drum body.

If you are going to remove the stadia block, be very very careful when handling it. The stadia are extremely fine and will break if touched. Also, ANY dust on the stadia, no matter how fine will show up like dog’s bollocks when you next look through the scope.
I put Sellotape over both exposed sides of the block to protect and pick up stray particles.
I also cover the exposed scope block with tape to prevent ingress of detritus. It’s sticky surface catches anything drifting around inside too.

Here’s a pic of all the parts found inside the RSM No32 Mk3.

The top row is the elevation drum fully disassembled.
The second row is the deflection/windage drum disassembled as far as l need to repair or fettle this scope.

[Hybridfiat]

1. Take a good look at the detent wheels below.
Below is the elevation wheel with it’s graduated spacing.

The windage Disk with even spacing.

A close look reveals why the detent clicks of these scopes is so bad.
They are nasty, and rougher than they look. I could use them in a Dremel to grind stuff.
Badly filed by hand and case hardened.
I have, as a stop-gap measure used 1000 grit wet and dry to smooth them a bit. This has improved the awful grinding clicks.
So there’s my major job, making new wheels from O1 steel.
I'll probably cut the grooves with my Lindsey engraving tool and use a round cut profile to keep the clicks as positive and smooth as possible.
That way I only need to cut the small portion of the wheel that engages the detent pointer.
- I'll do this in Feb as I'm here at sea till mid Jan -

[Hybridfiat]

2. The misalignment of the blocks that push the stadia block.

Both blocks are canted.
The holes were not drilled straight and square.
The blocks themselves are pretty rough and ready too.
I think I will mill them new from brass.

3. The stadia block sits between the scope tubes. But he surfaces it runs up against are pretty rough, so maybe some very judicious polishing might be needed to allow it to move without sticking

Before I reassemble the scope for the last time, all the bearing surfaces will be carefully polished and dust and debris blown out.
I may even use some soft rubber gasket sealer to seal the drums and the ocular units to make it shower proof. Nothing drastic though as it is soft brass and won’t take to being ‘loctited’.
It will be possible to machine O-ring slots in the brass adjustment assemblies too and put a fine O-ring under them before assembly. That's not very clear but when I do it I'll post some pics.
The only exception to the use of Loctite are the little finger/bullet point knobs on the graduated dial drums that drop off and get lost. Loctite them.


I've focused the reticle using the little toothed aluminium block under the top plate.
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=29604

[Hybridfiat]

The scopes from RSM are a decent starting point for those of us who either cannot afford or who cannot find a genuine No32 scope.
Just be aware of the inconsistencies in their build quality.
Even between scopes from the same company.
Even my wife could immediately tell the difference between the 2 RSM No32 Mk3 scopes.
Some things they have done are half decent, (clarity of the optics and the stadia) and others are just plain abominable (detent disks and general fit).
By the end I hope to have 2 decent functioning scopes that will withstand the recoil and hold zero.
Then I'll put one up for sale.

Here's a rudimentary diagram of how the scope adjustment functions.
(The stadia are upside down inside the scope because the image is optically corrected)

[Hybridfiat]

If the focus is out slightly and loosening the objective end improves it, don't be tempted to alter the focus at this end.
It will have the effect of introducing parallax errors into the scope.

Briefly it means that if moving the objective lens assembly forward a poofteenth makes image clear, it will change the parallax.
That means, looking through the scope at a target, the act of moving your head left or right up or down, will have the effect of shifting the crosshair on the target.
Not a good thing if you want a consistent point of impact.

So focus is done from the other end. Under the little curved plate at the ocular end is a serrated block that holds the erector assembly in place.
The procedure to change this has been covered elsewhere.
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=29604

I just want to let people know that moving the objective even a tiny amount will cause changes in parallax.
Conversely, it could be that to fix a parallax issue, altering the objective end will work, but remember the Golden Rule: "if it ain't broken don't fiddle with it".

[Hybridfiat]

Here's a shot from my Med Centre window to the well heads 2km away.
Not as clear as seeing it first-hand but you get the idea.

The Stadia are much finer than my original RSM scope but the clarity is the same.
I couldn't get the camera to focus as finely as I wanted. At this distance it is possible to see workers moving around on the helideck and seagulls flying around the platform.
For a Chinese made scope I'm impressed with it's optics if nothing else.