Old Spotting Scope

[Rob Mitch]

Yesterday a family member gave me my Grandfather's Spotting scope. I am woudering if anyone here could tell me the approxmate age or anything else about this type scope. The scope is marked " Selsi , E. Vion Paris , Rifle Range Telescope< Power 33 Times, Made in France"
I believe he used this for match shooting when he was on a rifle team in the early thirties.
I'll try to post a couple of pictures.
I hope these pictures don't turn out too big.
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss30/RobMitch49/P1030824.jpg
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss30/RobMitch49/P1030831.jpg

[Kirk]

A web search for Selsi turned up several references. One mentions "It seems that Selsi was a reseller, that their scopes were made by others." See
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3755235/Main/3749415
http://www.opticsplanet.com/msgboard/about9-8653.html#p18843
http://www.mvdteatro.com/selsi.html
http://www.landseaskyco.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=49
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45368359/selsi-microscope-with-slides

[PaFrank]

That pretty cool! Optics still clear? How is the resolution?

[Rob Mitch]

Thanks for the links Kirk. That helped give me some more ideas on what to search for on it.
Pa Frank, no sadly I can't see clearly through it. (just a blur) Perhaps I'm not getting it extended properly. In the picture you can see one section that's not extended. It is tight and I didn't want to force it. The front lens looks OK and the rear lens has a sliding metal cover that has helped protect it all these years. The sections are loose and "wiggley" (except for the stuck one) from the years of use. Seems that when I saw this as a kid 50+ years ago my grandfather had some strips of newspaper wedged in to keep the sections tighter. Probably not worth repairing but an intersting wall hanger. My family gets never rid of anything. I even have the 98 Kraig that he used in matches.

[rider]

That's beautiful, thanks for sharing. Maybe you have to cinch the strap tighter to get the lenses to align?

[Rob Mitch]

I took it apart and I was finally able to get the last section to extend. After reassembling it was dark but I aimed it toward a building a half mile away and was surprised at how clear it seemed. I did find a paper shim still used to tighten one of the tubes. I'll try to engineer something better than that. One tube, the stuck one, had remains of what may have been an original shim. It looks like thin leather. This may turn into an interesting project. The last time I saw this scope was in the late 50s.

[MJ1]

It is possible your dealing with a British Signals 30X telescope. Possibly Naval in origin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/montereyjack/3fcc7234.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/montereyjack/a82e91ac.jpg

Lots of these stayed in France

[Rob Mitch]

Yes, MJ1 that does look a lot like mine. One difference ,mine has one more section to extend. Also where the one in your picture looks like it extends about four inches from the front, mine either dosent or it is stuck. Even my case looks like the one in your picture except mine in much more worn.