Mystery of the Missing Wartime Long Branch Snipers

[Seaspriter]

Dear o' dear..... this thread seems to be getting into one of those number game quizzes. In fact it actually READS like a numbers game. For heavens sake, can't someone just put it all in easy to read and decipher tabulated form before our screens explode in a complete jumble of numbers. Anyone out there a mathematics/arithmetic graduate

I must concur -- this thread is a bit confusing to those just interested in the conclusions, not the data collection. I'm going to suggest that anyone who has "number crunching" data just send me a PM, and I'll share it with Lee Enfield and Seaforth72, who are also collecting data.

Bottom Line: we are getting closer to the answers.

you also have a number of fakes built into the lot. That is going to make documenting them much harder. I know of one person in this province who has been having LBs cobbled together into snipers for a few years now and tossing them into auctions or dragging them out to gun shows. He does not declare their providence (or lack therof), even when asked.

This is quite disconcerting and probably explains why we have so many anomalies in outside the typical block ranges. We should probably post a warning to any buyer that anything outside verified block ranges be very carefully inspected to be sure its authentic. The block ranges that seem secure to me are: 1944-45 -- 68L 320 - 68L 400, 71L 000 - 71L 651, 74L 001 -74L 350, 80L 8001- 80L L8099, and 90L8000 - 90L8360. There are many authentic ones in the 1941-43 range, but they don't seem to have "block serial numbers" (small batch lots instead).

In thread https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=55722&page=5 Hal O'Peridol give us another clue to the Missing Wartime Snipers:

Numrich had somehow acquired some original pads, front and rear, 25 bucks the set (should have bought all they had!). Front pad had a small dent in the rear lower corner where some great clod had chiseled the pad off the body.

This would lead us to the conclusion that many Snipers were simply scrapped for parts after the war as surplus. While the Numrich parts may have come from more that just Long Branch Snipers, it's important data. Thanks Hal for the clue.