WWII Japanese Sniper Scope**Pics Up**

[Boydo]

I recently acquired a 2.5x japanese sniper scope. I found it in a box of military rifle parts that an old gunsmith had. I have only recently started researching it. The makers mark is a star with a circle and dot inside it. It says 2.5x10 on the eyepiece. It does not have the eyecup. It has rotten away long ago. The glass is still clear and the reticle is still visible. The body has no dings or dents but the paint has started to flake. Some of the scopes i have seen on the web still have the case. I dont have the case for this one. I believe this scope belongs on a type 97 but am not sure. Id really like to find the rifle that this belongs to and add it to my collection. Any info on who made this or what rifle it belongs on would be very helpful. I will post pictures this weekend.

 

[cookie91/38]

Contact vicasoto on gunboards. He knows a ton about japanese scopes and can sometimes find your matching rifle!

 

[kraigWY]

They used pretty much the same scopes on:

6.5mm type 38 and type 97 & 99

and the 7.7 mm type 99

 

[Mike Radford]

A 2.5 power scope for the T99 will have 99 marked near the eyepiece. Of these, there were 2 variations with the cutback Nagoya having the serial number of the rifle on the inside/matting surface of the scope. A Kokura 99 2.5 Power, one of 1000 rifles, will have the number on the outside near the locking handle. There were spare scopes made and they will have no rifle number. The scopes for the T99 in 2.5 power will have a different grid in the Reticule calibrated for the ballistics of the T99 7.7 Cal.

The 2.5 power scope for the T-97 sniper in 6.5 cal., which looks externally like the one for the T99 above, will have a reticule grid calibrated for the 6.5. If the scope was originally on a Nagoya(less than 15000 rifles were made) it will have a symbol kinda like a circle with a Y in it in front of the rifle serial number. One made for one of the Kokura T97(8000 Kokura rifles were made) will have only the rifle number. If the scope was a spare, it will have no rifle number.

There were 4X scopes for the majority of the 10,000 Nagoya T99 snipers, those which were not on the smaller cutback mount base(about 2200 rifles made) for the 2.5X scope, and they came in a fixed adjustment variation and an externally adjustable variation. The externally adjustable version is pretty uncommon and expensive.

Scopes were very capable and rugged. Nikon was one of the makers. Zeroing a given scope to an individual rifle is rather complex and comparable to the ZF41.

 

[Wireman134]

If it has a 99 on the eyepiece it's from a Type 99 the stamped number on the back of the mount is the rifle # it is matched to. I'd be interested seriously if the number was 6277.

 

[Mike Radford]

If it has a 99 on the eyepiece it's from a Type 99 the stamped number on the back of the mount is the rifle # it is matched to. I'd be interested seriously if the number was 6277.

That is not precisely correct. See my post. There are 2 Type 99 snipers which used the 2.5X scopes. The Kokuras had the number on the front and the Nagoya Cutbacks had the number on the back, if they were rifle issued scopes. There were also scopes without rifle numbers, i.e. spares or replacements.

 

[Boydo]

I am currently away from home and cannot look at the scope. I will be home friday night and will post pics of the scope.

MIKE RADFORD i joined gunboards.com after discovering what a wealth info that site is. I will be posting there about this scope also. I look forward to reading your posts there.

 

[Boydo]

 

[Boydo]

Here are the pics guys. Thanks for all the info. So does this belong on a type 97 or 99?

 

[Boydo]

Here is what the reticle looks like

 

[Mike Radford]

Looks like the scope was on Nagoya t97 serial number 12577. Contact Victor Soto and see if he has the rifle listed in his files and maybe they could be reunited. He has the biggest data base. Good luck.

 

[Wireman134]

Looks like the scope was on Nagoya t97 serial number 12577. Contact Victor Soto and see if he has the rifle listed in his files and maybe they could be reunited. He has the biggest data base. Good luck.

+1 Type 97

 

[ScharfshutzeK98]

Very cool!!

 

[smithinc9804]

Is this scope for sale? Please call or text (217)502-0947 Springfield Illinois

 

[Artifact]

That is cool indeed.

 

[T J]

Always nice to learn something new. Keep us updated as you search for that scopes mate.


t

 

[mb3]

Very nice scope and a great find. That's like finding hens teeth.

 

[Roguerunner]

Probably the finest looking image of that era scope I have seen.

 

[sako.308]

what do the numbers rep in that reticle? meters? or something else?

 

[Mike Radford]

The numbers on the vertical/elevation line are in meters. Good question on the windage, ? mils???

 

[turbo54]

Neat!

Subscribed to hear the rest of the story as it develops!

 

[Big_Rig_416]

The mark that looks like a T inside the circle would be the series, and the number is the cereal of the rifle in that series. To prevent overly long cereal numbers, the japs used "series" markings. The first series started with a marking for 1, then 2, and so on. There were 100,000 rifles produced in each series. The cereal number denotes what number the rifle was produced in that particular series. Different manufactures were assigned different series, one got series 20-25, another got 30-35, and so on. That series mark and cereal number on the scope match the number of a 1 series type 99 sniper produced by the nagoya arsenal, I am guessing the serial number matches a rifle the scope was issued to.

 

[fast_dave]

OP,

Thanks for sharing all the - very very cool.

Hope it gets reunited with its stick!

 

[sandwarrior]

Here is what the reticle looks like

WOW! I've seen this thread but never jumped into it to see where it went. This is incredible to see this reticle. It gives such a fast time on ranging and holdover. No wonder Japanese snipers were so feared in WWII.

Added: I don't know if they are mils or what, but it would seem to me in comparison to the drops it would be centimeters @ 100m for the stadia on the L-R crosshair. Just a guess, I don't know anything about these scopes.

I just read the 20 L-R is degrees of deflection. Which doesn't seem right to me since "A single degree" is 66 inches @ 100M. Minutes of angle is possible though, as the Japanese did a lot of trading with the U.S. and ALL of our machining specs prior to and during WWII were in degrees.

 

[RTH1800]

Cereal #s? Thought they ate rice..