•  1938 Progress PEM sniper scope

    PEM scope made at the Progress plant factory in 1938. The places where the bluing is still intact show that this scope was mounted on its rifle with a lateral mount.

  • 1943 Progress PU scope

    PU sniper scope made in 1943 at the Progress plant factory. The different meter dial fonts on both adjustment turrets and the “CB” mark mean that this scope was originally made for SVT40 but has been modified later to be mounted on Mosin Nagant 91/30

  • K. Kahles Wien cad sniper scope

    Here is a ground-dug K.Kahles 4×60 wearing the war-code “cad”. The recoil ring tells that this scope was mounted on its K98k with a LSR mount. To some people, these dug scopes are just a piece of junk. But these ground pieces don’t lie on their history and sometimes bring very interesting details.

  •  1939 Progress PEM scope & lateral mount

    This PEM scope was one of the few PEM scopes made in 1939 at the Kharkov Machine-Building Plant (FED), while most of them were made at the Progress plant. The front part of a lateral mount is still present.

  • Romanian Vz.24 I.O.R. sniper scope

    Here’s another sniper rifle that’s quite well-known among sniper rifle and scope collectors: the Romanian Vz.24 paired with its I.O.R. scope.

    The Vz.24 is a bolt-action carbine manufactured in Czechoslovakia between 1924 and 1942. It was developed from the German Mauser Gewehr 98 line and features a similar bolt design. In 1939, following the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Germany acquired hundreds of thousands of these rifles and pressed them into service.

    In 1942, factories were converted to the German Karabiner 98k. Several hundred thousand rifles were also produced for the Romanian Army. Since Romania was part of the Axis for from 1941 to 1944, the Vz. 24 saw widespread service, most notably with German and Romanian forces on the Eastern Front. Romanian-contract Vz. 24 rifles feature a two-letter prefix in their serial numbers, with the first letter varying and the second being “R” to indicate “Romania”.

    Romanian-contract Vz. 24 rifles feature a two-letter prefix in their serial numbers, with the varying first letter represents different periods of manufacturingand and the second letter being “R” to indicate “Romania”.

    The 4,25 x 28 scope was developed by I.O.R. (Întreprinderea Optică Română – Romanian Optical Enterprise). When Romania joined Germany into the war, the production shifted from civilian use to military scopes, especially for the Romanian army and their standard Romanian sniper rifle at the time : the Vz. 24.

    I.O.R. scopes were used on two types of mounts : a bracket type mount (see first picture) and a two parts mount (above picture). The split rings mount seems to be the later model. The scope & mount assembly is pretty heavy, compared to other sniper scopes of the same period. When looking at the adjustment block, you can see a clear resemblance to Soviet scopes such as the PE and PEM.

    Different canvas / leather carrying cases were issued for the Vz.24 I.O.R. scope :

    Rare picture of a sniper holding a VZ.24 rifle mounted with I.O.R. scope. The soldier behind is holding an Orita 1941 smg. Context is unknown.

  • Romanian VZ24 I.O.R. sniper scope

    Here we have an early I.O.R. 4,25 x 28 sniper scope used on VZ.24 rifles. I.O.R. is the acronym for Întreprinderea Optică Română (Romanian Optical Enterprise). This major optics company established in 1936 in Bucharest, Romania.

  • Weaver M73B1 sniper scope

    W.R. Weaver Co. Mod. M73B1 sniper scope used on Remington or Springfield 1903 A4 rifles. This scope was originally the civilian Weaver 330 mod. C scope, slightly modified for sniper use during WWII.

    Weaver M73B1 sniper scope M1903A4

    Below : an excellent quality picture showing PFC Edward Foley with the 36th division (Italy 1944), holding his 1903A4 mounted with a Weaver M73B1 scope.

  • USMC J. Unertl 8x sniper scope

    The J. Unertl 8x sniper scope is probably the biggest scope used during Word War II. As you can see on the markings, it was used by the U.S. Marine Corps.

  • ZF41 Carrying case with WaA542 (Type 4)

    ZF41 Carrying case with WaA542 (Type 4)
    ZF41 Carrying case with WaA542 (Type 4)

    ZF.41 Carrying Can. The sand color, D type ring, WaA542 and internal hinge tell us that’s a type 4 can. Note that the tan color was not especially issued to the Afrika Korps, like some people say.

  • Waffen SS Hensoldt Wetzlar sniper scope SSR mount

    This is an early reworked G98 configuration with SSR mount (type 2) used by the SS. We “often” see Ajack 4×90 scopes with this SS configuration but Hensoldt 4x scopes are much more uncommon, even more with matching mount and/or rifle. Note the typical SS runes on the elevation turret and the rifle serial number reported on the scope main tube. Collection and credit : Dave Roberts

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