Question 1903 Springfield Sniper With Unertl 8X Mr Beard Gun Show Find

[Lt1]

Need help verifing a 1903 Sniper Serial # is 1457382 .4-38 barrel .. SPG/SA stock .Heavy checkered butt plate . 0 & E blocks blued & rounded with lyman holes . . pin punch mark on the side of the barrel not under as usual Correct shaped cut on the hand guard WW2 long slotted WW2 .Heres the strange part The handguard is cut under the niter blued middle band in 2 parts .The bolt NS bolt SA polished & numbered Not Blue . The rifle appears to be IMO a C stocked NM with blocks added The rear block is very close to the rear sight . .The rifle comes with Quantico papers dated 1970 & a Tax receipt from Larry Smith of Garand MC1 fame . He is known to have traded MGs to Quantico for 12 MC1 kollmorgen garands definately had access to Quantico museum I can have pics by this evening . Any and all help appreciated A SRS look up . Thank You V Owens

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Herschel]

Congratulations. SRS shows 1903 #1457382 as a 1903A1NM sold on 091635.

[Promo]

Wouldn't a sale to a private individual exclude it from possibly being a USMC sniper? But would love to see pictures of it!

[Lt1]

Congratulations. SRS shows 1903 #1457382 as a 1903A1NM sold on 091635.

Thank You Hershel what the seller didn`t want to hear . .SRS hits don`t morph into snipers AFAIK . I examined the rifle again Sunday . I was reasonably sure it was a real NM , In addition a really Nice 8x USMC scope & macarta can

The owner is a super nice guy & did purchase the rifle from Larry Smith now deceased in 1970 //43 years ago with paper work . I will pass the SRS search on to the owner .Bad news . Thanks again Hershel.. V/Owens

[Herschel]

V/Owens, I was part of the competitive highpower rifle shooting community for many years. Shooters want an accurate rifle, not a collector's item and modifications would be made to use a rifle in the shooting discipline that the owner was involved in. Shooters sell/trade rifles with fellow competitors. I think a prior owner had the blocks installed in the rifle so that a target scope could be used on it for 600 yard and 1,000 yard, any sight, matches. A USMC Unertl scope would have been just viewed as a telescopic sight, not as a collector's item. In 1958 I bought a new National Match M1 Rifle through the DCM at Camp Perry, Ohio. Shortly after I bought it fiberglass bedding came into vogue. Wanting the most accurate rifle, I paid an army armorer to glass bed my new rifle. Had I not had the modification done my rifle would now be worth considerable more than it is. I was not at all concerned about what the rifle would be worth 50 years in the future.

[JGaynor]

Make lemonade!.....
This may be one of those rare instances where it's worthwhile to request the whole file from SRS. Depending on who it was sold to the NM may still have an interesting story.

Regards,
Jim

[Rick the Librarian]

The only thing that SRS usually has on NM M1903s is the sales receipt.

[eb2151]

Beg to differ.
SRS Summary of DCM Rifle Sales contains sales to private individuals and Gun Club groups,
Where as in the 4 volumes their are numerous records of Match Rifle sales to the Military.
Their are sales of Krag match rifles to NG shooting teams to Match rifle sales to the Acadamies.
Respectfully submitted
Ed Byrns