REL binoculars, with apologies....

T

tacfoley

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in case this is in the wrong part of the forum. I was RCO'ing on the 25m range yesterday when a pal walked in and handed me a pretty spiffy pair of 7x50 REL binoculars in their case. Whilst not perfect, they are a joy to look through, even though they are 74 years old. My question for anybody here, since Dr Leech, who wrote the article about them that can be found on the internet, does not have a contactable email address, is simple. What do the letters and numbers OGB 40 MA signify on the left-hand side of the body plate?

BTW, pal Dave paid $50 for them - seems like a bargain to me.

TIA
 
Hello tacfoley,

The other day oldstarfire told me about your post.

"What do the letters and numbers OGB 40 MA signify on the left-hand side of the body plate?"

The markings are CGB 40 MA. It is often reported that CGB means Contract Great Britain, but this marking is often found on other types of equipment made by REL which were not supplied to the U.K. so this is not correct. It very likely means Controller General Board instead. MA is an Army Ordnance Stores coding assigned to many different kinds of parts and probably means Master Assembly (main part without accessories). In the case of the 7x50 binocular it was used to order the binocular without a case. An identical binocular could be ordered with a case, but in the ordnance stores catalog this binocular would have a different number and be designated GA (Group or General Assembly).

I am currently researching and writing a book about Canadian military binoculars, and any information members could provide about REL or other Canadian military binoculars is most welcome. I maintain a database of REL serial numbers with over 2,200 entries and am always seeking new numbers. I can be emailed at flagorio@shaw.ca

Frank in Winnipeg
 
thats a terrific project Frank (in Winnipeg) I have some old and not so old binoculars that my father and I have collected and will see if there is anything that might be noteworthy
 
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