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Tony Oz you wrote:  I'm searching through the ebay for a cheaper A-10. Looks like A-10 and A-10A differ not only about the "pecker" attachment. One can notice there are two types of the bubble chamber. The more neat-looking at the A-10 and more pronounced at the A-10A.  Which one is "better"?

Tony

You ask which is better; did you mean in 1945 or in 2020?  Did you mean an a10 or an A10A, or a shiny metal or black plastic covered bubble chamber?  If you mean in 2020, it doesn’t matter.  Few, if any, brand new hand-held bubble sextants were produced in the West after 1945.  They had enough sextants and spares left over from WW2.  Those that survived in use until about 1970 were much serviced WW2 sextants updated from spare parts.  Therefore, buying an inexpensive hand-held bubble sextant is different from buying a new car or smart phone.  Minor design differences which might have been important in 1945 pall into insignificance when compared to how well the sextant has survived the intervening 75 years.  One which was correctly wrapped and has remained in a temperature and humidity controlled military warehouse until it was discovered during a funds raising clear out recently will be in much better condition than one which was ‘liberated’ by a veteran in 1945 and left in his garden shed through 75 cold damp winters and hot dry summers until a military nostalgia merchant chanced upon it at a house clearance sale.  The thing to do is ask lots of questions.  Can you see through it?  Will all the knobs turn?  Avoid the “I’m not an expert, but suitably polished it would enhance your den or mantle shelf” type ads.  DaveP