Aldis Scope Elevation Range Dial - Bottom Half Help
One of my 1916 Aldis scopes that was previously a Purdey set up and had the elevation range dial swapped sometime after the war and I want to replace it with a reproduction 1-6 dial I have. Sadly the knob currently on it is not a two piece knob so I can’t put on the 1-6 dial. I thought the dial on there now was just turned upside down but no luck. I know this is a super long shot but does anyone have a spare bottom half Aldis dial like the one pictured. Any help would be a godsend.
Hi Hatrick. That's a tough request to satisfy! Pretty sure I don't have a spare, but I do have a small box of assorted parts that Roger Cleverly gave me many moons ago. It is stashed away somewhere, & I will dig it out & have a look for you.
That doesn't look like any Aldis dial I have seen, unless off that "sporting" model they made up from left over bits postwar.
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
Yes, it looked a bit 'different' to me........rather more similar to some of the Fuess/PPCo & similar types. I'll have a look at my scopes & have a rummage through my spares, all the same.
Addendum: Ignore that last comment about the part looking like the Fuess/PPCo transitional - it isn't - I was speaking from a rather faulty memory!
Last edited by Roger Payne; 08-07-2024 at 05:31 AM.
Reason: clarification
You guys will never cease to amaze me on how you know your scopes both inside and out! Here are pictures of the scope I’m working on…. It’s actually an ex-H&H scope and it definitely had the range dial replaced post war with a one piece solid dial when it was re-purposed.
The picture I posted of what I thought I needed was actually from another Aldis scope I had that was assembled post war so you are probably correct that it isn’t a proper Aldis bottom half but does work and externally looks right. Any help getting a proper Aldis bottom half would be so greatly appreciated. Or even something like what I posted a picture of since that works.
This is the commercial type of Aldis I referred to. Mind you, I recall the one I owned had a cruder drum and locking system than the wartime models, and certainly more so than what you have there.
Early models had a single piece drum without slipping scale, later examples such as this pristine 1916 dated one that turned up on eBay.de, had the slipping scale.
Your markings are a bit of a mystery: one scope fitted to two rifle simultaneously? Two different types of ammunition?
Anyway, that drum/knob in your first photo I don't recognize unless it is the slipping scale type from which the scale has gone missing, but even then the knurling is not typical. Might be the remains of a commercial variant of the slipping scale drum, but usually the gunmakers simply removed the existing markings and re-engraved as per your other photos.
In some cases the later pantograph engraved markings were perhaps a bit to deep to remove and have enough metal left, so new scales or entire drums if of the one-piece type were made, but overall these firms spent as little as possible on a job.
Your scope has had that brass ring added behind the drum saddle possibly to cover the saw cut or chisel mark(?) visible where some clod removed the original rings.
I doubt any Aldis No.2 such as you have there ever had 1000 yard markings so no point considering that idea. And from the straight knurling visible, the 1-10 scale you show below your No.2 scope is apparently off the partial ring in your first photos? Best left together IMHO. Until you've got H&H mounts ready go back on that scope I would leave the drum alone.
Last edited by Surpmil; 08-05-2024 at 10:41 AM.
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
Thanks for the added info. I’m not sure what the ring that currently is in my scope is for. It is a one piece versus the two piece slipping scale bottom I need. I do have a 1-6 reproduction ring as well as the 1-10 ring I initially pictured. The reproduction rings I have do fit perfectly on another 1916 Aldis I have with the two piece slipping scale.
The bottom half pictured in my first post is actually from a commercial Aldis I have so I thought it was the correct bottom for my H&H scope but that one seems to have been cobbled together somewhere in its travels as well. I had thought it was the correct part I was looking for and even though not a correct Aldis bottom, it works and I don’t mind since it’s on my commercial version. That still leaves me trying to replace the ring on my 1916 H&H.
Well, I've had a look for you Hatrick, but no luck I'm afraid. I did find a few other useful parts that I'd forgotten that I'd got, but no lower part of the two piece range rings........sorry. Whilst I was rummaging I took a few photo's of some of my scopes as they illustrate that there are at least three variations of the range drum/ring. The early production first pattern scope that I have on my H&H rifle bears a 'thin' solid ring with the range grads embossed rather than engraved. The other two types are the sorts already mentioned.......the earlier thinner profile solid ring, & the later (presumed) thicker two piece type. The photo's are not great as I had to take them in a hurry, but they help to illustrate the differences in case anyone out there is interested.
Hatrick, what's the serial number on your Aldis: 683-0-? And rifle number is A5766?
At one time I was keeping a "photo-log" of all that turned up - came across the folders the other day - so will add yours in.
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
PM
