Gibbs 1903a4-got One

Just got a GIBBS 1903A4 from AIM.Was on the waiting list since the SHOT SHOW,finally got the call and went up and picked it up.It looks like a museum
piece.The only thing missing is a leather lens cover.The scope knobs feel like
the real thing,unlike some other reproduction scopes I have or have seen.It comes in a hardshell case,copy of the orginial manual,1907 leather sling,and
a dust cover WW11 carring case.Its clearly marked by GIBBS so know one
should take it for a orginial,but of course that goes for collectors,everybody
else things its the real thing that I showed it too.Now if it would stop raining
here ,I will get it to the rifle range.:beerchug:.I have some NM LAKE CITY brass,and M118 bullets,all loaded and ready to go.
The scope is a copy of a Weaver M73,earlly WW11 model.Its pretty bad to
think this is what the US issued to our snipers in WW11,and Hollywood showing a german sniper in a bell tower,betting shot right thru his rifle scope,
as in Saving Private Ryan.I missed getting the real thing about 20 years ago,and picked up a 1932 NM,1903 rifle instead.This completes my WW11
sniper collection,but of course I really never will be done.I don"t care if it is
a copy of the real thing,since the price of that is way too high.
Also picked up a C93 Century copy of the HK93,in .223 caliper.this rifle looks
like a real Hk93,I got lucky twice on that trip to AIM.Maybe with the ecomony
so bad they really upped the QC of their products.I read online that Century
did not make these,they just put there name on it.Eric at AIM,said the gun
trade is starting to finally slow down,and ammo and guns should star flowing
down the pipline pretty soon.Anybody know any place that can make the leather lens covers for a Weaver M73 scope?

Brian Dick apparently knows of a good leather worker. He posts pretty often on the CSP SMLE forums. Give him a holler! BDL is his company.

Thanks I will check it out.There is also a guy on E-BAY that makes WW11 sniper leather lens covers,I got several for my K98 snipers,but I lost his name
and contact info when my harddrive went out.But I have never seen anyone
making 1903A4 stuff.

I have been looking for lense covers as well

How about that range report?????? Get a chance to fire it?

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Originally Posted by Curt

I have been looking for lense covers as well

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Try Ebay seller "iblamemydog", he has some.

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Originally Posted by JAYFMT

Try Ebay seller "iblamemydog", he has some.

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His name is Jon Moore and this is his email address: mooreleather@yahoo.co.uk

Tedijr, a couple of minior points.

The Gibbs replica scope is a copy of the Weaver 330C or M73B1. The M73 was actually the militarized version of the Lyman Alaskan. It was planned for use on the M1903A4 but due to prodction difficulties none were delivered in time for A4 production. Some became available in time for issue with the M1-C in 1945.

A couple of other purchasers have reported the windage and elevation knobs on the replicas are reversed. Apparently Gibbs has confirmed they were all delivered this way.

A few purchasers have also reported that some screws (i.e. scope base) needed tightening as well.

Good luck and lets us know how it performs.

Regards,

Jim

Got my last week. Took it to the farm and it shot about 1.5 moa. Wood to metal fit was good. The scope adjustment knobs are backwards. My does not
appear to be a former drill rifle. I took it out of the stock and did not see any
signs of a weld. It will make a fine non-standard hog gun here in South TEXAS.

Garry

I had been waiting a long time for this Gibbs 1903-A4 copy and have to say the wait was not worth it and the rifle is certainly not worth the money either.

The quality of the wooden stock is awful and seems to be made of something more akin to balsa wood as it is very light and easily marked compared to my original A3.

The bullets constantly jam in the magazine no matter how you load them and so most of the time it has been fired single shot to avoid jamming.

The scope is a waste of time and seems to have lenses made from clingfilm.

Because of the poor quality stock and being lightweight the gun suffers from more recoil than my original 1903-A3 and is horrible to shoot.

I am going to be seeling it at the earliest opportunity and will be glad to see it go.

all the gibbs wanna be sniper rifles are recovered drill rifles, the finish they use is not a phosphate coating, likely a form of dura coat or something along that line, they did this to cover the weld marks,
i have no issue with a recovered drill rifle, only the fact that they cover it up, and miss lead buyers of these rifles. and use poor quality materials to build them..
my past experiances with the company and people the own {gibbs} isnt a good one....navy arms, old western scrounger, and a few other names has been used..
all owned or controled by the same company in one form or another.
yea know,,,if they would just say what the thing is and be honest...they would do better, then to try an hide or side line the truth...

I traded for one as much out of curiousity as anything. It was new, complete with the stuff, case and unfired. It looks very nice.

The bolt is very rough. The magazine feed poorly. Trigger pull is pretty smooth. Scope optics are fair but the reticule covers over an inch thick at 100 yds and I can see waves in it, i.e., not linear. The scope adjusters are located at about 100 degress apart vs 90??

Shot the rifle yesterday off a bench rest at 100 yds using M2 ball. After bore sighting via eyeball and checking everything for tighness the first shot was one inch high and one and a half inches right(I average less than 3 inches off point of aim on bolt action guns with this type sighting). Wow I thought, this may be OK. Next shot hits 12 inches away!! What the sh&%? Checked everything. Tried another and hit not near either shot. Many shots and just no group of 5 shots better than 8 or 10 inches(so bad why measure). I brought an old Tasco 4X in Redfield rings I carry for my two real A4's and another replica that someone put together because a real M73b1 is not exactly precision optics and I like to see what the rifle can do when I can actually see something on the target less than 4 inches in size.

The first few shots were close and the 5 shot group more like 4 inches. I fired another and the group was 1.375 inches, more like my real A4's with match ammo.

Next I try match ammo and the bolt won't close. I try another match round to rule out a defective round but same results. I am assuming this means head space is too tight but in any event I gave up and let it cool before I hit it with Knock out foam.

Pretty discouraging overall but I am sure I can make it shoot. Sounds like it needs a gun smith first. Any thoughts on why the m2 chambered fine but not the US military match?

I have a 330S but I hate the post reticule. Maybe a commercial Alaskan, or just use the Tacso for the range and leave the junk Chinese scope on it while it is not in use.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JGaynor

Tedijr, a couple of minior points.

The Gibbs replica scope is a copy of the Weaver 330C or M73B1. The M73 was actually the militarized version of the Lyman Alaskan. It was planned for use on the M1903A4 but due to prodction difficulties none were delivered in time for A4 production. Some became available in time for issue with the M1-C in 1945.

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M73B1 WAS the code of the military Weaver 330C
The Lyman Alaskan scopes were given the codes M81 & M82 - depending on the reticle style of that particular model scope.

I make covers for all the above, plus a few more besides!!

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Originally Posted by saddler

M73B1 WAS the code of the military Weaver 330C
The Lyman Alaskan scopes were given the codes M81 & M82 - depending on the reticle style of that particular model scope.

I make covers for all the above, plus a few more besides!!

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Two scopes were initially approved for the M1903A4. The Lyman Alaskan (M73) and the Weaver 330C (M73B1). The scope specification was written broadly enough that both the Lyman and the Weaver could qualify. Due to difficulty obtaining the lenses from Bausch and Lomb no M73's were delivered in time for A4 production. Few M73's were issued as M73's. In early 45 the rubber eye shield and sliding steel sunshade were approved modifications to the M73. Most of the early M73's had their markings defaced and were electropenciled or etched M81. Yet another scope, the M73B2, was made in france by OPL and test ed experimentally in the ETO.

The Alaskan as either the M73, M81 or M82 began to appear in late 44 and early 45 and were used primarily on M1C's.

Regards,
Jim

Amazing. I have arranged the purchase of 9 of these rifles in the last year, all with Criterion barrels. The wood quality is on par with after market replacement stocks, actually quite nice but not original. The scopes all "track" from 300 to 600 yards and back. The crosshairs are fine, but need to be used as iron sights at 600 (six o'clock hold). I have cleaned the 600 yard target a number of times in practice when I was on the wind with Hornady 168 amax. None of us ever had a feeding problem.
My concern is the recoil thing. Lighter to the point of more recoil? My Gibbs weighs 4oz less than my original A4. Never weighed them until I read this.
Something stinks here. I agree you need to seel it soon.