Repro PU Scopes and Mounts - Experiences?

Brookwood

Brookwood

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Saskatoon
Hello everyone

I already own an authentic Mosin Nagant sniper, but I also have a few ex-snipers that I am planning on 'back-dating' to their original configuration. I have access to a full machine shop, its been a boring winter and I'm up for the challenge... I have one good candidate in particular ( a '43 Tula ) that I will be putting an original scope/bracket/mount on, but for some of the others (lesser '43 Tula /'44 Izzys) for reasons of economy, I'd like to put on repro kits. I've been looking into the scope kits currently available and I'm curious if anyone in the forum can share their personal experiences. I've seen the Firefox kit and even though I'm on a budget, I'm not on that much of a budget so we can skip reviews of that one...

I would like to know a couple of things -

Has anyone had experience with the scope/bracket/mount kit from Westrifle? How is the reticle compared to an original? Is the bracket cast or machined? How are the optics? Is the scope blued steel or painted aluminum? Would you recommend it?

Being in Canada, can I order the Accumounts kit without any problems at the border?

Is the kit from Bering Optics available in Canada from a dealer? Based on reviews, it seems like the best repro currently out there. I found it on Amazon Canada from only one supplier for around $500....but for that price I can get an original scope kit, so why bother.

I've taken a good look and read the reviews about the one on E-Bay from China being sold by the seller 'Fresh Tea', but with the price of the scope kit plus $82 shipping and the exchange rate being what it is, the price is comparable to an original so again, why bother.

Does anyone know anything about the one being sold on E-Bay by the seller 'Bend Bolt Master' from New Westmister B.C.? Is it just the Westrifle kit being sold under a different name?


Thanks in advance,

Brookwood in Saskatoon
 
Brookwood said:
Hello everyone

I already own an authentic Mosin Nagant sniper, but I also have a few ex-snipers that I am planning on 'back-dating' to their original configuration. I have access to a full machine shop, its been a boring winter and I'm up for the challenge... I have one good candidate in particular ( a '43 Tula ) that I will be putting an original scope/bracket/mount on, but for some of the others (lesser '43 Tula /'44 Izzys) for reasons of economy, I'd like to put on repro kits. I've been looking into the scope kits currently available and I'm curious if anyone in the forum can share their personal experiences. I've seen the Firefox kit and even though I'm on a budget, I'm not on that much of a budget so we can skip reviews of that one...

I would like to know a couple of things -

Has anyone had experience with the scope/bracket/mount kit from Westrifle? How is the reticle compared to an original? Is the bracket cast or machined? How are the optics? Is the scope blued steel or painted aluminum? Would you recommend it?

Being in Canada, can I order the Accumounts kit without any problems at the border?

Is the kit from Bering Optics available in Canada from a dealer? Based on reviews, it seems like the best repro currently out there. I found it on Amazon Canada from only one supplier for around $500....but for that price I can get an original scope kit, so why bother.

I've taken a good look and read the reviews about the one on E-Bay from China being sold by the seller 'Fresh Tea', but with the price of the scope kit plus $82 shipping and the exchange rate being what it is, the price is comparable to an original so again, why bother.

Does anyone know anything about the one being sold on E-Bay by the seller 'Bend Bolt Master' from New Westmister B.C.? Is it just the Westrifle kit being sold under a different name?


Thanks in advance,

Brookwood in Saskatoon
Click to expand...

Just so you're aware, "re-snipering" an "ex-sniper" is considered destroying it. It's an ex-sniper, for a reason. Your ex-sniper will be worth more in the future as an ex-sniper than a reproduction. Also, the pins in the base are not guaranteed to line up at all with the ones already drilled out of the receiver.

I would recommend doing it to a standard infantry rifle. However, it's your call. Better yet, there are a few retailers who have legitimate snipers right now.

Westrifle is probably the Russian made mount and base. They're all reasonable quality, whether you get the Accumounts, Russian or Red Star Mountain ones.

Accumounts has an eBay page. Check eBay.ca and you'll see what they ship to Canada. They only ship things to Canada out of their non-US warehouses for legal reasons. RSM also ships worldwide direct from China.

The optics are all modern optics and fresh tea is the eBay account for Red Star Mountain.
 
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Ive been looking for an authentic PU scope since the reproduction scope doesn't look right imo. I have the scope and bracket from Corwin, and while they seem to be of decent quality, they just don't look original like the one on my other sniper rifle. Physically both the scope & mount like very close to the originals, but the finish and bluing don't look right, the bluing is too new looking, and the mount is finished nicer than the originals.

I'd avoid the Chinese PU scopes as I think they would look very fake when mounted on the rifle. I'm looking at a couple on Ebay from either Russia or Ukraine as they look more authentic if you do your homework and choose the right one. However the cost is a fair bit higher for these optics.
 
Hello bp2626

Thanks for the reply and the information. I was fortunate that a local CDN Tire had a healthy supply of ex-snipers for a song over the past summer, so I cleaned them out. I plan on keeping some of the 'rare' ones ('42 Tula, '39 Tula ex-PEM) as-is out of appreciation for their history, but some of the other lesser quality ones (post war stock, mixed serial numbers, '44 Izzy, ect) I honestly don't mind backdating. Based on the sheer volume of 91/30s produced, imported to Canada, in private hands and currently available, I am not overly concerned about depreciating these particular rifles by backdating them, but I do respect your opinion about modifying them. Like a lot of people, I was 'introduced' to the hobby of collecting milsurps by the Mosin Nagant 91/30 and I've really enjoyed collecting them, researching them and especially developing skills by working on them. I've since branched off to other historical firearms, but the 91/30 is an excellent platform to develop skills on that have applications to other firearms. I'd rather learn skills like accurately mounting a period scope on a 91/30 than do some serious damage to say a numbers matching '36 BSW K98.

Thanks again for the info,

Brookwood in Saskatoon
 
Magellann said:
Ive been looking for an authentic PU scope since the reproduction scope doesn't look right imo. I have the scope and bracket from Corwin, and while they seem to be of decent quality, they just don't look original like the one on my other sniper rifle. Physically both the scope & mount like very close to the originals, but the finish and bluing don't look right, the bluing is too new looking, and the mount is finished nicer than the originals.
Click to expand...

Got/had both the original 1942 and repro, the repro has far superior glass vs the original PU had a gold tint or shade thru the glass.
The 1942 had slightly easier turning turrets but am sure if you play with the repro it will be the same.
 
Never looked through a repro, my scope on my original sniper is that smokey gold tint.... Sorta similar to a pair of ww2 German binoculars I checked out once. Something doesn't look right about those modern repro scopes.
 
From Gunboards.com:

Foggy\dirty lenses.
It could be caused by 2 reason - scope was not impermeable, and moisture condensed inside scope body, but gluing of the lenses is undamaged. In this case just unscrew front and rear lens blocks, and disassemble rear lense block (paragraph#2 & #3 at the Part 1). Clean lenses and assemble with waterproof grease

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...ing-and-repair-instructions-(Many-pics-inside!)
 
It is the most comprehensive on-line field test of modern production PU scopes I've been able to find online. Based on this review and others I've read, the rig from Bering really seems to be the best of the lot. Back to one of my original questions - Is there a supplier in Canada that carries Bering scopes that this can be ordered through? Again, all I can find is one available on Amazon.ca from an importer called 'Amazin Deals Canada' I've gone to the Bering website and sent an E-mail to the address listed under "Authorized distributors and dealers - USA and Canada" but did not receive a reply.

Brookwood
 
Hello Umka

I've contacted sellers listing the Bering PU scope on amazon.com about shipping to Canada and they all come back with a common reply similar to this one-

"Due to certain restrictions, this item cannot be shipped to CANADA. This item is controlled on the U.S. Commerce Control List set forth in the Export Administration Regulations or the U.S. Munitions List set forth in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and may require a license or other authorization from the U.S. Government to be exported from the United States. Without limitation, parties purchasing from B&H are solely responsible for determining applicable export licensing requirements and for obtaining any licenses or other authorizations from the appropriate agencies of the U.S. Government that are necessary for exporting the item, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce or the U.S. Department of State."

This, and the fact that I have yet to receive a reply from Bering is why I'd like to know if there is a distributor in Canada whom I can deal with directly.

Brookwood
 
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