ID this scope, from Pacific WWII

[pelago]

winchester a5?

[emmagee1917]

Looks to be either a Winchester A5 or a Lyman 5A .
Chris

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

It is a modified Winchester A5 from WWI.

jt

[bigskybound]

Very cool.

[pelago]

It is a modified Winchester A5 from WWI.

jt

do you mean "as in left over from WWI?" certainly not a description of current (at the time) usage, which was clearly WWII and somewhere in Pacific, could have been Canal to Oki?

[emmagee1917]

They were made from 1909-ish ( IIRC ) to 1928-ish , so , yes , a WW1 re-run like most of the 1903s the marines hit the beach on the canal with.
Chris

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

The scope is from a set modified by Winchester in 1917 for sniper use by the USMC in WWI. They are quite unique, and only about 1,000 were made and issued to Marines of the 13th Regiment with approximately 125 of them issued to the 5th and 6th Regiments before they went to France. They were mothballed after the war except for a few that continued in use in the Banana Wars. Although the scopes still exist, the original sales rifles to which they were attached are as rare as hen's teeth. The original 125 represent the rarest of all the 1903's. Although faked on a grand scale, the fakers (and the buyers) seem to have no knowledge of what an original looked like (distinct identifying marks).

jt

[jgaynor]

The scope is from a set modified by Winchester in 1917 for sniper use by the USMC in WWI. They are quite unique, and only about 1,000 were made and issued to Marines of the 13th Regiment with approximately 125 of them issued to the 5th and 6th Regiments before they went to France. They were mothballed after the war except for a few that continued in use in the Banana Wars. Although the scopes still exist, the original sales rifles to which they were attached are as rare as hen's teeth. The original 125 represent the rarest of all the 1903's. Although faked on a grand scale, the fakers (and the buyers) seem to have no knowledge of what an original looked like (distinct identifying marks).

jt

Excellent post on this very rare variation! Thanks Jim. According to USMC correspondence there were 887 of the Telescopes on hand at Philadelphia in Oct 1940. No mention of rifles however.

Regards,

Jim Gaynor

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

There was an old Marine who stated he was told to strip the rifles down to their barreled receivers. He had difficulty removing the bases, and crushed those receivers. I cannot attest to the accuracy of his story, but I suspect most were decommissioned in some way. Of the original 1200 rifles, very few have surfaced to date. Currently, the fakes seem to significantly outnumber the remaining originals.

jt

[pelago]

great information on a subj soon to go with our WWII veterans, thank you to all that contributed to this
thought it was a cool photo, and looks like it was not staged

[TW56]

Looks like a USMC sight cover on that 1903

[Promo]

Jim, if you don't mind me asking: how then can an original Winchester A5 sniper be identified? Mann-Neider modified scope mount, rear base on the middle of the reciever, .. but are there any other unique features, or should I just compare it with pictures in Brophy's book?

[Johnny in Texas]

Any ideas on what is projecting up from his pack?

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

Jim, if you don't mind me asking: how then can an original Winchester A5 sniper be identified? Mann-Neider modified scope mount, rear base on the middle of the reciever, .. but are there any other unique features, or should I just compare it with pictures in Brophy's book?

I have never seen a picture of an original A5 sniper rifle showing its ID marks in any of the books I have read or perused. Other than the distinct scope, mounts, and serial number range, they were also stamped with certain additional identifying marks unique to those rifles.

jt

[chuckindenver]

that backs up what i was told., per the bases being high temp soldered on...great info.