They certainly weren't junked!!!! They were relatively valuable and classed as V&A, Valuable and Attractive stores and subject to close security. They would always be repaired except when the crap alloy casing failed, usually through corrosion or a chattered thread and even then the plate threads could be tapped oversize or inserts fitted (or was that on the No5's?????). The axis bar would become loose too but not very often in my experience and that was a fitter shop job to re-bush and ream. From this, you can see that the old Mk2's and 3's plus the odd occasional US Bausch and Lomb binios lasted well into the 2000's.