just picked up this beauty

[Mike D]

If you offered it for $1,000, I and many others, would jump on it. Its drilled and tapped, but with the whole USMC thing...

Mike

[rayg]

OK so i really hate to ask this but I'm out of my element on this one. I plan on giving this rifle to one of my boys when they are of age and i don't ever plan on selling it. I picked this up for $700 from a very good friend and I'm sure he made money on it, but i would like to know how much this rifle is worth. If its worth far ore than i paid, i need to go back to my friend and give him some more cash to make up for it as neither one of us knew what this rifle is when we struck the deal. I am a big believer in what goes around comes around and i want to make things fair. thanks for any and all help!!

That would be an honorable thing to do if that rifle was valued at way more then you paid and you plan on selling it to make a profit and it was a real good friend. I have done that myself after I sold a rifle for a lot more then I paid to a good friend for it. But here is another thought. Both of you agreed on the price and you did not buy it to sell it to make money but plan on giving it to your son. And you did mention he probably made money on it already.
I guess it just sounds like a normal buy/sell transaction to me in that sometimes the gun is worth more then you paid and some times it isn't. We all probably have sold rifles for less then they were worth because we didn't know the true value of it. It is part of the collecting world, Ray

[motocyclista]

Could someone please post a picture of a Hatcher hole? I keep reading about it, but have never seen a picture of one.

[Seaspriter]

If its worth far ore than i paid, i need to go back to my friend and give him some more cash to make up for it as neither one of us knew what this rifle is when we struck the deal. I am a big believer in what goes around comes around and i want to make things fair.

Thank you for making honour and integrity the foundation of your business dealings. All to often I hear of people who got a deal for a "steal" and being proud of the way they took advantage of the other guy. Your commitment to dealing with people in the highest standard is what actually helps business thrive. While I've seen some pretty crooked dealing in business in my career, I've also witnessed multi-million dollar deals done on a hand-shake; and it's the latter that creates more value.

In a recent study I participated in that analyzed multi-billion dollar energy industry projects, the fair-dealing executives who worked cooperatively and in a trustworthy fashion were 8 times more likely to finish their projects on-time, and on-budget than their tough-dealing, dog-eat-dog counterparts (yes, the bad guys finished last!).

Keep up the spirit of fair play, it's the right way and the best way. Your friend can always reject your "fair-deal" offer and instead accept an offer for you to buy him a beer, and call that a "fair-deal." A great friendship is invaluable, and should never be sacrificed for a few bucks. The cost of the money might hurt for a little while, but the loss of a friendship burns forever.

[cplstevennorton]

Could someone please post a picture of a Hatcher hole? I keep reading about it, but have never seen a picture of one.

This is a hatcher hole. Serials made after 1936 were factory drilled. This is from the target rifle earlier. Most Marine Hatchers are crudely done.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Great descriptive photo of a typical crude looking Hatcher hole cplstevennorton.

motocyclista, this a later A3 factory drill he's talking about -

[mike radford]

This is a most interesting thread. Thanks to all. Hope we learn more.