DI Bolt question

Question on rifle find.. About the D1 bolt . Blued bolt with serial # 1526629 scribed in fine hand About 20 font on top of body . Di on top of bolt handle with punch mark under root in the white with small f Firing pin marked 3 with 28-29 coils on striker spring . Striker rod is CV marked & polished at contact points . Extractor is blued on top with small gas hole .Any comments on the bolt or serial # 1526629 Thank you LT1

Checking JB's charts on http://www.vishooter.net/m1903.html, the bolt is correct for the serial # etched on it. I think some Greek returns were so marked.

Sounds like a former NM bolt that was blued and used for service purposes.

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Originally Posted by Lt1

Question on rifle find.. About the D1 bolt . Blued bolt with serial # 1526629 scribed in fine hand About 20 font on top of body . Di on top of bolt handle with punch mark under root in the white with small f Firing pin marked 3 with 28-29 coils on striker spring . Striker rod is CV marked & polished at contact points . Extractor is blued on top with small gas hole .Any comments on the bolt or serial # 1526629 Thank you LT1

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Your description is consistent with a bolt from a WWII USMC sniper rifle. The bolt was formerly a National Match rifle bolt. The serial number correctly identifies the original rifle that the bolt came from.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

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Originally Posted by John Beard

Your description is consistent with a bolt from a WWII USMC sniper rifle. The bolt was formerly a National Match rifle bolt. The serial number correctly identifies the original rifle that the bolt came from.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

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JB I have the rest of the rifle less the stock . Fishing for information If possible could I send you pics or post here along with description of the receiver & trigger housing & parts for a better evaluation ? I found this rifle this past weekend at a SC gun show . Lt1

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Originally Posted by Lt1

JB I have the rest of the rifle less the stock . Fishing for information If possible could I send you pics or post here along with description of the receiver & trigger housing & parts for a better evaluation ? I found this rifle this past weekend at a SC gun show . Lt1

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I would be delighted to receive pictures of your rifle and/or discuss your rifle further. You can contact me at jvbeard-at-knology.net. Use the symbol for "at".

J.B.

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Originally Posted by Lt1

Question on rifle find.. About the D1 bolt . Blued bolt with serial # 1526629 scribed in fine hand About 20 font on top of body . Di on top of bolt handle with punch mark under root in the white with small f Firing pin marked 3 with 28-29 coils on striker spring . Striker rod is CV marked & polished at contact points . Extractor is blued on top with small gas hole .Any comments on the bolt or serial # 1526629 Thank you LT1

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I checked my 03A3 bolt it is a D1 as well. Also has an electro-penciled number 1529049 on it. Any info on it? Thank you

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Originally Posted by Milsurps1957

I checked my 03A3 bolt it is a D1 as well. Also has an electro-penciled number 1529049 on it. Any info on it? Thank you

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Pics would really help identify it.

Lt1's bolt comes from a serial number range dense with National Match rifles, and rifles that became Marine Unertl Sniper rifles.

There are a few reported sniper rifles in the 1.529 serial range, one well known in fact. Seeing your bolt would shed light not only on your possession, but on a few other rifles floating around the collector community. It could be a "holy grail" find for certain collectors (myself included) if it has a few key characteristics.

I'd really love to see it. If you can post pics here, or send me a private message.

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Originally Posted by Milsurps1957

Any info on it? Thank you

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Do you realize this is a ten year old thread and the OP hasn't even been here since 2016?

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Do you realize this is a ten year old thread and the OP hasn't even been here since 2016?

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I for one am glad he did dig up this thread. He's asking very specific questions about a very similar and rare bolt. Not only that, this has shed some light for me personally on a couple reported USMC Unertl Sniper rifles.

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Originally Posted by champ0608

I for one am glad he did dig up this thread. He's asking very specific questions about a very similar and rare bolt. Not only that, this has shed some light for me personally on a couple reported USMC Unertl Sniper rifles.

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I appreciate your help identifying this sniper rifle bolt. I thought it was much smoother to run than a normal 03A3 bolt. lol

I just saw this and sort of wanted to add some context to this bolt. Because I think it's been labeled as a 100% legitimate USMC sniper bolt. Which to be truthfully honest, the chances are four times more likely it's not from a sniper rifle and that serial was just a Marine team rifle.

In 1942 the Marines had a 1047 NM and Special Target rifles that were all either rebarreled NM rifles or NM rifles that had their original star gauged barrels. The Marines notated that all the bolts in these 1047 rifles were polished and they ordered them all to be blued and put into storage. Six months later, 150 of these 1047 rifles were selected and converted to a sniper rifle. Before this order was fully finished, they stated the number could be increased to 250. It is not clear for sure the 250 were made, but it is assumed they were.

This is the only order to build Unertl Sniper rifles during the war that has ever been found. Even three years later the Headquarters Marine Corps in 1945 comments that only the 250 were thought to have been produced. This seems to be confirmed again in 1951 when the Marines state they have less than 200 Unertl Snipers still serviceable.

So your bolt, while I do believe is from a NM Marine team rifle, it is not guaranteed to be from a rifle that was converted to be a sniper. Since all 1047 had their bolts blued, it could be from one of the 800 NM and special target rifles that never were converted.

So in all honestly your bolt only has about a 25% chance it came from a sniper rifle. It's much more likely it's just a former Marine Team rifle bolt that was blued in 1942.

Now there is a Unertl Sniper Rifle Association that anyone who owns a real rifle can join. We have about 25 members. We keep logs on all rifles found and serials of any part or piece found. We logged the serial of this to keep track of it. Just to make sure it doesn't appear in a rifle someday and passed off as original. We do this because the bolt and handguard are used a lot to determine authenticity of a rifle and we are trying to keep documentation of rifles that are original and ones that have had parts changed.

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Originally Posted by cplstevennorton

I just saw this and sort of wanted to add some context to this bolt. Because I think it's been labeled as a 100% legitimate USMC sniper bolt. Which to be truthfully honest, the chances are four times more likely it's not from a sniper rifle and that serial was just a Marine team rifle.

In 1942 the Marines had a 1047 NM and Special Target rifles that were all either rebarreled NM rifles or NM rifles that had their original star gauged barrels. The Marines notated that all the bolts in these 1047 rifles were polished and they ordered them all to be blued and put into storage. Six months later, 150 of these 1047 rifles were selected and converted to a sniper rifle. Before this order was fully finished, they stated the number could be increased to 250. It is not clear for sure the 250 were made, but it is assumed they were.

This is the only order to build Unertl Sniper rifles during the war that has ever been found. Even three years later the Headquarters Marine Corps in 1945 comments that only the 250 were thought to have been produced. This seems to be confirmed again in 1951 when the Marines state they have less than 200 Unertl Snipers still serviceable.

So your bolt, while I do believe is from a NM Marine team rifle, it is not guaranteed to be from a rifle that was converted to be a sniper. Since all 1047 had their bolts blued, it could be from one of the 800 NM and special target rifles that never were converted.

So in all honestly your bolt only has about a 25% chance it came from a sniper rifle. It's much more likely it's just a former Marine Team rifle bolt that was blued in 1942.

Now there is a Unertl Sniper Rifle Association that anyone who owns a real rifle can join. We have about 25 members. We keep logs on all rifles found and serials of any part or piece found. We logged the serial of this to keep track of it. Just to make sure it doesn't appear in a rifle someday and passed off as original. We do this because the bolt and handguard are used a lot to determine authenticity of a rifle and we are trying to keep documentation of rifles that are original and ones that have had parts changed.

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To echo what Steve said... not all rifles were converted.... so to automatically assume the bolt is from a converted rifle is a mistake. The bolts were standard NM bolts with their original rifle serial number applied by SA and then blued.. While we use the bolt as an identifier for a real rifle.. there are countless other things we know apply to the rifle itself that tell whether it is a legit Unertl sniper .. So IMO it is better to have a rifle missing it’s original bolt.. then the other way around.

The only real value is if you own the actual rifle and it is determined to be a team rifle or sniper.. otherwise it is worth about 2-3 times what a NS bolt is worth.. so about $400.