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Identify WW2 Binos (1 Viewer)

barshnik

John F
A friend of mine's grandfather died recently, and he got a couple items from family. One is this, apparently brought back from Japan confiscated from a prisoner. There are no markings on them, but appear quite high quality and still function nicely. Glass is scratched but very nice view. Anyone have ideas?
 

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A friend of mine's grandfather died recently, and he got a couple items from family. One is this, apparently brought back from Japan confiscated from a prisoner. There are no markings on them, but appear quite high quality and still function nicely. Glass is scratched but very nice view. Anyone have ideas?

I don't know of any WWII binos with a center focus.

Bill
 
Well done Norm.

Seems more like 4x36 than 4x10.
A 4x10 Galilean, (or Dutch of course), of that length would have a tiny field. Not much use to anyone.
Nikon?
 
Seems Nippon Kogaku were asked by government; assume they accepted.
I just put "WWII Galilean binoculars" into an image search on yahoo to find it; I'm guessing Dutch (or English) instead of Galilean might have thrown up a few different results...
 
Well done Norm.

Seems more like 4x36 than 4x10.
A 4x10 Galilean, (or Dutch of course), of that length would have a tiny field. Not much use to anyone.
Nikon?

I'll have to take a closer look at them when I see him again. I'll measure objective & ocular, but they may have been as large as 36. I can say just with a quick look through them the view surprised me with its quality despite some glass scratching and no apparent coating. Maybe clean them a little and check for markings I may have missed. I don't remember seeing any reticle, but could have missed that as well. Thanks.
 
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I have a black USSR centre focus quite optically complex 4x Galiilean binocular that cost £6 in a charity shop.

I see others on offer that are blue or red or maroon. Stadium or Stadium Hippodrome description. Some Moscow Olympics? Not saying that is a plus point.
Not sure when these USSR 4x binoculars were first made.

The red 5x25 Russian monocular that I have is rather crudely painted but still looks good and is optically good.
 
They are a dead ringer for the Type 93, but I don't remember seeing any reticle. I'll have access to them hopefully tomorrow and have more info on their history (maybe).
 
They are a dead ringer for the Type 93, but I don't remember seeing any reticle. I'll have access to them hopefully tomorrow and have more info on their history (maybe).

This is very good to know! Many thanks. :t:

Bill
 
Could be a 93, alright, but copies of the binocular continued to be manufactured after the war without reticle for US servicemen and the civilian market. Some were probably made from surplus parts. What are the markings at the back of the binocular between the two eyepieces?
 
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