Questions about a Russian Sextant

[Scare_Rab]

I bought a sextant:
It seems in pretty good nick

(Far better than the plastic Davis I used in a solo sail from Hobart to Sydney in early 80's.)

Does no seem to have the ordinary daytime 'spotting scope' (if that is the correct term?
Any idea where I could purchase one?


Pics attached

[Dockhead]

That's a SNO-M Soviet sextant, a high quality copy of the highly regarded Carl Plath sextant used by the Nazis in WWII; actually not a copy but the real thing, since the Soviets uprooted the factory and tooling after the war. Read about it here: The USSR SNO-M sextant | The Nautical Sextant

This guy considers the similar SNO-T (a slight refinement of the SNO-M) to be "possibly the finest sextant ever made" -- see: The USSR SNO-T sextant | The Nautical Sextant.

Your box lid label is an inventory of things included in the set:

1. Diopter, two of them, in the 8th pigeonhole of the case
2. Correction key, one of them, 9th pigeonhole
3. Screwdriver, one of them, 6th pigeonhole
4. Sextant, one of them, 1st pigeonhole
5. Light filter, one, third.
6. Light filter, one, third.
7. blank
8. Passport, one, seventh
9. Magnifying tube 7x, one, second
10. Flacon with oil, one, fourth
11. Flannel [cleaning cloth, I guess], one, fifth
12. Brush, one, 10th
13. Mirror, one, 11th.

[banjoship]

I have a SNO-T in my collection of sextants, and it is the one I most use. Your SNO-M, providing it is not damaged, is a very fine instrument.

I have a user manual for the Sno-T, PM me if you would like a copy, its about 5Meg, I think. While the SNO-M and SNO-T are different instruments, the philosophy behind them is similar, and the manual for the SNO-T will be helpful.

Googling may get you a manual for the SNO-M. Or join the NavList group and ask there. The link to the group is on Bill Morris's site that Dockhead has posted. BTW Bill Morris is highly regarded in the sextant world, and his comments in the links posted by Dockhead are spot on.

Lee