Ottway 6.3 x40.

[behblc]

A Royal Navy AA directors sight made by Ottway , dated 1940. I have been 6.3x40 three sets of coloured filters which pull out and clip into place black, neutral and yellow coloured. Optically clear it has an arrow indicator in the right side which can be adjusted, if one had the right tool !
There are one or two on ebay at the moment for crazy money, I did a good bit better than the Ebay price.
From the amount of dust and grime removed this one has not been touched in many years.
See page 411 in Hans Seeger's Grey book.

[behblc]

"Polished" examples are and have been seen on eBay for rather silly money .
This one , ated 1940 has escaped the polishers and had been untouched for many years a good bit of dust and surface dirt removed, the pull out filters a but stiff at first now work freely, rubber brow pad as per wartime photo now added.
A heavy binocular with rotating arrow in right side ocular housing similar to that seen in B&S GK7, unfortunately no tool to engage it.
Well happy to have found a good clean and unmessed with example.

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id plate and filter details.

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Underside mounting plate is covered in green felt similar to that which you would find on a snooker table, odd finish I thought.
Oculars are click stop type.

[Sgt Bilko]

Nice one! It's the first I've seen with paint on (my own one's silver too). The wartime photo's a cracker - note the high angle sights as well (also by Ottway)

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Pattern "G 350 High Angle".

Sgt. B. I have a mint example of the HAS. So many of them around in various degrees of disrepair, I got one about two years ago mint and never it would seem isued in its case with all its supporting elements.
Not perhaps a practical item to use but in terms of RN gunnery direction an important item to have. For less than £70 I was never going to turn it down, not in this condition.

In respect of the 6.3x40 a friend in Finland made the same comment - his too had been stripped back to base metal, first he too had seen with period paint intact.

[behblc]

Face plates.
NPL dated 1946, this one probably spent its life in stores, if I found another in the same order I would definately buy it.
The director it was mounted on is probably extinct save those which might exist on HMS Belfast.

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HAS ready for use, it does not balance at all nose heavy and would not lend itself for adaptation to a tripod.

[behblc]

Another view of a similar rangefinder on a different vessel.