period binoculars

[buckskin billy]

Tweet

howdy yall,

 as i try and do things as period correct as possible, i have found i need period correct binoculars for when i'm doing a period hunt.
does any one know if any are being made?

 i once had a chance to buy some civil war era binoculars but passed as they made me dizzy looking through them. the price of them made me dizzy as well

[St. George]

Try Atlanta Cutlery or Dixie Gun Works.

The style of the Civil War-era binocular wouldn't change until WWI.

You might give a telescope a try, instead - it could be easier on your eyes.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Forty Rod]

Look at Stanley London's website.  He has some I have been drooling over for about five years.  Check out all of his stuff.

[Curley Cole]

Here I am with my teleyscope to go with my Scout persona. I happened on it on a sale table for $10 at a Big 5. Got a leather pouch for it from Dixie gun works.

It works really good. I can see the craters on the moon with it. (once I figured out how to use it.
credit to 4Trod for giving me a leather strap so I can sling it over my shoulder instead of tryin to wear it on the belt.

good luck
curley

[buckskin billy]

thanks yall.
  i did find this link.

http://www.blockaderunner.com/Catalog/catpg28b.html

there binoculars are a little more affordable, just wander if they are any good

[St. George]

While period originals were 'good' - they're nowhere like a set of today's military M-19's, or M-22's.

The lens technology just wasn't there, but it was pretty adequate, all in all.

Originals can be disassembled and the lenses cleaned by you - they really don't require a specialist, so long as you work slowly and carefully, and some of the French-made WWI binoculars lend themselves admirably to this effort.

Best to find a pair that you can look at, handle and glass an area before you buy to see if they give you the needed clarity.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[GunClick Rick]

This telescope is very old,has shark skin wrap and hand woven roping,the peep hole is actually a crystal stone polished round on one end and flat on the other,you can't see through it very well anymore,my grandfather had this in a trunk ever since i remember,pop gave it to me after he passed.

Go to a couple antique stores and if ya find a pair at least you can look through them :)There's a place here i bet that has some.

[Professor Marvel]

Ah My dear Billy -

since I am laying here recovering from some sort of school-child-vector-virus I find myself bored with a plethora of spare time to offer up these items I have found on your behalf. If nothing else, they can provide some intersting viewing...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=198716257
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=198718880
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=198718847

http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-CIVIL-WAR-ERA-OFFICERS-FIELD-GLASSES-/150513110038

http://cgi.ebay.com/CIVIL-WAR-ERA-FIELD-GLASSES-/300487978578?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f67aae52

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRASS-OPERA-GLASSES-Binoculars-FIELD-GLASSES-/120640293874?pt=Binocular&hash=item1c16b8cbf2&x=54&y=6

the "conestoga", BTW was an inexpensive brand that became the "official boy scout" field glass...

less than 24 hours left, this one is in remarkably good condition, includes a case and the optics look quite nice...
http://cgi.ebay.com/MARCHAND-PARIS-ANTIQUE-FIELD-GLASSES-BINOCULARS-/320610907035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa5e6339b

as previously mentioned, the original Galilean optic design held sway until the Porro prism design was refined and marketed by makers such as Zeiss in the 1890's`...  Although the Porro Prism design was in fact patented in 1854 by the Italian optician I. Porro , most of the early efforts at the porro design failed due to poor materials and production techniques.

Whilst not an expert in the field, I do not see much official military use of the Porro design until perhaps the early 1900's , which is fortunate for us since that means that the Galilean designs made right up through the early 1900's are virtually indistinguishable from those of over 50 years earlier.

apparently a number of makers of field glasses were headquartered in Paris including Chevalier, MARCHAND, L.Petit, & LEMAIRE

good luck in your search for optics -

yhs
prof marvel

[buckskin billy]

wow thanks Professor Marvel,
 lot of great looking relics. the second one you linked are the same kind i looked at once before and looking through them made me dizzy, i am very glad i passed on those because the fellow who was trying to sell them wanted 200 bucks for them. that would had really made me dizzy.
  these old ones are easier to get than what i had thought.

 thanks again

[GunClick Rick]

I must be related to that italian guy,I porror too Ima gotsa no money~~~    

[Professor Marvel]

I am happy to be able to provide some entertainment :-)

I see the Marchand Paris pair (last one I posted)  is marked "Day & Night" and "Signal Service." which  implies the maker's desire to be  associated with both the navy and the early forms of the later "Signal Corps" ....

-----

I must be related to that italian guy,I porror too Ima gotsa no money~~~    

Ah my dear Rick, if only you had sold your R&S at the original price of forty thousnad dollars Ii daresay you would be less destitute :-)

yhs
prof (less bored) marvel

[GunClick Rick]

Well i traded it for the best handmade Jose Wales coat you will ever find.Made by Tusac Jack..Nice quilting and just right for the coast or the mountains...

[Dead I]

I found an old pair of bino's that I was told were used in WWI.  They look older than that to me.  They have a very small field and only about three power.  But they look period.  During the Custer Battle French had a pair of imported bino's that several people borrowed during the battle. Mine, while worn still have their case and look perfect through the lens, very clear and they focus just fine.  But really the magnification doesn't make them very useful.  The field is about 15 feet at 40 yds.