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C. Lorenz Gew 98 Radium Sights

chrisftk

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Staff member
Hi all,

I didn't see a detailed photo study on these posted here, so I thought I'd share some photos of my set.

Radioluminescent sights were introduced for the Gew 98 and Artillery Luger in 1917. The principal is much the same as that of old radium dial clocks or aircraft instruments. The technology was in its early stages during WW1. These early radioluminescent paints were later determined to be unsafe (in part due to the unfortunate women in U.S. factories pointing their paint brushes with their mouths and ingesting radium paint) and were gradually replaced with safer alternatives (tritium, etc...)

From my understanding, while Ludwig Sudicatis & Co. was the original contractor on radium night sights, C. Lorenz in Berlin also produced them. They bear a C.L. maker's mark for Lorenz production.

This set of sights reside on my 1917 Danzig "d" block.

The zinc sulfide in the paint has long since broken down, depleting the radioluminescence, but the paint will continue to shed low level radioactivity long after we are gone due to radium 226's long half-life (~1,600 years)

These are a damn cool accessory regardless whether or not they still glow.
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These are awesome! I’ve always wanted to see these up close and in detail, thanks!
 
You seem to have the later style sight that is made out of stamped metal.I have the earlier , using the machined variation. Mine too still work in the dark. Thanks for showing them.
 
You seem to have the later style sight that is made out of stamped metal.I have the earlier , using the machined variation. Mine too still work in the dark. Thanks for showing them.
Thanks Gill-- I'd be very interested to see pictures of your model. Are they the Sudicatis-made ones?

Also interesting that yours still glow. Generally the radium burns through the "fuel" /zinc sulfide within a few decades. Maybe they were re-lumed at some point in the last 100 or so years.


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This thread is good stuff!! Are those ampules or just paint?
The paint is sealed in ampules in the front and rear sight (which is good because I really don't want radium flakes in my house!)

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Radium sights

Thanks Gill-- I'd be very interested to see pictures of your model. Are they the Sudicatis-made ones?

Also interesting that yours still glow. Generally the radium burns through the "fuel" /zinc sulfide within a few decades. Maybe they were re-lumed at some point in the last 100 or so years.


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I have a set of S marked radium sights I found in a WW1 30th Division doughboy grouping. If you need pictures of them send me a email tledford22@yahoo.com
 

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