Unertl Optical Company, Inc. was a manufacturer of

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a '' reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate ...

s in the United States from 1934 until 2008. They are known for their 10× fixed-power scopes that were used on the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

M40 rifle The M40 rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle used by the United States Marine Corps. It has had four variants: the M40, M40A1, M40A3, and M40A5. The M40 was introduced in 1966. The changeover to the A1 model was completed in the 1970s, the A3 i ...

and made famous by Marine Corps Scout Sniper

Carlos Hathcock Carlos Norman Hathcock II (May 20, 1942 – February 22, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a l ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

History

John Unertl founded the John Unertl Optical Company in 1934 and the company manufactured military sniper scopes during World War II. 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. 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 Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. In the early 2000s the Marine Corps began phasing out Unertl Scopes in favor of other scopes like the

Schmidt & Bender Schmidt & Bender (often abbreviated as S&B) is a German company specialized in producing high end telescopic sights for hunting, sports, law enforcement and military arms. The company was founded in 1957 by instrument maker Helmut Schmidt and mast ...

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 The MEU(SOC) pistol, ("Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable) (MEU(SOC))") officially designated the M45 MEUSOC, is a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, single-action, semiautomatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. A varian ...

and the M40A3 Sniper Rifle. 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, its 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

References

External links

Comments from John Robert Unertl ("JBW3")
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unertl Optical Company,Inc Optics manufacturing companies