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Rifle Scopes can you identify this scope

canuck4570

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 30, 2008
337
0
76
Ile Bizard near Montreal
this is a world war 2 german sniper rifle can you identify the scope
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Re: can you identify this scope

It's a Zf41 scope, a small 1.5X optic that was introduced in 1941. According to "Out Of Nowhere" by Martin Pegler the optic was not well regarded by snipers in the German army. The original intent was to provide the ordinary infantryman with a scoped rifle that could be used, not for sniping, but as a sharpshooter's rifle. This meant that large numbers had to be produced however only a small percentage of the German rifles produced had the necessary hardware to mount the scope. That being said over 100,000 units were supplied to the army by 1945 making it the most produced German optic of the war. Testing by the sniper schools determined that it's extreme eye relief, low magnification, and poor performance in low light rendered in inadequate for accurate long-range shooting.
 
Re: can you identify this scope

ZF41, It was part of Hitler's goal of putting optics on all rifles for combat. Not a bad idea, and certainly way ahead of its time. Look at how many of our combat guns have optics these days. The ZF41 is not truly a "sniper scope."

Other good references:
Law: Sniper Variations of the German K98k Rifle
Weaver: Hitler's Garands: German Self-Loading Rifles of World War II


http://www.collectorgrade.com/store.html
 
Re: can you identify this scope

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sirhrmechanic</div><div class="ubbcode-body">For anyone interested, Pegler's book "Out of Nowhere" History of the Military Sniper... is excellent. Well worth reading. Cheers, Sirhr </div></div>

As are his other two books SNIPING IN THE GREAT WAR and SNIPER a history of US Snipers