L13A1 scope

[Micheal Doyne]

First a hopefully uncontentious question. Would any one happen to have an L13A1 scope to hand, so they could give me the external dimensions of it? I have a commercial S&B 6x42 scope with a 26m tube and I was wondering how close it was to an L13A1

Second.... is there any truth to the suggestion that L13A1 scopes where locally fitted to L42A1s using the sort of mounts currently offered by amongst others Fulton and sons?

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.

[chosenman]

The commercial S&B 6x42 is the same body, however depending on how old your scope is the ocular focus ring maybe different.
A plan to extend the L42’s service life was considered when the L96 had issues when first issued and several trial brackets were produced and trialled by the SAS. The SAS never used the bracket themselves beyond the trial, however the SBS did. They copied the bracket and upgraded a number of L42 rifles to bolster the eight AI PM Rifles they purchased before they received the L96. It was a very short lived measure.

[Micheal Doyne]

The commercial S&B 6x42 is the same body, however depending on how old your scope is the ocular focus ring maybe different.
A plan to extend the L42’s service life was considered when the L96 had issues when first issued and several trial brackets were produced and trialled by the SAS. The SAS never used the bracket themselves beyond the trial, however the SBS did. They copied the bracket and upgraded a number of L42 rifles to bolster the eight AI PM Rifles they purchased before they received the L96. It was a very short lived measure.

Thank you very much for the info. The scope I have has capped drums, I presume the actual ones had a bdc and windage drums?

[DanL96a1]

Micheal here are some links to the PM1 S&B which might be of use.

Google Image Result for https://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/2013/09/DSCF5862_zpsdf6950ab-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....152&viewfull=1

[Promo]

If you could tell me which dimensions you exactly want to know I could measure mine. But please confirm you are talking of the green one in my picture below.

[Micheal Doyne]

If you could tell me which dimensions you exactly want to know I could measure mine. But please confirm you are talking of the green one in my picture below.

Hi,

Yes I am meaning the green scope in your pictures, nice scopes. I was hoping for:
- Scope length min and max.
- objective and ocular bell external dimensions

But I now have a couple of additional questions:
- eye relief
- a photo of the grat
- total range of elevation and direction drums
- how was the colour applied, is this paint on top of a scope that was originally black or is the scope built as green.

my scope appears very similar to a l13a1 expect: grat, turrets, colour and lack of the pm prefix to the 6x42 designation. I am struggling to find exactly what specific model of scope it is and how optically it differs to an l13A1.

Additionally S&B have offered a remarkably acceptable price for swapping the capped turrets on my scope out, but I can’t find a reference to the name of turrets used on the l13, and the guy I’m talking too doesn’t seem to know. Would any one know S&B designation for the drums used?

Thanks

[desperatedan]

Hi

I've also got one of the "little green" S&B PM 6x42 scopes and have just dug it out to have a look for you. I think mine (like a few it seems) is ex-Irish with an "AI" number on it.

Scope length is 303mm
Objective external diameter is 38mm and length is 68mm from tube where taper starts to the point at which the (black coloured) focusing ring starts. The focus ring when set to "0" adds another 12mm to the length at the objective end.
Ocular bell is 48mm external diameter and is 95mm in length from front to end of where taper meets the central tube.

The drums are BDC turrets with 42 clicks marked the range drum which is also marked with 0-9 so the 42 clicks get you up to 1000m. I believe each click is equivalent to 1cm increase in elevation at 100m and that the BDC turrets were based on the standard nato 7.62mm round but perhaps other more knowledgable folks can confirm. The windage drum is 22 clicks on each side of zero for Left and Right.

From the scratches on mine it looks like the paint was applied directly to the scope rather than on top of the S&B black.

The graticle (reticle) is a large single post with fine crosswires above. I'm not sure if this is the same as the UK L13 scope pattern. I don't know if its a standard S&B pattern. Anyway a couple of pics attached, sorry for the quality, it's hard to hold the scope in one hand and the iphone in the other.

Hope this helps.

p.s. I've just taken the locking caps off the drums but can't see any marks or part numbers that would help identify them.

Kev

[Micheal Doyne]

Hi Kev,

Thanks very much that is very helpful!

[Promo]

The dimensions of my scope are identical to the one from desperatedan, however the reticle on mine is different. My reticle is similar to the one of the No. 32 scopes. Also the elevation adjustment on my scope is from 1 to 10. I'd suggest you to buy a copy of "The British Sniper, a Century of Evolution", you'll find much more information on this scope in there.

It seems you plan to "convert" your scope to a L96 scope. I'd kindly ask you to mark your scope in any way that it will be possible to identify it as replica afterwards as well.

The yellow scope in my upper post by the way is a Dutch AI scope and had seen service in Afghanistan.

Edit: to make it easier for you and since I anyway wanted to see whether the color-correctioning camera and its setup made any difference to my screen when working on pictures I've did some pics of both scopes. I'll upload them here for future reference. Note that the last two digits of the Green scope were digitally removed.

[desperatedan]

Michael

Promo makes a very good point. If you're planning on making a replica then good luck to you, especially if it's to use with a rifle and originals are scarce, but marking it in such a way so as to not confuse with an original is a great idea, particularly as so little info is out there. It's hard enough gleaning knowledge about the few original ones without confusing any future interested parties with replicas!
ATB
Kev