SMLE Enfield Sniper Rifle with PeriscopePrismCo.......

[Roger Payne]

I think at the time most people used their R eye but with an extemporised cheek support. I have heard of field dressings being attached to the butt, for example. Having said that I guess we'll never know if some of the men actually did shoot them left eyed, unless someone knows of any documented evidence on the subject. I have a pal here in the UK that has a faithful copy rifle & who shoots it quite sweetly using his left eye.

Re value; I think one has to accept that even copies of these rare rifles have a certain value if put together carefully. The reproduction mounts I (& now one or two others) from time to time sell, are not cheap. The rifles generally sport original scopes, & to do the job well, you need a good original base rifle. Just add up the sum total of the parts & you've got a good couple of thousand dollars......
And an instance of the prices of totally genuine WW1 rifles; I sold my last remaining German sniper's rifle last week (a very clean Gew 98 semi-turret mount with Goerz scope). I took most of the payment in early Mk3 volley sighted SMLE's, but the nominal sale price we agreed was somewhere between 5 & 10 thousand pounds.......If I were looking to buy one like that now, I just don't think I could justify the expense.

Please don't think I am defending fakery as I am not, but I have been collecting all my adult life & even now only have a handful of genuine WW1 snipers; they just don't grow on trees, & for this reason there is a place for the reproductions, so long as they are sold for what they are & at a sensible price respecting that they have required a degree of outlay & skill to set up, but are not & never will be 'original'.

Dirge over!

ATB

[Peter Laidler]

A good, honest and well thought out appraisal Roger. I agree. There IS a place for good honest copies or fakes - call them what you will.

[WarPig1976]

A great example would be the Gibbs & James river O3A4 reproductions available here,which are well marked as copies and affordable.

[browningautorifle]

We have a man here in town that has put together some excellent copies of all the major players sniper rifles of WW2. Everyone knows they are copies and they are for him to have and shoot without conscience. When they sell out of his estate in years to come, who can say what will take place? For the time being though, they are about the only examples around.

[Thunderbox]

This may be a dumb question, but i know little to nothing about theses WW1 sniper rifles. Which eye are you supposed to look through the scope, left or right?

My own view (I have a PPCo No1) is that the offset rifles were intended to be shot with the right eye using the iron sights for target acquisition, and the left eye using the scope to pick up and aim the shot.

- The PPCo scope and similar WW1 scopes have very narrow field of view, so target acquisition through the scope itself is difficult in the environment for which the rifle was designed - ie surveying a large area of battlefield or trench parapet;

- The right eye/left eye combo is very fast in practice, and gives a better possibility for a snap shot than an overhead scope of the same vintage;

- I think there is some significance in the fact that the offset of the scopes from the iron sight axis is pretty much the average distance between left and right eyes.


Thats just my opinion, based on shooting the rifles and my perception of the tactical environment of the time. There was clearly some purpose in the offset, as the War Office kept procuring offset rifles (the limited quantities of No3 offsets) right up to WW2....

[WarPig1976]

So, you use it like a red dot sight with both eyes open?

[Brian Dick]

I know that today's snipers are trained to shoot with both eyes open so you don't lose peripheral vision.

[jmoore]

I try and shoot everything both eyes open.

The drama with these "semi-reproduction" rifles is that you generally don't know how well it was built, nor if the rifle was worthy of having a scope added. If you KNOW it's a good shooter, then it's worth more than the US$1000-1500 noted earlier. But if the rifle won't shoot, the bracket wasn't well lined up, or the installation was dodgy, then you might have to write off the rifle, mount or both! Then there's the question of whether the scope is servicable "as is".

[Thunderbox]

So, you use it like a red dot sight with both eyes open?

I shoot with both eyes open anyway. With the PPCo scope, its simply a matter of changing focus from right eye to left eye. Of course the scope pointer is already laid on the object that the right eye has been looking at, so the same visual cue is there for the left eye.

I find that my eyes quickly get used to switching over - its a bit like those people with differing eye prescriptions, looking up from a laptop to the TV.

[Gil Boyd]

.................agree with Roger, they are out there and it is the "knowledge" that will save you money