NavList:

I hope it would not be out of place to ask here for some specific guidance buying a sextant. My interest being both practical (sailing boats) and historical, I have been finding my way into celestial navigation using a (plastic) Davis Mark 15 and have become used to constant adjustment. It's less the desire for greater accuracy/repeatability that leads me to look for an upgrade, but rather the hope that larger mirrors and better telescopes will make a difference, especially with star sights and hazy horizons (I find the Davis telescope quite frustrating, especialy when wearing glasses).

Questions:

- Both online and in print (Bauer; Morris...) I have found, to my surprise, very little information on the quality of the different scopes available for the sextants that can still be bought new (Astra, Freiberger, C&P, Tamaya) or are frequently offered used (SNO-T, C.Plath). What is your take on the lower and higher power scopes on the market? [And by the way: Is the current C&P 4x40 scope the same as Astra's/GH-130's 3.5x40? It looks really similar, despite the supposed slight difference in magnification.]

- How important do you find the availability of spare parts? If this should be a criterion, a Freiberger or C&P, even if used, might make sense in my case (being located in Germany), as both manufacturers still seem to provide service and parts. Can the mirrors, at least, be universally exchanged, despite the minor differences in specified dimensions?

- What about accessories and features? C&P, in particular, offers quite an array: astigmatizers, polarizers, prism levels, bubble horizons, integrated dip and index correction... - has anybody found any of these of any use?

- Looking online for used sextants, I have seen quite a few that look very good, even pristine, in the photographs but clearly have been rarely used, if ever. What are the pitfalls of buying a sextant that might have been sitting in its case for many years or decades? How difficult would it be to make it fit for practical use?

As I have handled so far only my Davis Mark 15, I'd very much appreciate any advice.

- ML