Does anyone have a line on Pecar serial numbers and date of manufacturing?

Hi Gary,
I'm afraid I've only got two Pecars at the moment and the screw-locked 2.75x is so old it looks to have no SN at all.

The other one, a 4x81 late enough to have reasonable field blending, has the number 60781.

I have never heard that Pecars ever went back in quality, so I don't think you have to worry about any loss such as some assert happened to Nickel when Hertel & Reuss took over. Even there I have no complaints, and the later Nickels I've used on rifles have been good in my opinion.

The SN you sent me seems lower than mine but the A might have reset the game somehow. Suffice to say if you find there is no more 'tunnel vision' than from a Leupold at 4x, it is probably not too early to be worthwhile using.

Keep looking through eBay - you often see others and can compare their numbers.

PS: A buddy has one of those older ones with poor field blending and it only has four figures in the SN.

PPS: the reticle is another indicator. If you only have cross-wires or even a flat-topped post, that might suggest an early model and a situation not ideal for variables because the wires will be too fine at low powers and the post a bit much at the high ones. My 3-7x had the four outer posts (7A?) analogous with a 'Duplex', and you really need that or a #4 in a variable. That said, most of my variables have the 'German Nr.1' and I don't complain.

I have a 6 power Pecar that was bought new in 1967 and I still have the original receipt for it. I will find it and let you know what the serial number is tomorrow.

Pete

Thanks all.

My Pecar 6x59 scope has serial number 44641. Hope this helps.
Pete

Thank you Pete.

Pete, what can you tell us about your scope? Any idea how old it is? Is it a 'Champion' by any chance? What kind of reticle has it got? Is it steel or perhaps dural, with or without a rail?

PS: since yours has a lower number than mine, what is the field blending like - does it have much tunnel vision?

Sambarman338,
It is a 6x59, 26mm steel tube and has the number 8 reticle. That is just a plain cross hair. The cross hairs are not centered but move when adjusted. So you have to center the scope to the rifle as best you can. It was originally on my 1967 BRNO Mod 2, then moved to a Sako 223 for many years and now is back on another BRNO a 1965 Mod 2. I love it and wished the company was still making scopes today. I only have 2 Pecars now as a third ( a 4x81 ? ) was destroyed by an incompetent idiot who was supposed to fix it.
Pete

Thanks Foxhunter,
So, as you said, your scope dates back to the '60s, which dates the SN. The simple crosswire was more popular back then.

Gary's scope is only in the 20,000 zone but being a variable and having an A prefix could upset the chronology. My 3-7x variable from the late '60s had a more-'modern' reticle, though its number (7A?) preceeds 8. I don't think I recorded its SN, though.

Do you still have the 'ruined' scope? In case he wrecked the reticle assembly, you may be able to buy another one as they were available as an aftermarket item for people who wanted to change the type. Opticswarehouse Ltd in England used to sell them at the time I wrote my book. That assembly has the reticle cell attached to the turret housing by a brass toggle linkage that lets it be located by the screws when installed or even before, in case you wanted one set up for a different load.

If the body has not been crushed, Rod Fielder or Malcolm Eames might be able to restore it - but Malcolm, at least, is said to charge a fair bit.

I don't have the scope anymore, the Idiot I was referring to also destroyed the reticle assembly. There was actually nothing wrong with the scope optically, it was the scope body that the blueing had been ruined by a roof leaking. Apparently the roof was made of wattle and the tannin destroyed the bluing. Me being the fussy twit I am decided to get this idiot watch maker who dabbled in scope repairs to just strip the body so I could get it re-blued. Why I asked him to do it was because I did a huge favour for him saving him several thousands of dollars for free. This was how he re-payed me, by destroying my scope. Then the asshole had the audacity to ask me to help him with a wild dog problem he had. Well I imagine you can guess what my answer was. I sent the ruined scope to Premium Optics who gave me a very small trade just for the re-blued body on another Pecar scope.
Pete

Sorry to hear that, Pete.

Stripping scopes is something I would be reluctant to do, even though any nitrogen or dry air had probably long gone.

Ironically, German gunsmiths would do it often, before soldering demi-rings on to steel scopes. For some reason they did not trust American-style rings on centrefires.

I was sorry I ever thought about fixing it, I really liked that scope. It even had a post and cross hair reticle which I admit I did not like at first. But as you know once you use once you discover just how good they are. I think what made me really cranky was he destroyed the reticle which he did not have to touch. All it needed was a couple screws to be unscrewed, but he even destroyed that part.
Pete

I sent an email to 'michael.schwarz@pecar-berlin.de' May 23, 2004. I don't know if it is still valid.

Hi, I have a rifle scope I believe was made by your company. The markings are: Light PECAR BERLIN 6x59 GERMANY, SN 1741. Could you provide any info concerning date of manufacture, etc?

They responded:

Dear Mister Grabowski, the scope 6x59 is long gone. All we can tell you is the year of sale which is 1955.
Regards
PECAR-BERLIN
M.Schwarz

My Light PECAR BERLIN 6x59 scope has a 26mm tube. Are the scopes above also 26mm?

quote:

Originally posted by Jgrabow6493:
My Light PECAR BERLIN 6x59 scope has a 26mm tube. Are the scopes above also 26mm?

All my Pecar's were 26mm tubes.

Pete

Most steel Pecars may have been 26mm but my 3-7x was an inch.

The mid section around the turrets was still 26mm but the rest of the body had been turned down to 1". This would make it slightly lighter and less strong, of course, but compared with modern, alloy 1" scopes it was built like a tank.