Marine use of 03-A4? And a couple of others?

[Griff Murphey]

I would highly doubt the USMC used A-4's and certainly not A-3's. How about M-3 Greaseguns? I don't think I've ever seen a picture of a Marine with any of these guns.

Why would I ask? I am making some Marine figures for one of my O gauge (1/48) Troop Pullmans, using a (slightly underscale but visually compatible) set of 1/55 "Bolt Action" US Marine figures made in the UK, so their knowledge was slightly imperfect. The weapons and deuce gear are exquisite but they give you A-3's and what would be an A-4 with an Alaskan on it, and Greaseguns. But the BARs, M-1s, Thompsons, Winchester 97s, and .45s are really sweet. I've posed the figures in "administrative" poses, unarmed, such as a crap game. The weapons will go on the bunks.
The troop cars were made by Weaver and Atlas now makes them in an upgraded version fwiw.

[Merc]

Pictures?

[nf1e]

After our defective M16A1s were taken back in early 1968, many of us were issued M3s and 1911s. May not be photos around, but I can assure you they were used. Had to go to the Seabeas to get 45 ammo as we only got one box with the issue and that didn't even fill the mags that we were given and they had pallets of the stuff.

[Emri]

Pictures?

I'll second the motion......

[P51MUSTANG]

Pictures would be a huge help as stated......

[Sunray]

"...doubt the USMC used A-4's..." This says otherwise.
https://www.m40rifle.com/forum/armory/precision-bolt-action-rifles/m1903/3103-an-original-remington-1903a4-sniper
The M3 was used by everybody after Korea(the SEA war games, for example.) as there was nothing else.
The USMC went from 1903's to M1 Rifles in late 1942, as I recall. No need for a different bolt action.

[lyman]

CplNorton may have posted stuff in the past to show what branch used what during the war years, concerning the 03A3,

not sure if he posted that stuff here, or over on CMP or Gunboards,

[Roadkingtrax]

CplNorton may have posted stuff in the past to show what branch used what during the war years, concerning the 03A3,

not sure if he posted that stuff here, or over on CMP or Gunboards,

Steven has posted on several forums. We know the Marines wanted the 1903a4s early on to supplement, and I believe, out right replace the Unertl scoped 1903s.

I'll point Andrew (SmokeEaterPilot) to this thread.

[bruce]

We know the Marines wanted the 1903a4s early on to supplement, and I believe, out right replace the Unertl scoped 1903s. Makes good sense. Much more capable of facing the rigors of combat. Only drawback would be the modest power of the scope. Sincerely. bruce.

[cplnorton]

The Marines did have some 03A4's, but it was small in number. In the Pacific there are a handful of photos of Marines with the 03A4 on Cape Gloucester with the 1st Marine Div. But the 1st Marine Div was mostly outfitted by the Army in the Pacific so it sort of makes sense. There are also mentions of the Marine Raiders on Bougainville talking about the 03A4 and how much they liked them, but it might have been they only saw them in the hands of Army troops and didn't really use them that much themselves

The Marines though did plan on replacing the Unertl Snipers with the 03A4 in 1944. The Marine Raider report highly recommended the 03A4 over the 1903 Sniper the Raiders had been issued. So Headquarters Marine Corps took their recommendation and planned to carry out the replacement of the Unertls with the 03A4. The only thing is, the Raider Report probably was referring to the Winchester A5 Snipers the Raiders had received and not the Unertl. The Raiders had received 80 of the Winchester A5 snipers and when you compare that rifle to the 03A4, the A4 is superior. But because of using generic terms such as 1903 sniper, there was a lot of confusion and Headquarters thought the Raiders meant that the 03A4 was superior to the Unertl. The only thing the whole sniper program was mostly cancelled about the same time, so it appears the swap over to the A4 never happened.

There were some 03A4's that were shipped to Marine Infantry school in 1944 I believe, I didn't go back and look at the date for sure. But they were going to be used in some type of training role.

There are mentions of the 03A4 in Korea again. In some of the testing to adopt a new sniper rifle. Also there is one pic of a Marine with an 03A4 in Korea.

The 03A3 was not acquired officially in WWII by the Marines, but there are a couple pics of Marines with them. One on Bougainville, and I've heard there is another photo of one on Saipan but haven't seen that one yet. Again it would have been very small in number and more an unofficial procurement. The official stance of the Marines Corps was they didn't receive any new production 03's during WWII, other than the A4. There are a few pics and videos of Marines with 03A3's in Korea.

The Marines did acquire 03A3's at some point post 1945 though, as I have a count of 800 being turned in by them to Benecia Arsenal in the mid 50's.

The Grease gun doesn't seem to have been used by the Marines in WWII at all. There are no mentions or pictures that I have seen. But in the 50's the Marines did adopt the grease gun, and acquired a lot of them. I have all the docs on them, but didn't go back and look to double check the exact date. But the Grease gun replaced the Thompson.

[Tom Trevor]

See the new American Rifleman magazine, November 2019, for an article on this subject by Bruce Canfield.

[cplnorton]

If you want to see some info on the A4 with the Marines, Tim has some up on his website. Pics of the Marines with the rifle and some docs on them.

https://usmcweaponry.com/usmc-national-match-m1903s-m1903a1-unertl-sniper-rifle/

[twh]

The article and documents are extremely interesting charting the course of Marine Corp. sniping post WWI. One interesting fact I noticed was the cost of a, I think 1929 A1 national match, was around $450 which was a lot of money.

[Griff Murphey]

i was at my FFL friend’s office when a guy came in wanting an opinion on the 03 he had boughtasa USMC P5M Marlin pilot in the early 60’d. They had lsud out all these O3’s on tables at the O club. His was a true NM for $35 complete with the scope blocks for the Unertl. All we could say was congrats, you have a treasure. 46669466704666946670

The guy at the top left is a Bandai 1/48 German I inducted into the USMC and the at the bottom right is a Monogram 1/48 bomber mechanic with a USMC engineer type starched cover I sculpted. These also still need some touch up. Will add slings to the weapons and I have some micro money for the pile on the deck and in some guys’ hands. Another seated guy isthd tractor guy out of the Monogram B-24. The prone and supine individuals will be on bunks.

[Liam]

A quick search shows a few Marines with M3. Vietnam-era usage no less.46673