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  1. cplnorton

    1903 A4

    The rifle is a Real 1903A4, which was the Army (and lesser extent Marine) Sniper rifle during WWII. After WWII they were used on a very limited basis and were mostly regulated to foreign aid. This one has been thru a full rebuild. IF the stock is original to it, the RIA is for Rock Island...
  2. cplnorton

    The M73 Lyman Alaskan Scope from WWII, which became the M81 for the M1C Garand Sniper

    I honestly am not the right person to ask on this. I barely follow USGI pricing anymore. On that would I really would not know. I'm sure others can help. :)
  3. cplnorton

    Historical question, why doesn't a bolt gun that takes 30-06 en bloc clips exist?

    The op brings up a good point though. Early in the war I see reports of them receiving the bandoliers of ammo on stripper clips for the M1903. As the war progressed, I see mentions that the snipers only got their ammo on m1 enblocs and they had to break them down to load the M1903's with...
  4. cplnorton

    Historical question, why doesn't a bolt gun that takes 30-06 en bloc clips exist?

    The biggest reason is you had to know the philosophy of the military at this time. They wanted a sniper version of the "service rifle." So whatever the service rifle was at that time, that is what they wanted to make as the sniper rifle. So by the time the M1 became the service rifle Army...
  5. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    lol no life. :) Just kidding but not really. It's not published, nor in books. In fact most of our books are not the best. A lot of the info you find in them is very dated and not correct. I started to go to archive locations all across the country and pulling old boxes of documents...
  6. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    As of right now, we know of two rifles we can document to the Marine Corps team. This one, and one that never was converted to a Sniper. The other one was in the 1928 NM shipment to the Marines and is owned by a good friend. I thought there might be a chance someday I might find one...
  7. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    The real neat thing about this rifle is this is likely as close as I will ever get to documenting a Marine Corps Unertl rifle serial on an actual Marine Document. In WWII the Marines didn't track serials, they only tracked quantity. So none of the Marine Unertl sniper serials were recorded...
  8. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    The other reason I think this is a leftover WWI Mann Niender receiver is the other serials I am finding that correlate to this. We do not have a lot of serials of WWI Mann Niender Snipers or Marine team rifles. But even though we have a small percentage of what they actually had, I am finding...
  9. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    Thanks for the kind words Gentlemen. The one thing that amazed me about this rifle was it was a low number receiver. But I think I have a very plausible reason why the Marines used these low number receivers to build their International Match rifles on the Marine team. My theory is this...
  10. cplnorton

    Marine Team Rifle returns to Camp Perry 96 yrs later

    I am still pulling documents on this rifle, so this will be a shorter post. Once I feel I have found as much as I can, I will post it in detail. But in 1927 the receiver of this rifle was a Marine International Match rifle. The Marines also called these rifles, Free High Pressure rifles...
  11. cplnorton

    Likely one of the first Marine M1903 Sniper rifles, M1908 Warner Swasey

    While not Marines, this is a really great pic you never see.
  12. cplnorton

    Likely one of the first Marine M1903 Sniper rifles, M1908 Warner Swasey

    Now it should be noted it is extremely unlikely a Model of 1908 Warner Swasey could have come into the Marines other than the 1909 time frame. There is really no evidence of the Marines pursing any Warner Swasey telescopic sights past the 1909 shipment. They were never happy with the scope...
  13. cplnorton

    Likely one of the first Marine M1903 Sniper rifles, M1908 Warner Swasey

    This is the Marine Document with serial 352840. Here are pics of the rifle. https://i.imgur.com/EG6D7k5h.jpg
  14. cplnorton

    Likely one of the first Marine M1903 Sniper rifles, M1908 Warner Swasey

    This rifle stands a very good chance of being at the beginning of the Marine Corps Sniper program. Not only is it likely this receiver was in the first shipment of M1903 rifles to the Marines, but it is also very likely this is one of the very first Marine Corps Sniper rifles. Except for a few...
  15. cplnorton

    M1917 Rifle

    I think the story of the USMC testing the M1917 with A5 scope as a sniper rifle after WWI is likely just a urban legend. By the docs, the Marines turned in all their M1917's by 1920. There is never a mention anywhere in the WWI or post WWI sniper docs that I have seen where they say they...
  16. cplnorton

    M1D auction

    There is really nothing special about it either. I have no clue why someone paid that much for it. I know CMP auctions can go crazy at times, but this is nuts.
  17. cplnorton

    M82 USGI sniper scope

    I would have to go back as I don't think I ever tracked the M82's past the ones that came from Lyman. The biggest thing is Lyman did not produce the M81/82 till very late in WWII. The first shipment of M81's (cross hairs), which were shipped because Lyman didn't have the post reticules to...
  18. cplnorton

    Auction 1903 A4 Z serial number question

    It's been heavily sandblasted, and some of the serial looks redone by someone. I think someone tried to enhance a weak serial number. The finish looks like a civilan repark. If the roll stamp looks good on the other side, I think it's just one someone refinished and tried to restore the...
  19. cplnorton

    Auction 1903 A4 Z serial number question

    What does the rollstamp look like on the other side? Yeah that serial does not look original
  20. cplnorton

    Warner Swasey site

    I have never seen that. But I have seen them mention they used gasoline to clean screws and the threads on the rifles. The screws were then dipped in water and installed. By the next day they were rusted so tight that often the heads of the screws would break before the screw would break free.
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