WW I German Artillery Panoramic Sight

[Brian Wolfe]

Hello Everyone,

On the weekend I was captured and forced on a death march through a large flea market in Grand Bend Ontario. After 219 miles of endless knock-off sweaters and 600,000 purses, JUST BUY ONE FOR GOD'S SAKE WOMAN!!!!!!! , we came upon this cool artillery sight. My wife took pitty on her long suffering husband and purchased it for me for $90.00 which may or may not have been a good deal. Considering the shopping anguish factor it was a good price, well at least it kept me happy...smart woman.

I believe this is for the 7.7cm Leichte Feld Kanone model 1896 and used throughout WW I on German Artillery pieces. I have seen very similar periscopes made by the Soviets and used during WW II. There are some differences and the Soviet ones are clearly marked with the hammer and sickel. I am asking for opinions as to when this was made. In the second photo you can see the letters and numbers S.M.W. 3266 engraved in a hand printed style on the side of the scope. In later production this area is stanped with the date, such as 1916, 1917 etc. From other items I have seen when you encounter this engraved style it usually indicates an early manufacture. Could this have been made before WW I or perhaps very early in the war before they switched to the faster method of stamped numbers? There are no military marking on this what-so-ever.

The optics are still quite clear in this periscope and all of the dials work like new. The construction is steel with brass graduation rings. The grey base is a pipe flange that just happened to have the same threads as the sight and was probably use to deisplay the piece by the former owner, perhaps the fellow who brought this back from the war.

I'll describe the markings as I post the photos.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Regards

Brian

[Brian Wolfe]

Here is the other side.

[Brian Wolfe]

This is the view from the gunner's side. THe eyepiece is at the bottom of the device.

[Brian Wolfe]

In this view you can see the lens that would look out over the field of fire.

[Brian Wolfe]

In this close up you can see that the Field of View is 10 degrees and the magnification is 4X.

[Brian Wolfe]

On the top is printed,

H. 160

Rundblick-

Fernrohr Nr. 104033

D.R.P. Nr.156039

I don't know what this stands for so I hope one of the members can help with that as well.

[Brian Wolfe]

This last photo show the printed script that I was asking about.

S.M.W.

3266

Would this indicate pre-war manufacture?

Thanks again for any help you can give me.

Regards

Brian

[Snoopy]

Very nice Rbl. f. 16. Looks very much like WWI manufacture. I have two of these in my collection. Mine are manufactured during WWII.

In the picture below, the one in the middle, and the one the right, are Rbl. f. 16. The one one the left, is a Rbl. f. 32. When you compare your optics, with the two on the right, you can see differences in manufacture. None of mine, has any engraved inscription. I am no expert, but in my opinion, you have a nice WWI example. You have a very kind wife, that would buy something like this for you. Mine probably wouldn't.

All the best

Snoopy

[Tony]

Hello Brian,

Now please don't quote me on this as I could be wrong but I believe DRP (Deutsche Reichspatent) indicates manufacture from 33 to 45.

I would have a guess at Rundblick - Fernrohr being panorama telescope, probably also panorama periscope.

Tony

[Snoopy]

Hello Brian,

Now please don't quote me on this as I could be wrong but I believe DRP (Deutsche Reichspatent) indicates manufacture from 33 to 45.

I would have a guess at Rundblick - Fernrohr being panorama telescope, probably also panorama periscope.

Tony

DRP can allso be found on a lot of earlier items, both civillian and military. I have seen this marking on clocks, dating from around 1900. Deutsches Reich was the official name on Germany, since 1871, according to Wikipedia.

All the best

Snoopy

[nesredep]

DRP can allso be found on a lot of earlier items, both civillian and military. I have seen this marking on clocks, dating from around 1900. Deutsches Reich was the official name on Germany, since 1871, according to Wikipedia.

All the best

Snoopy

Hello!

I agree.

All the best

Nesredep.

[Brian Wolfe]

Many thanks for the information everyone.

I based my dating as WW I due to the hand engraving, which is not very scientific on my part, a guess really.

Thanks again.

Brian