Winchester 70 Van Orden

[cplnorton]

How did VO get his hands on a USMC Unertl scope? At the time this rifle was sold, the Corps had not surplussed the Unertls.

jt

I think someone added it later on. All the info I've seen on the VO rifles and the advertisements I've seen from back in the day, detail the lyman scope. I will look, I think in one of the books it has an ad from Van Orden and it describes the Supertargetspot.

But yeah I think someone added the Unertl much later on to make it look like a USMC sniper.

[cplnorton]

[jgaynor]

At the beginning of WW2 then Capt Van Orden promoted the use of the 8x Unertl on a winchester Model 70 for the standard USMC snipers rifle. The brass balked at adopting a new, non standard rifle so the Unertl scope was used on M1903A1 National Match and Special Target rifles that were in inventory.

Van Orden went off to lead an amphibious unit in the Pacific where he was awarded the Navy Cross.

It has never been clear to me why he continued to flog the idea of a target scope on a snipers rifle after WW2.

[keith smart]

Thanks, Jim. His affinity for the Unertl remains a mystery but his background lends to his ability to access the scope

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

Thanks, Jim. His affinity for the Unertl remains a mystery but his background lends to his ability to access the scope

He had access to government property scopes to use on his commercial operation rifles? I seriously doubt that. His own circular stipulates he used Lyman Super TargetSpot Scopes on his commercial rifles.

jt

[Herschel]

For what it is worth, there was an Amon E. Bell that fired in the High Power Rifle National Matches at Camp Perry in 1958.
He is listed as a civilian and won a Silver Medal in the Leg Match.

[Big Larry]

I am a little late with this info. A USMC Unertl just went for $7,700 with the Micarta can. As for Evaluators rifles, I have # 272958, sold to the US Army rifle team at Camp Perry, 9-03-1954. Completely documented by known Sniper book author Peter Senich. I think he has all the Van Orden numbers. Sadly, the US Property markings were ground off the receiver, but I was given the rifle as a gift. It came with a Lyman STS and I don't remember which power. The scope was trashed, so I sold it for parts. Big Larry

[cplnorton]

Big Larry Good to see you come back to Jouster!

[Big Larry]

Thanks to all who remember me. Big Larry