Repro sniper scope ID ?

[Guamsst]

Anyone have any useful tips for identifying original PU scopes and mounts?

A while back I was told to look for flat screws on the caps of the repros. I also noted repros having almost an elctropencil style engraving of the hammer and sickle.

Over the last two weeks I picked up two known repros with very smooth stampings of the numbers and hammer and sickle as well as good quality domed screws on the caps.

The leather lens covers are a deep reddish brown and appear brand new which is pretty obvious but everything else seems very accurate.

[Tuna]

Your right about the older repos having flat screws but it didn't take long once that info was out for the repos to have round headed screws on them. I think the original scopes are dated and I know some of the repos have no date on them but I cannot speak for all of them being undated. I agree that if the leather looks new the scope most likely is too.

[Guamsst]

I am a bit scared of these. The mint condition is a dead giveaway. But, drag one through the yard for a few minutes and leave it outside to get dusty for a few days and it would be impossible for me to tell. I just don't have the knowledge base.

[Marcus]

The best and quickest way to tell if a Soviet PU scope or mount is real or not, if you are not an expert in these, is to take clear detailed photos and send them to me. I've been collecting, studying, and researching Soviet Mosin snipers for years and know about as well or better than anyone else out there how to spot the fakes as well as the real rare stuff that turns up once in a while

When you have owned and examined enough originals and replicas, you can usually spot a fake/replica scope or mount instantly just by its appearance - the machining and finish is different on an original than a new production one. Flat top vs. rounded top screws is one thing to look for, but some replicas have the rounded ones and some real ones - either early post-WW2 military or original WW2 scopes that were refurbished after the war by the Soviet or Polish military - have the flat top screws.

Serial numbers are also a good indicator - it helps to be familiar with the serial number patterns used by the various makers of genuine WW2 scopes, as well as the exceptions and variations. Some WW2 scopes are dated and some - by the same maker - aren't. Some include the year of production in the first 2 numbers of the serial number. Of course, so do some of the fakes. And some of the fakes use the serial number and date system of one maker on a scope with bogus markings that represent another maker. Again, you have to know these scopes to spot this.

One thing that is easy for anyone to spot and identify are the scopes made by Fotodevice (Fotopobrir) in Cherkass, Ukraine (an original Soviet-era manufacturer of military optics, but not of scopes in WW2) that have bogus Leningrad markings (star, hammer and sickle, half moon shaped optical lens emblem) and a "fantasy" serial number that starts with a Cyrillic letter (represents the CH sound) that looks like a y or 4. All genuine Leningrad scopes with a Cyrillic letter prefix will either have a Cyrillic A (which looks like our A) or a Cyrillic B (which looks to a lot of people like a 5 or 6) - NOT a letter that looks like y or 4.

[Tuna]

Thanks Marcus for the tips.

[Guamsst]

I may post pics later. I have a Finnish Sniper which is too rare to likely be original but I picked it up too cheap for it to be a fake....LOL I either really lucked out or I got a neat rifle for a good price.

[Marcus]

I was recently looking over my genuine, original, Finn captured Soviet Mosin 91/30 snipers, and I noticed that one which I had assumed was a Soviet 1939 Tula PEM siderail rifle is actually a Finn conversion of a standard 1939 Tula to a PU sniper. This is not one of the Finn captured 91/30's that Century Arms converted into replica PU snipers, but an actuall Finn WW2 conversion.