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This is another picture, but this time it is Marines on the firing line with scoped A5 1903's. I don't recognize the range, but it looks a lot like a cow pasture to me.:madsmile: Can anyone date this photo from the uniforms or equipment?:confused:
Note the boots on the Marine standing. The scoped rifles are interesting in they are not what I expected.
Semper Fi,
Jim:cool:
Army enlisted men wore those in 1936
Jim,
I can't say for certain, but it looks like the man standing, and the far one are wearing "cavelry" boots. ( you do know about horses, right??? ) The one prone, looks to have "leggings" on. That is what I see in your pic.
FWIW,
Emri
I picked them as Marines due to what appears to be an EGA on the second man's campaign hat (looking at high resolution photo), and the lack of cords on the hats. I have been under the impression that Army trousers of that era did not have rear pockets, but I may be way off on that one.
Anyone who can positively identify them as Marines or Army is welcome.
I wondered about the boots, but the Marines did indeed have horses. Lots of them.
Jim
In the second photo the arm patch looks like 2nd Infantry Div.
I think from the 20s. Note in the detail that the belts are similar. The bottom one is 1914 for date reference. The campaign hat doesn't necessarily mean USMC.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../08/6185-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../08/6794-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../08/413f-1.jpg
-Jeff L
The second photo is part of a photo of the 2nd Div Quartermaster train. This was when it was a combined arms division, before it became the 2nd Infantry Division. They had only become mechanized a few years before, and due to small Army budgets at the time, still had cavalry boots and riding pants. The building in the background still exists and is in use at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.
This is a panoramic piture and I can't find all of it.
Jim,
The cartridge belts do not appear to be the early Eagle-snap type, but the later pin-eyelet type which were issued during the WWI period, as I recall. I further note that the rifles appear to have front stock bolts, which date them after April, 1917.
The shooter is at firing position No. 35 and the range is 600 yards as noted on the monument beside him. A long row of targets appears downrange. It ain't no cow pasture.
FWIW.
J.B.
Looking at the photo again I would put it somewhere near early 1930s.
Thanks for the input, guys. I guess all those A5 scoped rifles weren't surplused when I thought they were. I presume those scopes could be Lymans, since from this angle there is no way to tell the difference.
What surprised me was the fact that the Army evidently had an affinity for the A5/5A also. Finding an A5 scoped 1903 rifle with "Marine" bases does NOT necessarily mean it is a USMC rifle, except for one mount/base combination.
Provenance will reign!
Jim