Debate over 1903A4......

D

Dangus

New member
I'm helping to make a world war 2 squad combat game using the Half-Life engine and there has been quite a debate between us weapons advisors. I'm absolutely certain that there was an adaptation made to the Springfield 1903A4 to allow it to be loaded with stripper clips even with a scope on. To my knowledge the scope was offset slightly to the left side of the weapon and the clip could be inserted between the posts of the scope mount. They, on the other hand, swear that the 03A4 had to be loaded by individual rounds.

Can some kind soul please clear this up for us? Thanks in advance :)
 
The Remington 1903A4 I own has the scope centered over the bore axis, and cannot be loaded via stripper clip. Same goes for the Marine Corps 1903A1 with Unertl scope. I believe the earlier WW1 1903's, with Warner-Swasey scopes, were offset to the left. Perhaps your friends were thinking about the M1C and M1D sniper Garands, which had their scopes offset to the left to allow en-bloc 8-round clip loading?
 
Off topic,

The Jefferson quote above was actually a translation from Cesar Becarria. It was one of Jefferson's faves and was quoted in one of Jeffeson's publications (was it "The Common Sense Book"?).

Rick
 
Interesting that it might have been some of the earlier ones that were loadable via stripper clips.....

Thanks for the info :)


As for my sig line, I have been meaning to update it actually. I just am lazy about stuff like that :) It is indeed Jefferson reworking a quote a bit....
 
Gewehr98 is right

The M1903A4 Springfield Sniper rifle with the Weaver 330 based M73 or M73B1 or Lyman Alaskan based M81 or M82 telescope used a Redfield Jr. base which straddled across the top of the reciever. This mounting system precluded use of stripper clips by the sniper. Concerning the USMC 8x Unertl scope, that was mounted atop of the barrel and the receiver. The long tubular body of the Unertl precluded use of stripper clips.

However, the earlier WWI M1903 Springfield which was adapted for sniping purposes had a Warner Swasey telescope was mounted offset on the left side of the receiver. The Warner Swasey was short enough to permit use of stripper clips. There is no historical documentation to show that the Warner Swasey was pressed into service during WWII. The other scope used during WWI was the Winchester A5. Like the Unertl, the scope mount base was located on the barrel and the receiver.

Peter Senich has some good info on these rifles in his books. Tatum also wrote a nifty pamplet ($5.95) on Sniper Rifles of WW II. It's more affordable, but has a lot less details.

Repost if you have anymore questions.

BTW, register your group with the IRS as a 501(c)3 educational organization. Any money spent towards reenacting becomes tax deductible. "Gee Honey, I can write off the Lewis gun."
 
In WWII, the sniper rifle was considered very much a secondary weapon and it was never intended to be used in a rapid fire situation. For what it was intended for, clip loading was not thought necessary as the magazine could be loaded without a clip. The M1 was another story, as the magazine could not be loaded at all except with a clip, so the scopes had to be offset.

Jim
 
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