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Title:RIFLE, MILITARY -  U.S. RIFLE MODEL 1903A4 .30 SN# 3409143
Maker/Manufacturer:REMINGTON ARMS
Date of Manufacture:1942
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:SPAR 966
Measurements:OL:110.4CM 43 1/2" BL: 60.9CM 24"

Object Description:

U.S. RIFLE MODEL 1903A4 .30 SN# 3409143
Manufactured by Remington, Ilion, N.Y. - The caliber .30 U.S. rifle M1903A4 is a magazine-fed, manually operated, bolt-action, shoulder weapon used for sniping. It is similar to the cal..30 U.S. rifle M1903A3 except that the ramp type rear sight and the front sight are removed and the stock has a pistol grip. An M73B1 (Weaver No. 330C) telescope is mounted to the top of the receiver. In addition, the bolt handle has a clearance cut on the outside to prevent interference with telescope when the handle is raised to unlock the bolt. Ammunition must be loaded into the magazine singly because the telescope covers the top of the receiver. 2-groove rifling. Converted from an '03A3. Parkerized barrel and receiver. Scope mount dovetailed to receiver. Weapon has an overall length of 43 1/2" and a barrel length of 24". Weapon weighs approximately 9 lbs. 3 oz. with scope. Muzzle velocity 2800 fps. Maximum range 3500 yds. Complete with M73B1 scope (SPAR-5503) and sling. Iron sights removed.

Markings:
Receiver: US/REMINGTON/MODEL 03-A3/3409143.
Barrel: RA/Ordnance bomb/6-43.
Bolt handle: R.
Cutoff: R.
Stacking swivel: R.
Scope mount: REDFIELD/PAT. NO. 1,837,290/OTHER PATS. PEND.
Sling: S.M.C./43.

Weapon transferred to the Museum from Rock Island Arsenal on 15 July 1964. At that time weapon was appraised at $239.00.

Notes: "Model 1903A4 rifle. Standardized on 14th January 1943, this variant of the M1903A3 modified for sniping use was made exclusively by the Remington Arms Company factory in Ilion; production amounted to 26,650. Sniper rifles were invariably fitted with Keystone ('K') or Springfield ('S') pistol-grip stocks. The earliest examples had two-groove cut rifling, but latter barrels used a four-groove draw-formed pattern. The bolt handle was bent down to clear the 2.5xTelescope M73B1, a militarized Model 330C made in El Paso by the W.R. Weaver Company. It carried in a Redfield Junior mount.
Finally, on 18th January 1943, 20,000 receivers - numbered 3407088-3427087 - were diverted from M1903A3 production for completion to M1903A4 standards. An additional order for 8365 were placed in June 1944, owing to the approval of the M1C Garand with a Lyman Alaskan sight in a Griffin & Howe mount. The June 1943 contract was still apparently incomplete." - Walter

"On January 18, 1943, Remington Arms Co., Inc. was issued an Ordnance Department contract - Production Order S-1066 - 'to divert 20,000 M1903 rifles from production and convert them to sniping arms, as per specifications furnished.' On June 20, 1943, an additional 8,365 sniper rifles were ordered....Total production: 28,365 units, making this the first Sniper rifle mass-produced in the United States....Receiver: Receiver, bolt, barrel, front sight, sear, ejector, cut-off, cocking piece, safety lock thumb piece have been modified and lightened from the original 1903 Springfield/Rock Island design. Bolt handle was manufactured in concave shape to clear the mounted scope eyepiece. Stock: Initially issued with specially-finished, M1903-A1 Type C, full-pistol grip stock. Later production changed to a more crudely finished, semi-pistol grip (scant-grip) stock. Both stocks were notched for the M1903A4 curved bolt handle. Some of the Type C stocks were made at Springfield Armory, while others were made under government contract by the Keystone Company. Marked S or K in cut-off well. Telescope: The commercial Weaver M330C rifle scope (later designated by the military as the M73B1) with 2.20X optics was fitted with cross-hair reticles. The scope tube has a blued finish. A commercial, quick-removal Redfield Junior scope mount and base with Parkerized finishes were utilized. A canvas carrying case with cartridge belt hooks was used to hold the telescope when dismounted from the rifle. Scope issued with leather dust caps and connecting thong.... Notes: The U.S. Ordnance Department contracted with Remington Arms Co., Inc. to modify Remington's M1903A3 as a basis for the U.S. Army's new Sniper rifle. Later, Remington was issued The Remington M1903A4 (Sniper) has the distinction of being the last of the M1903 series to be in ready reserve in U.S. arsenals into the 1980s. The rifle was fitted with the M84 scope, according to the last technical manual dated December 1970." - Joe Poyer & Roy Marcot, REMINGTON SOCIETY OF AMERICAN JOURNAL, 1ST Quarter, 1999.

"The M1903A4 sniper rifle was widely distributed to combat troops from mid-1943 on. The first units to receive them were Airborne and Infantry units taking part in the North African campaign. Army units in the Pacific received them a bit later in keeping with the 'European Theater First' strategy but by mid-1904, virtually every front line combat unit had received at least a part of their quota. French Army B (later the French First Army) units were even equipped with the M1903A4 sniper rifle during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France which began on August 15, 1944. When the USMC Model 1903A1 sniper rifle was withdrawn from service in 1944, it was replaced with the M1903A4.
In spite of its extensive service, the M1903A4 was far from the ideal sniper rifle. Soldiers complained that the scope was to delicate and that the windage screws, if broken or lost were nearly impossible to replace. The scope itself did not well in the humid environment of the South Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters. It leaked moisture and the lenses misted over and mildew and mold crawled up the sides of the tube and onto the cross hairs.
The small sight knobs and the minute markings were hard to make out in the field. The light gathering power of the small diameter objective lens was too low to make it of use in low light situations - heavily overcast days, dawn or twilight. The low 2.5 magnification might have been a bit more acceptable if the light gathering power of the scope had been greater. The mount was not sturdy enough to withstand the rough handling of soldiers in combat; drop the rifle and the chances were that if the scope were not broken, it was at least knocked out of alignment. Finally, in spite of what the technical manuals said, the scope did not maintain its zero when removed and then replaced. As a consequence, soldiers left the scope on at all times which only increased the chances of damaging it. Beyond the scope, the rifle itself was not especially suited to the role.
The initial testing that resulted in the selection of the M1903A3 as the sniper rifle had been conducted using the M1903A1, which from the standpoint of manufacture and fitting, was an altogether different rifle. The M1903A1 was built much like a fine sporting rifle. A great deal of attention was paid to drilling and rifling the barrel and fitting the barreled receiver into the stock. It is almost certain that the Infantry Board had the National Match version of the M1903 in mind when it made its decision to base the new sniper rifle on the M1903. But the M1903 was no longer being made by the time the sniper rifle entered production. The emphasis was on numbers produced and dependability and in the process accuracy was paid little more than lip service, especially after the end of 1943. The M1903A3 stocks had been 'opened up' so that no hand fitting was needed to assemble the barreled action to the stock. The author once owned a M1903A4 which appeared original in all respects and which had seen little or no action. Even the stock bolts snugged up, the barreled action rattled in the stock. To make it shoot accurately, the receiver had to be shimmed all around the cardboard.
Even so, the M1903A4 equipped with the M73B1 scope stood the Army and Marines in fairly good stead to the end of the war, and if not all that popular, was at least useful." - Poyer

"Like its service rifle counterpart, the M1903A4 sniper rifle is easy to identify. All examples were made by Remington and are generally identical to the Remington M1903A3 (1) The '03-A3' marking was retained but was moved to the extreme left side of the receiver so it could be read with the scope mount in place.
(2) The rear sight was removed and a Redfield 'Junior' scope mount was installed. The Weaver 330C, M73B1 or M8 telescopes were issued with the M1903A4 rifle during World War Two.
(3) The front sight was not mounted although the milling cuts for it were present.
(4) The full pistol grip Type C stock or the semi-pistol grip stocks were used. These had the same markings as found on the M1903A3 stocks.
(5) The bolt handle was concavely forged to clear the body of the telescope.
Some of the early M1903A4 rifles were issued with commercial production Weaver 330C telescopes with cross hair reticles. As the available supply ran out, additional scopes were manufactured and procured under government contract. These were essentially identical to the 330C but were marked with the military designation 'M73B1'. A very scare later variant of this scope was adopted as the M8, which differed mainly in having a tapered post reticle rather than the cross hairs of the 330C and M73B1 scopes. Leather lens covers were issued with the Weaver scopes during World War Two. A plastic version was introduced after the war but these would not properly be found on an 'as issued' WWII scope.
The M1903A4 serial numbers were in the following blocks of numbers:
3,407,088-3,427,087
Z4,000,000-Z4,002,920
4,992,001-4,999,045
The Z-prefix 'A4 rifles are a scarce and desirable variant with total production of fewer than 3,000.
The M1903A4 was the only '03 sniper rifle that was originally manufactured as a sniping weapon. Unlike the other '03 sniper rifles, it is virtually impossible to fake an M1903A4 sniper's rifle due to the peculiar placement of the receiver ring markings. 'A4s have become very popular with collectors today and prices have risen dramatically within the past few years. After World War Two, the Weaver telescope was replaced by the post-war M84, but most collectors prefer to have their rifles with the correct scope. Good condition military issue M73B1 scopes have gotten to be rather tough to find given the increased demand for restoration purposes." - Canfield

References:
Canfield, Bruce N. U.S. INFANTRY WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR II. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 1994.
Johnson, George B. INTERNATIONAL ARMAMENT. 2nd Ed. Ironside International Publishers. Alexandria, Va. 2002.
Poyer, Joe. THE MODEL 1903 SPRINGFIELD RIFLE AND ITS VARIATIONS. North Cape Publications, Inc. Tustin, Ca. 2001.
Walter, John. RIFLES OF THE WORLD. 2nd Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 1998.

FM23-10, TM9-270, TM9-1270, SNL B-3.

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