1903A1 USMC Sniper

[Roy W]

The following rifle is up for sale in the UK. On the face of the photos the scope looks genuine. The wood looks new and has no markings.

Based on everything I have read, without paperwork it's impossible to say if they are genuine and are worth the sum of the parts.

If that scope is real, then is this worth the sum of it's parts, or could it be the real deal?

http://highwoodclassicarms.co.uk/Fir...0Sale/0079.htm

Information

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[Lee Enfield]

I'm sure that cplstevennorton will be along shortly. he's done a great amount of research on the 1903A1 snipers.

I personally look for the Lyman receiver sight threaded holes, but I am not sure what the current research is.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=67632
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=66084

[browningautorifle]

Over $10300 CDN for that example. I would never pay that on spec, and if it's real I wouldn't want to shoot it. I'd rather put one together and shoot it, those look like they might just be a wonder to shoot... The high polished bands put me off...

[El Woodman]

….Doubts regarding originality...1)Stock has cuts for M1903A3....2) bright blue lower band...3) As far as I know, Marine Sniper '03s bolts were polished, not left in the blue, and serialized to the rifle....4)High SerNo and 8-42 barrel indicate very late production, often assembled from assorted parts, and referred to by collectors as "floor sweepings", though it is very possible that receiver and barrel are factory installed...Cpl. Steve Norton could help you on the paper chase, which is the undeniable evidence.

[cplstevennorton]

Yeah sorry to say nothing on the rifle is correct. I run into two types of rifles like this. Ones that were put together as match rifles back in the day with a scope mounted. Otherwise they are not meant to deceive as a Marine Sniper. They were just a scoped rifle put together back in the day when sporters were popular and today people confuse these rifles as being a Marine rifle. This one on the other hand is not like that. It was meant to deceive or someone was trying to copy a Marine Sniper. They just didn't do good job on copying one. The scope on the other hand is real. In the states that would probably be close to a 4k scope.

Some of his info he posts on the history of them is also not correct.

Really you don't need paperwork at all to confirm one. All known rifles are nearly identical. They are so distinct that even with a few pics it's pretty easy to tell if they are real or not. The only time it gets complicated somewhat is if they have been sporterized or I run into ones that guys have messed with to make them more correct to what a book states. The only problem being the books were wrong on some of the info and collectors have incorporated the fake traits from books onto real rifles. If you even tell me the serial number and barrel date, I have a pretty good idea if it's real or not before I look at it

The team docs Tim Plowman found at the archives helped so much in decoding the info on the real rifles.

[Roy W]

Yeah sorry to say nothing on the rifle is correct. I run into two types of rifles like this. Ones that were put together as match rifles back in the day with a scope mounted. Otherwise they are not meant to deceive as a Marine Sniper. They were just a scoped rifle put together back in the day when sporters were popular and today people confuse these rifles as being a Marine rifle. This one on the other hand is not like that. It was meant to deceive or someone was trying to copy a Marine Sniper. They just didn't do good job on copying one. The scope on the other hand is real. In the states that would probably be close to a 4k scope.

Some of his info he posts on the history of them is also not correct.

Really you don't need paperwork at all to confirm one. All known rifles are nearly identical. They are so distinct that even with a few pics it's pretty easy to tell if they are real or not. The only time it gets complicated somewhat is if they have been sporterized or I run into ones that guys have messed with to make them more correct to what a book states. The only problem being the books were wrong on some of the info and collectors have incorporated the fake traits from books onto real rifles. If you even tell me the serial number and barrel date, I have a pretty good idea if it's real or not before I look at it

The team docs Tim Plowman found at the archives helped so much in decoding the info on the real rifles.

Thanks, that's very informative.

Merry Christmas

[Chuckindenver]

partsgun, nice scope, scope value is more then the gun. gun value? 1500 depending on the serial number range, scope value..? 3500 to 5000 depending on the buyer