Unertl Optical Company

Unertl Optical Company, Inc. was a manufacturer of telescopic sights in the United States from 1934 until 2008. They are known for their 10× fixed-power scopes that were used on the Marine Corps' M40 rifle and made famous by Marine Corps Scout Sniper, Carlos Hathcock, during the Vietnam War.[1]

Unertl Optical Company, Inc.
Private
IndustryOptics and lenses
Founded1934
Defunct2008
Headquarters
Mars, Pennsylvania
,
United States
Key people
John Unertl Jr., Col. Rocky Greene
Parent21st Century Technology, Inc.

History

John Unertl founded the John Unertl Optical Company in 1934 and the company manufactured military sniper scopes during World War II.[2][3] The company was most notable for its MST-100 (7.62mm) and MST-150 (.50 caliber) 10× scope used by the USMC Scout-Sniper program and the first scope to use a Mil-Dot reticle.[1][4][5] In 2002 the company was purchased by 21st Century Technology, Inc. (owned by Col. Rocky Greene) and the headquarters was moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. In the early 2000s the Marine Corps began phasing out Unertl Scopes in favor of other scopes like the Schmidt & Bender 3–12×50 Police Marksman II LP. By 2006 the company had begun marketing firearms in addition to their line of scopes including a civilian copy of the Marine Corps MEU(SOC) pistol and the M40A3 Sniper Rifle.[6] By 2008 the company had closed its doors.

There were actually three successive "John Unertls". Sr. started the company and ran it until his death. Jr. took over after that. And while the company was well known for its rifle scopes, it major revenue came from high end optical systems made for various branches of government including very sophisticated optical/mechanical instrumentation, optics for military jet gunsights, fire control optics, and wind tunnel instrumentation (Schlieren photography systems for the Naval Surface Weapon Center in White Oak, MD). The last John Unertl, John Robert Unertl, after leaving the company worked his way up to Division President of the optical instrument division of Leitz.

Products
  • Fixed-power Target Scopes
  • Hunting Scopes "Falcon", "Hawk" & "Condor", 2 3/4×, 4× & 6× respectively
  • 10×43 Vulture
  • Ultra-10 43 vulture
  • Spotting Scopes
  • MST-100 10× for 7.62×51mm (Used by the Marine Corps, FBI & Canada)
  • MST-150 10× for .50 caliber (Used by the Marine Corps)
  • Very sophisticated optical/mechanical instrumentation for government
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References
  1. Craig Roberts; Charles W. Sasser (1 July 2004). Crosshairs on the Kill Zone: American Combat Snipers, Vietnam through Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pocket Books. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-4165-0362-0. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  2. Dockery, Kevin (2007). Stalkers and Shooters: A History of Snipers. New York: Penguin Group US. pp. 142–148. ISBN 978-1-4406-2890-0. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  3. Flayderman, Norm (2007). Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media. p. 600. ISBN 978-1-4402-2422-5. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  4. Senich, Peter R. (1996). The one-round war: USMC scout-snipers in Vietnam. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-87364-867-7. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  5. Pegler, Martin (2011). Sniper Rifles: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Osprey Publishing. pp. 51–56, 63. ISBN 978-1-84908-659-2. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  6. Sweeney, Patrick (2006). "Unertl". The Gun Digest Book of the 1911. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. pp. 325–327. ISBN 978-0-89689-269-9. Retrieved 24 July 2013.

Comments from John Robert Unertl - http://forum.snipershide.com/threads/is-unertl-optics-co-still-in-existence.364/

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