Vintage Spotter

[USAPatriot]

Does anyone know anything about vintage optics? Below is a pic of an olive drab spotter made by Bausch and Lomb. There's a plate on it that reads,

,All punctuation is as it is on the plate)
BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO.
Rochester, N.Y. U.S.A.
No. 207211_ _

The two underlines are spaces on the plate, making that a serial number, not a model number. I can find no model number on the unit at all. It's made entirely of aluminum with just a few plastic pieces in the ocular, which is removable and is marked 19.5X
I can find no part of it that will attract a magnet. There's no mounting per se, but the objective end has a sleeve that screws out leaving a gap between the sleeve and optic body that would allow the unit to sit in a clamp. There's a pic below. Thanks! -Rod-

 

[SDWhirlwind]

Believe these were the predessesor,sp) to the later Balscope 60 model that were in green krinkle and had available different intherchangeable eyepieces. Would guess from early 40's until into the 50's. See a few for sale on Ebay with prices in the $150-$200 range depending on condition. I have never looked through on like you have pictured but currently own a late Balscope 60 in pristine condition and find it superior to many of todays models.

 

[Asa_Yam]

There's no mounting per se, but the objective end has a sleeve that screws out leaving a gap between the sleeve and optic body that would allow the unit to sit in a clamp.

Rod,

The "joint" isn't there for mounting a clamp. I suspect it's a built-in sunshade.

Until the 1960s, most spotting scopes were mounted to the stand using a hose clamp type setup. This type of mounting is called a "saddle head" Newer scopes are threaded for 1/4"-20 or M6 screws.

Examples of saddle head mounts can be seen at
http://oldguns.net/pix/13368.jpg
http://www.championshooters.com/Stands.htm

 

[USAPatriot]

Believe these were the predessesor,sp) to the later Balscope 60 model that were in green krinkle and had available different intherchangeable eyepieces. Would guess from early 40's until into the 50's. See a few for sale on Ebay with prices in the $150-$200 range depending on condition. I have never looked through on like you have pictured but currently own a late Balscope 60 in pristine condition and find it superior to many of todays models.

Thanks. I've looked through it obviously and it's not bad for an old piece of glass though nowhere near as good as what's produced today.

ASA, I thought it might be a sunshade as well but the threading doesn't seem to work out though I've gently tried it. Yet it threads into the main body fairly easily. -Rod-