Rare Hensold Wetzlar Optics

[zooma]

I bought a mint 1958 Walther Model 55 with a walnut Tyrolean stock that was fitted with a set of Hensold Wetzlar optics fitted to the Walther dioptre rear sight.

This optic set is also in mint condition and comes with the original Hensold rubber bellows, and has an adjustable dioptre that adjusts between 1.00 and 3.00 in 0.5mm increments, but each increment is shown twice - once with a clear filter, and then repeated again with yellow filter in every size.

In front of this unit is a silver collar that also adjusts the magnification - presumably to help spectacle wearers (?), but it does make it possible to easily dial in a very sharp image at any distance - including the 6 yard bell target bull !

I am told this same company made several sniper sights for the German K98 rifle for use in WW2 ?

My German friend tells me this is a very rare sight in Germany, and even the original rubber bellows are sought after.

Does anyone in the UK have any more information to offer about these exceptionally well engineered optical sights that will presumably screw fit onto any of the Anshutz, Walther, Feinwerkbau, HW dioptres, so it may be of interest to those who collect rear dioptre sights?

[Garvin]

Bob I have a couple of these beautiful optics, which also arrived attached to match rifles that came from Germany. The silver collar should just adjust the focus since the mag is fixed at 1.5X.

They are fairly common I think, so I suppose what makes yours unusual is the bellows?

I also have a rare Hensoldt Wetzlar "Diapi" that was the same magnification (which the Germans call 1.5X but I think is also called .5X in some places). Thread about it on the AVA HERE.

If you look at this late '50s Weihrauch brochure, you will see one of these sights advertised. (I'm not exactly sure of what relationship Seibert has to Hensoldt Wetzlar but I've seen things advertised as "Seibert Wetzlar".)

[zooma]

Thanks Danny, I was hoping you would reply first as I know you collect rear dioptre sights and would have some expert knowledge to offer on the subject.

My sight does not look like the one shown on the HW brochure, but obviously the basics are there with the multiple adjuster mechanism in front of the silver focus adjusting collar, but on mine it is a parallel adjusting collar and not shaped like the one shown.

It also has the white Henswold Wetzlar badge on it ( as does the rubber bellows), so maybe what my German collector friend is suggesting is that this is a slightly less common variant of these magnificent optics - and that the rubber bellows are not found that often and so are also comparatively rare?

Do all the examples you have seen offer a clear and a yellow filter screen for each of the different size aperture openings? This seems like a very complicated way of doing it as other similar types of colour filters have a choice of colour screens that can be applied over any of the set apertures with a much more simple (but separate) mechanical arrangement.

The Henswold system needs some duplication to have two separate 1.0, two separate 1.5 and two separate 2.0 etc.......apertures - one with a clear and one with a yellow filter.

Also, have you researched the link with Hitlers army snipers and their Henswold Wetzlar sights?

[18 Wheeler]

I'm not exactly sure of what relationship Seibert has to Hensoldt Wetzlar but I've seen things advertised as "Seibert Wetzlar".

Wetzlar is a town in central West Germany, a centre for precision engineering and optics since 1900'ish. Many of the notable german optics companies had production facilities there, Leitz/Leica, Hensoldt which became part of Zeiss and Seibert amongst them.

These companies often included the production town's name on the product. Hence Zeiss Jena, and the Wetzlar useage above.

There's a little bit of Hensoldt/Zeiss history here. HTH

[Chippendale]

Wetzlar is a town in central West Germany, a centre for precision engineering and optics since 1900'ish. Many of the notable german optics companies had production facilities there, Leitz/Leica, Hensoldt which became part of Zeiss and Seibert amongst them.

These companies often included the production town's name on the product. Hence Zeiss Jena, and the Wetzlar useage above.

There's a little bit of Hensoldt/Zeiss history here. HTH

Thanks for the link its a very interesting, during the mid sixties I purchased a pair of Dr Hans Hendsolt KG Wetzlar 9x36 binoculars from a work colleague who was desperate for some cash to repair his car. Unfortunately the wife dropped them in the RSPB shop whilst bending down to pick up some bird food. I enquired at the shop, where they sell binoculars if they could get them repaired. The guy said they looked too old and were not worth repairing.
Onto th internet and found a company down on the south coast who said that if they were what I said they were , in good condition, to use their words, worth a kings ransom. They put me onto a chap they used for repairs. As it was the carriage that had broken he repaired and cleaned them for £45.00, this was two years ago. They came back looking pristine and better than before they were sent off.
They are fantastic bins brilliant for sport etc, there is no distortion when following birds etc. Again thanks for that article very interesting.

Cheers

Mel

[TStray]

Here are some of my Walthers sporting Hensoldt Wetzlar optics, to my knowledge there were two styles that screwed into the rear of the diopter sight, the early style had a large housing that contained more choices of openings while the later version had fewer choices with a smaller housing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...02010/A004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...erLG55LGV3.jpg

[Garvin]

Very interesting Hensoldt history and thanks for the Wetzlar explanation 18 Wheeler - it makes sense now!

I've had a look at one of mine, although I think I have two more somewhere and it's a Seibert (like this one), with two wheels, one to switch between clear and yellow filters, the other to vary the opening sizes. I'll take a pic of it, and any others I can locate in due course. Having two aperture wheels sounds absurdly over complicated!

As Tom says, there are different housing sizes. There was one on eGun recently with a very large housing and the seller set his starting price at 150 euro, I think, although it didn't get any bids at that price IIRC.

BTW Hensoldt bins for sale here.

I try not to think too much about any Nazi connections with post-War airgun-related things - it might put me off!