Never made snipers?

[Melanie_Daniels]

From this snipers of WW2 I only found bluprints

Information

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[oldfoneguy]

The British had sniper rifles based on their No3 (P14) always built with Winchesters. The US had a sniper rifle based on the M1917 which they called the US Model 1918. It never went into production because they already had their M1903 sniper rifles and never had any plans to fully adopt the M1917 which was just a stop-gap due to a rifle shortage when we entered WWI. - Bill

[Daan Kemp]

There is much more to the P17/03 in US use during and just after WWI than appears on the surface, not just a 'stop-gap'. The P17 lost out to being NMH I believe.

[Promo]

Simon posted these drawings some years back on this forum. He copied them from the Pattern Room years ago.

[Ridolpho]

Neat- a plan to use No. 32 scopes on the P14. The bracket would have to be longer than the No. 4 version. I wondered for a second if this was meant as an upgrade for existing No. 3*(T) but the plan for the front base suggests it was for new conversions. I wonder if actual prototypes were assembled?

Ridolpho

[breakeyp]

I would suggest that production was cancelled because of the slow rate of production of the telescopic sights as evidenced by the availability of the No. 4 Mk1(T)s less telescopic sights.

[Promo]

No Paul, this can't be. What the picture posted here doesn't show, the drawing is dated 25-5-40. Since according to the MKL entry of the No. 4 T trials rifle says the first rifles were converted in May 1940 at RSAF Enfield this exactly fits to the date of this drawing. So possibly a last-day decision in favor of the No. 4 rifle instead of the P.14?

[Lee Enfield]

No Paul, this can't be. What the picture posted here doesn't show, the drawing is dated 25-5-40. Since according to the MKL entry of the No. 4 T trials rifle says the first rifles were converted in May 1940 at RSAF Enfield this exactly fits to the date of this drawing. So possibly a last-day decision in favor of the No. 4 rifle instead of the P.14?

Actually the truth is probably that this P14 No32 project was only shelved once the No4 rifle production began to come on stream in mid 1941.

We have to remember that in May 1940 the only No4 rifles in existence were stored trials rifles and salvaged/unassembled receivers, maybe 3,000-5,000?? total.

They were desperately scrambling to get the No4 rifles factories into production, not succeeding until 1941, and many of the 1941 dated actions are actually pre-war manufactured trials rifle receivers which were assembled into complete guns in 1941.

At the same time, they had approx. 1 million P14/No3 rifles in stores.

approx. 421- P14/No3 snipers were assembled with all the available salvaged stored WW1 scopes and commercial mounts early in the war https://www.milsurps.com/content.php...A-Sniper-Rifle)
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=63983
plus the approx. 100? P14/No3 rifles assembled with Warner & Swasey Ross MkIII take off scopes.

A bird in the hand if you will, if there had been a longer delay in No4 production, I'm sure that we would see more P14/No3 snipers

[Roger Payne]

I heard many years ago that two prototypes were made of this P'14/No32 system, & that neither was believed to have survived. I don't know if it is true or not, although, thanks to Promo, I am lucky enough to have a set of mounts now.