M45 scope

[Mister Ridge]

I don't know if I believe the provenance of the item but I was browsing an auction site and found a M45 scope. It caught my attention because it is mounted in a dehorned Unertl scope mount. The seller claims that it was put together by USMC armorers. I don't know if I actually believe that but it is a good story and an interesting piece. What I was curious about was whether or not it would actually function as a rifle scope, which is how the seller is describing it. My very limited research indicates that the M45 scope was intended for M3 anti-tank guns so I'm guessing the optics are capable of handling recoil but I wonder what the eye relief is. Is it long enough to safely mount onto a rifle? It would look really impressive on 1903A4.

 

[mallrat]

Been done before, I'd guess the eye relief should be adequate. If you can get it cheap enough it might be a fun shooter.

 

[Mister Ridge]

The auction closed and it has not been relisted. The opening bid was $200 and the buyer had to pay actual shipping.

 

[Mister Ridge]

Another thought occurred to me. What keeps it from rotating in the mounts? The Unertls have a rib on top the scope to keep it level in the rings.

 

[mallrat]

I believe that scope uses 7/8th inch rings, whoever installed it may have modified the rings to hold it securely. Possibly a USMC armourer "off the clock"? Or maybe just a story. The little research I've done indicates the M45 wasn't used as a shoulder fired rifle scope by the military, probably just adapted by somebody who picked one up cheap. Just my theory, worth exactly what you paid.

 

[Mister Ridge]

I believe that scope uses 7/8th inch rings, whoever installed it may have modified the rings to hold it securely. Possibly a USMC armourer "off the clock"? Or maybe just a story. The little research I've done indicates the M45 wasn't used as a shoulder fired rifle scope by the military, probably just adapted by somebody who picked one up cheap. Just my theory, worth exactly what you paid.

I didn't bid on it. I was waiting for the results of another auction and didn't want to be on the hook for more money. I may try to set up something similar down the road but I probably will wait until I can buy one of the rifles from Creedmoor Sports.

 

[Mister Ridge]

The scope was relisted with a starting bid of $50. I bid up to $75 but have been outbid with 4.5 days left in the auction. I was able to handle a similar scope for a different artillery piece and, based on how that scope functioned, I determined that the one in the auction is in fact mounted backwards in the mount. On the scope that I looked through (and am going to purchase to copy the idea) this wasn't a problem as long as you don't mind the numbering on the reticle being backwards but I also noticed that that scope had no magnification. The scope in the auction is claimed to be a 3x. I am wondering how you can look through a magnified optic backwards and still have it function. As I am low on funds at the moment, I don't plan to bid higher and thus risk it not working properly.