So a little while back I finished my retro A1 build.  I haven't shot it a ton, maybe 350-400 rounds, but I've got the kinks ironed out, so I decided to pickup a 3x20 or 4x20 carry handle scope to have some fun with.  After being in the hunt for the better part of 3 months and letting a few go, I jumped on one that was a pretty good price on eBay last week.  

When I got it late Friday I really only glanced over it and it seemed okay.  But today when installing it and looking over it well, I noticed everything I saw looking through the scope seemed a bit hazy.  I cleaned up the objective and eyepiece externally and saw no improvement.  On looking through the scope with a light I saw a very notable haze/cloudiness in one of the elements behind the objective.

I assuming this is not normal?  I'm not expecting modern optical quality but I've never seen an optic with a hazy look to it that was normal.  I sent the seller a message but also wanted to see here what you guys think.  It doesn't look like a cement failure to me and I may be able to clean it, as I have the tools to do some basic disassembly and have done so before on camera lenses for cleaning/repair.  

No plans to open it until I hear back from the seller.  These weren't nitrogen filled right?  That'd be my only hang up with taking it apart, though if it has haze pretty safe to assume it wasn't filled or leaked out.  I'll try and get some pictures tomorrow but these things aren't always easy to capture.  I wouldn't care if it was some minor flaw but I can see it when looking through the scope so it's pretty bad.

As an aside, while I know these were not issued in Vietnam, what would be a correct looking bipod to go with this setup, if I can get it working.

No idea if they were nitrogen filled or not, but they were used in Vietnam.

Bipod would be the USGI type as seen in the picture below.

Is it a Colt scope or a modern look a like? If its a NCStar or Barska or something like that, they might help you with it, but many of those type scopes just are not too clear.
If it's a Colt (Jap made) There's a company in Miami that can service it for you. I never dealt with them but I read an older post where a member used them for his Jap Colt

ABO USA Incorporated
Measurement & Control Device·
14041 SW 139th Ct, Miami, FL .
(786) 701-9144.

It's a Japanese built Colt.  Seller was great and we worked it out.  I am keeping the scope as they chassis is really clean and I don't think it will be too bad to fix.  Unfortunately it looks like ABO is defunct now, I'll keep looking but in the meantime I know someone locally who will at least look at it and give me an opinion on it.

Also, thanks for the tip on the bipod, I'll go look for one to go with it.  I knew guys had them back then in Vietnam but didn't think they were formally issued, and got onto the field in other ways, like getting sent in from state side or purchased and brought over (not familiar with the process).

Wow, that's 7 minutes from where I grew up.

Got the scope fixed, just in time for my bayonet to come in.  Also got a bipod at a gunshow a few weekends ago right after I got the scope.



About as fully tricked out and as tacticool as you get circa late 60s/early 70s.  No M203 setup I guess, alternative "optic" option would be a Singlepoint OEG, but pretty happy with how this all has wound up.  Was shooting about 2.25MOA with handloads without all the crap on the front end of the gun, not bad at all I'd say for a 1:9 pencil barrel and 55gr.

Man, that looks like a fun rig! How has your experience been with the BDC on the Colt scope?

Nice looking rig!

So, where did you end up sending the scope to for service? And how much was the charges?

Thanks for the compliments.  Yeah, the gun is a lot of fun to shoot.  The bipod truly is worthless, at least on a bench.  I took a few shots and it put the gun so high up it was hard to hold POA, didn't get a chance to actually try it prone.  It looks cool though!  I've really not tried out the BDC... I zeroed it for 200 yards @ 100 and just left it alone for now.

As for the repair I had a friend who tinkers with various optics as a side hobby (camera lenses mostly, some binoculars) do it for me.  Paid him $50 and bought lunch.