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I recently purchased a mg34 scope with case for $1680.00 with shipping. It came from Norway. It has a WaA stamp on the inside lid and what looks like a Norwegian stamp on the inside lid as well. The paint looks like a postwar olive drab? There is a hole on the backside of the case. Any ideas? My guess is maybe something was removed. Anyone have close up of an untouched orginal so I can see what it is supposed to look like. One of the metal loops on the back is missing and the carrying strap is replaced with an old piece of rope! I guess it works. I am considering removing the paint and repainting it a wartime green.

I believe the optics are untouched.

Brian

Congrats on your optics! I too have that same hole in mine and would be interested in what was once there or if it serves as a vent hole. What color is your optics. Mine is original ordnance green or olivegrun. RAL 6006. My box is also painted post war norweigan green on the outside, but original on the inside. I think some TLC and acetone will remove it.

TC

A little bit of color information from our resident Norweigan.

The MGz40 sight was issued in either panzergray or tan. The MGz34
(sometimes reffered to as only "MGz") was issued as a standard in ordnance green. The scopes from the maker "Busch" is most of the time found with a light gray (seagray) color (might have been a navy contract, but no evidence supports that theory). In addition I have one sight that is panzergray, but the paintwork is probably secondary (field or waffenmeister aplied). But 9 out of 10 MGz34 comes in ordnance green (which is strange, as the German factories seems to have used green very seldom). The same goes for the transport-boxes. Applegreen early helmets and stick-grenade heads are about the only use of green I can re-collect!

TC

Some info on your box! The white painted insignia in the lid is not a postwar Norwegian addition. It is the makers mark of the Wichmann Werke, and of the larger instrument makers of WW2. The makers mark denotes pre 1941 production (as the code system was introduced in 1940). The large glue blob is where the horsehair pad was glued in to save the top of the instrument from moving against the lid.

The hole at the back is for a wooden screw. Basically, all MGz34 boxes manufactured will have this hole. The wooden interior extended along the back wall and ended up with a drilled vertical hole that would accept the lense brush handle. As the war progressed the adoption of the add-on periscope for the MGz34 must have resulted in a order for technical modifications. About half of these boxes have the same identical modification, which consists of sawing of the back half of the interior, thus leaving the screw hole open and without any function. The "saved space" was used to store the add-on periscope in the same transport box as the sight.

I have another variant in my own collection that has a custom made wooden holder for the add-on periscope in quite another configuration. Can't provide any pictures though, as it is in storage.

Thanks for the historical review and notes. I was unaware of the modifications to the box during the war.

Brian Abela

No worries! Your sight appears untouched, and it looks like you have a Busch optic from the color!

I have the top part (only) of a MGz34 optical sight. This top housing has a dovetail connection to the the rest of the optics.This housing contains the reticle sight and an auxillary prism optic which can be rotated and locked in position if required. What is the purpose of this prismatic device?
The dovetail of the housing is marked WaA538 .Can anyone tell me who the maker of my optics was?
My optic device is in painted ordnance green.
Thank you