1903a3's at Guadalcanal ?

[Mike D]

I think it may not matter whether a rifle is scarce or not. They make rubber and resin replica props for the movie. They have all those other exotic firearms in it that are more "rare" compared to a 1903.

I think they really just made a mistake. Some guy charged with researching the weapons messed up and it was too late to change the prop if it was noticed at all.

Not that this is a witch hunt. It's just admittedly disappointing to 1903 fans.

I couldn't agree more. Somebody screwed up, and somebody else didn't care enough to fix it.

I just watched the 2nd one last night, and it was dissappointing to see the close up of a Marine firing a A3. That rear sight was just too much.

[Mike D]

Just finished watching "Shutter Island". The movie was based in 1954. and guess what, THEY HAD AN 03 SPRINGFIELD!!!

[Jim Tarleton]

I watched the 3rd segment last night, and it was mostly fornicating. I was shocked, shocked I say!

Jim

[Mike D]

I too, watched the 3rd last night, and did not expect that.

In the latest edition of "World War II" mag it says they didn't have enough "time" to put more of the Navy and airmens roles in there.

It also says that there was "...careful attention to historical versimilitude in scenery, costumes, weapons, and materiel." Close, but...

[Griff Murphey]

Back to THE PACIFIC; I found the use of the wrong Springfields distracting. Also, the Marines did not appear "at home" with the 03A3's... rifles came out of shoulders to do bolt manipulation. There was none of the high-rate-of fire bolt manipulation a trained rifleman is capable of and the Old Corps was famous for. I contrast this with Jude Law's role as Vasily Zeitseff in ENEMY AT THE GATES and even back to old Gary Cooper as SERGEANT YORK. Those actors fired their prop guns like riflemen. The firefight on Alligator Creek focused on the guys moving the '17 watercooled, and the men firing Thompsons. I just felt this was a missed opportunity, but these skills don't come easily and hard to impart to a 2009 25 year-old from central casting, I guess...

[stryker]

Hey, in "fighting Seabees" all the Japs have Krags!

[Jim Tarleton]

I am glad they made the effort to make the series. Some of the younger chaps have no idea what happened in WWII, and the agony and suffering their grandparents went though. Now if they will just make a WWI series with Belleau Wood as the focus, I will be content.

Tarawa - 20,000 Marines on less than 1 square mile. 4000 dead rotting bodies within 72 hours. It boggles the mind. The stench must have been horrendous.

Jim

[Bolo Badge]

Am I mistaken or did I see a Model 50 Reising SMG mixed in with the A3s.

In one scene I saw a Thompson M1928 and (what I think was) a Reising M50 SMG. I understand that the marines on Guadalcanal initially used the Reising but were both weapons issued concurrently in the same unit?

What's the story on the Reising SMGs? Were they intended to replace the Thompsons and did the M3 "Grease Gun" subsequently replace them?

[Rick the Librarian]

The "take" on the Reisings was that they were too finely "machined" to take the kind of abuse found in a combat environment.

[Mike D]

My wifes Grandfather was a Navy corpman attached to the 3rd Marines. He said he was offered the options of carrying a carbine or a Reising. It was common knowledge to him that the Reising was "junk", and he declined both. He said he later bought a 1911 off an airman, $50, and carried that shortly, but sold it for what he had paid. Said he didn't need it anyway and would rather carry more supplies.