So, about 3 years ago I was makin my laps around a local gun show in Louisville, Ky. As I skimming through the cases on tables full of misc. stuff I notice the objective lens of what i thought was a Green USMC contract Redfield 3X9 Acu Range. I stoped and ask the booth owner of I could take a look at it.
He says sure and pulls it from the case. It was missing the turret caps and was mounted on a base and rings for an M21 and was filthy. He said he had had the scope for several years and had just rescently started bringing it to shows and that he had just recently learned what it actually was. I had never seen one at a show before and after several min. of haggling over a price, we came to an agreement. Was waaaaaay more than I thought it was worth at the time but I had thought about doing an M700 build and didnt know If I would ever come across another.
In an attempt to make a long story shorter, I took the scope home, cleaned it up and stuck it in the safe.
A couple of years go by and I was far along in the process of collecting parts to build my M40A1 when CMP posted their first Unertl USMC Sniper 10X. After winning the auction on the scope I was corresponding with the product service lady from CMP. I was thanking her for all her help and explaining to her that I was a former Marine sniper and that the scope was only a few digits off of the one I had been issued in the early 90's.
She asked me out of curiosity what my serial# was and she would see if they had my scope. I couldn't remember the exact# right off the top of my head so I went on the hunt for my old Armory issue card from when I was with STA 1/2 that I knew I had stuck in a binder with all my old SSBC out lines and paper work.
Upon finding it I snapped a pic of it to send to her. The next day to my dis belief she sends me a zip file of pics of my actual scope. The only unfortunate thngs is that it had been converted to a 50.cal scope for the SASR. I expressed my appreciation for all of her help and that I was in the process of having an M40A1 built and needed one for the build. She advised me that she was happy to and asked If I was interested, she also had the very next consecutive # to mine as well. If I wanted that scope she would see about having that one sent instead of the one i had won. It didnt come with the A3 rings like the one I won but I told her I would definitely take it instead. So, to wrap up the first part of the story, I received the scope and immediately sent it off to PWS to complete the build....Couldn't be happier........
That same day I had received the correspondence from CMP about the 10X, I happen to be going through my safe messing with stuff and rearranging things as most all of us do from time to time....lol Amongst other things I pull out the Green Redfield. I looking at it. The scope has a serial# pencil engraved on the side as "most" did. Never really paid much attention to it before but for some reason I look at it and read it back to myself........I feel this rush of adrenaline race through my body. I pause staring at it and say out loud "No F'n way"!!!
I sprint up stairs and grab my old armory card that is still sitting on my kitchen table since I had just sent a pic of it to CMP the day before.
Im standing in the kitchen. Scope in one hand and card in the other.....I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing. The scope that I have is etched with the serial# matching the serial# of M40A1 that I had been issued on my armory card. Meaning I own the scope off of the Vietnam M700 that had sometime in the late 70's early 80's been converted into the M40A1 that i was later issued and had carried through out my time with STA 1/2. TO this day I am still in dis belief and get chills thinking about it.
If you find this hard to believe, I can attest that I am beside myself with the same disbelief.....Feel gifted. Not sure why this has happened the way it has but as you can imagine, these two rifles/scopes are now my most prized possessions......have been meaning to share this for sometime.
He says sure and pulls it from the case. It was missing the turret caps and was mounted on a base and rings for an M21 and was filthy. He said he had had the scope for several years and had just rescently started bringing it to shows and that he had just recently learned what it actually was. I had never seen one at a show before and after several min. of haggling over a price, we came to an agreement. Was waaaaaay more than I thought it was worth at the time but I had thought about doing an M700 build and didnt know If I would ever come across another.
In an attempt to make a long story shorter, I took the scope home, cleaned it up and stuck it in the safe.
A couple of years go by and I was far along in the process of collecting parts to build my M40A1 when CMP posted their first Unertl USMC Sniper 10X. After winning the auction on the scope I was corresponding with the product service lady from CMP. I was thanking her for all her help and explaining to her that I was a former Marine sniper and that the scope was only a few digits off of the one I had been issued in the early 90's.
She asked me out of curiosity what my serial# was and she would see if they had my scope. I couldn't remember the exact# right off the top of my head so I went on the hunt for my old Armory issue card from when I was with STA 1/2 that I knew I had stuck in a binder with all my old SSBC out lines and paper work.
Upon finding it I snapped a pic of it to send to her. The next day to my dis belief she sends me a zip file of pics of my actual scope. The only unfortunate thngs is that it had been converted to a 50.cal scope for the SASR. I expressed my appreciation for all of her help and that I was in the process of having an M40A1 built and needed one for the build. She advised me that she was happy to and asked If I was interested, she also had the very next consecutive # to mine as well. If I wanted that scope she would see about having that one sent instead of the one i had won. It didnt come with the A3 rings like the one I won but I told her I would definitely take it instead. So, to wrap up the first part of the story, I received the scope and immediately sent it off to PWS to complete the build....Couldn't be happier........
That same day I had received the correspondence from CMP about the 10X, I happen to be going through my safe messing with stuff and rearranging things as most all of us do from time to time....lol Amongst other things I pull out the Green Redfield. I looking at it. The scope has a serial# pencil engraved on the side as "most" did. Never really paid much attention to it before but for some reason I look at it and read it back to myself........I feel this rush of adrenaline race through my body. I pause staring at it and say out loud "No F'n way"!!!
I sprint up stairs and grab my old armory card that is still sitting on my kitchen table since I had just sent a pic of it to CMP the day before.
Im standing in the kitchen. Scope in one hand and card in the other.....I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing. The scope that I have is etched with the serial# matching the serial# of M40A1 that I had been issued on my armory card. Meaning I own the scope off of the Vietnam M700 that had sometime in the late 70's early 80's been converted into the M40A1 that i was later issued and had carried through out my time with STA 1/2. TO this day I am still in dis belief and get chills thinking about it.
If you find this hard to believe, I can attest that I am beside myself with the same disbelief.....Feel gifted. Not sure why this has happened the way it has but as you can imagine, these two rifles/scopes are now my most prized possessions......have been meaning to share this for sometime.
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