Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very interesting original German Emil Busch “Visar” 2 3/4x telescopic sight of the type used on Gewehr 98 sniper rifles during WWI, additionally engraved for the prominent Berlin and Suhl arms dealer Ernst Steigleder. The scope retains its original-style mounts and a leather double-ended lens cover, while the Busch maker markings, magnification, D.R.G.M. designation, and serial number 2381 remain clearly present. Comparable Busch Visar 2 3/4x scopes are well documented on Imperial German Gewehr 98 sniper rifles.

The side of the scope is hand-engraved:

ERNST STEIGLEDER
BERLIN & SUHL

This is for the retailer of the scope. Ernst Steigleder was an established German gun dealer and arms merchant with operations in both Berlin and Suhl. He opened a Berlin business after training at J.P. Sauer & Sohn and maintained a Suhl branch, placing him firmly within the German sporting-arms and firearms trade before, during, and after WWI.

The brass attachment piece is marked:

“VISAR” 2 ¾ x
D.R.G.M.
2381
Emil Busch A.-G.
Rathenow

Emil Busch of Rathenow was one of the German optical manufacturers whose civilian and military telescopic sights were adapted for use on Scharfschützen-Gewehr 98 rifles during WWI. Surviving documented examples of the Visar 2 3/4x carry very similar markings and are specifically associated with Gewehr 98 sniper rifles.

The scope measures 11 ⅛” long. There are mounts, and they look correct for a WWI era example. This would likely fit well onto a Gewehr 98 with the proper mount for this scope.

The scope comes complete with the original leather eyecup set, which is a single piece with a securing strap and snap in the middle. One end is stamped 265, and the other end is stamped 395.

The Visar 2 3/4x belongs to the diverse family of optics used by Imperial Germany after the Army expanded its sniper program during WWI. By 1915, selected Gewehr 98 rifles were being equipped with telescopic sights from numerous optical houses, including Busch, Zeiss, Goerz, Hensoldt, Voigtländer, Oigee, and others. The German wartime system never relied on one single standardized sniper scope, and both commercial and military-pattern optics were pressed into service.

The Busch Visar was among those patterns associated with wartime Gewehr 98 sniper use. A surviving period photograph has even been identified by specialist collectors as showing an Emil Busch Visar 2 3/4x mounted on a Gewehr 98. The exact production date of this individual scope remains uncertain.

With its Emil Busch A.-G. Rathenow markings, “Visar” 2 3/4x designation, D.R.G.M. stamp, serial 2381, Ernst Steigleder Berlin & Suhl retailer engraving, retained claw-style mounts, and original leather lens cover, this is an especially interesting example of the commercial-optics network that supplied telescopic sights used with Imperial German sniper rifles during and around WWI.