Consecutive serial number pair of USMC 1903-A1's

[lonegunman762x51]

I visited a collection of old military rifles and the guy had a pair of 1903-A1 rifles, modified for scopes, blued bolts and Hatcher holes in the middle of the range for 1937 NM Springfield rifles ordered by the Corps. They are not in the best of shape and one has a DL number carved into the stock. A couple of hours of research shows they are both USMC NM rifles with blued WWII bolts, no scopes or bases but restorable.

Does anyone have a consecutive serial number pair of these? They were relegated to deer hunting for most of the late 1950's and 60's and have been sitting in a basement ever since. I have an offer in on them at the moment. I'm going to try pretty hard to get them but there is a very good chance they could disappear back into the basement if they decide not to sell.

 

[MarshallDodge]

(Edit, nvmd, you said blued bolts twice)

I'm not really good on pricing them but would enjoy seeing pictures if you could post some. In excellent condition, I have seen them go for 3-5K. The rifles that you are looking at would be closer to 1-2K.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Do they have chrome bolts?

I'm not really good on pricing them but would enjoy seeing pictures if you could post some. In excellent condition, I have seen them go for 3-5K. The rifles that you are looking at would be closer to 1-2K.

If they are actual USMC 1903A1 sniper rifles (even without the scopes), they're easily $10,000+ (large emphasis on the "+" portion of that price estimate) for each rifle. It's a world of difference between regular or NM 1903 rifles versus legit USMC 1903 sniper rifles.

The OP specifically mentions that they don't have scope or scope bases, and that the rifles are "restorable." With that information, I'm assuming that he's inferring to these specific 1903A1's being sniper rifles, not just regular or NM rifles. I could be wrong, but that's why I gave the above price estimate on a USMC 1903A1 sniper rifle.

@cplnorton

 

[cplnorton]

When a legit 1903A1 Unertl Sniper pops up the guys with deep pockets come out. lol So they usually sell pretty for a decent chunk. 99% of them never hit the public, they are usually traded among the top collectors.

Is there any chance you took any pics of these? I just always advise to be careful. Almost everytime I hear of a legit rifle for sale, it usually ends up being a clone.

Before anyone spends a lot of money on one of these rifles I always advise to send me some pics and let me take a look at it.

I've had guys spend 20-40k on a rifle and then find out it's not real.

 

[cplnorton]

Btw it was pretty common in the 50's/60's guys would engrave their DL# or SS# on a firearm. A lot of the gun magazines of the day actually recommended it just in case they were stolen.

I do know of one legit USMC 1903A1 Unertl that has a DL# engraved on it on the rear sight base.

 

[lonegunman762x51]

This is carved into the stock of one of them. Any ideas? The "delta" symbol in the sequence makes it tough to call this a DL or SSAN number.

 

[cplnorton]

I honestly have no clue what that marking is. I don't think there is any chance it's Marine.

I almost honestly wonder if it's something foreign? I've seen some really weird markings such as this that had a foreign origin.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

That's clearly the product key to unlock and set-up Microsoft Office 365 on your computer. But what it's doing on the side of an old rifle? I have absolutely no idea. Time travelers or something, probably

 

[Skunk]

 

[lonegunman762x51]

I honestly have no clue what that marking is. I don't think there is any chance it's Marine.

I almost honestly wonder if it's something foreign? I've seen some really weird markings such as this that had a foreign origin.

Oddly enough, it does look like one of those keys used to unlock some Microsoft product.