Welcome to in the present day’s Photograph of the Day! Right here we’ve got one other Vietnam-era firearm. It is a Winchester Mannequin 70 (M70) that has a Unertl 8x telescopic sight mounted on it. This explicit M70 rifle is a sniper rifle made for the USMC throughout the early a part of Vietnam. On the finish of World Warfare Two, the US had changed the M1941 Sniper Rifle with that of an M1C or M1D rifle. These rifles had fastened 2x scopes and acted extra like designated marksmen rifles. There was little or no literal precision in these weapons. This grew to become very obvious to advocates of the snipe rifle they usually pushed the army to seek for another that was extra literal. The primary actual end result was the Winchester M70 with a heavy barrel and sporter inventory. These M70 rifles had been by no means absolutely adopted however they had been issued to troops. In the course of the Korean struggle, there are situations of specialty sniper troops bringing their very own 30-06 rifles to behave as their sniper rifles as a substitute of utilizing the M1C or M1D.
“Winchester Mannequin 70 “commonplace Rifle” manufactured in 1941 with medium-heavy goal barrel and “U.S.M.C.-SNIPER” Unertl telescopic sight. The rifle retains the unique fashion sporter inventory with checkered pistol grip and forearm and metal checkered buttplate. The Marine Corps utilized Winchester Mannequin 70 rifles on this configuration in 1966 and early 1967 as the first sniper rifle till the adoption of the Remington Mannequin 700 sniper rifles in mid 1967. This rifle is identical because the Mannequin 70 sniper rifle utilized by famed Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock close to Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam, in 1966. A lot of the Mannequin 70 sniper rifles issued by the Marines to snipers within the early stage of the Vietnam Warfare had been pre-war or early WWII manufacturing Mannequin 70 .30-06 Commonplace Rifles bought throughout WWII. These rifles had been subsequently used for recreation and goal taking pictures. In 1966, the Marines decided that the M1C and M1D Garand sniper rifles lacked the accuracy required for operations in Vietnam and modified the out there Mannequin 70 goal rifles and commonplace rifles to sniper configuration by becoming them with the 8x Unertl “USMC-SNIPER” telescopic sights mounted on the Springfield M1903A1 sniper rifles throughout WWII and the Korean Battle. The Mannequin 70 Commonplace Rifles had been fitted with Winchester medium-heavy goal barrels in modified shares and the Unertl telescopic sights. The inventory had been fitted with 1 1/2-inch sling swivels. A few of the shares had been fiberglass bedded. This rifle is illustrated and described on pages 66 and 67 of “The One Spherical Warfare” by Peter Senich. The serial variety of this rifle, “48213” falls inside the serial quantity vary of Marine WWII Mannequin 70 rifles listed on pages 49-50 of Dying from Afar Quantity 1″ by Chandler & Chandler however just isn’t included on the record. This rifle has the entire traits of the Marine Mannequin 70 sniper rifles issued in Vietnam c. 1966. The barrel, receiver, bolt deal with, cocking piece set off guard, and buttplate have the Winchester charcoal blue end. The bolt physique is polished vibrant and electro-penciled with the rifle serial quantity “48213”. The inventory is properly figured American walnut with checkered forearm and pistol grip and has the Winchester semi-gloss varnish end. The medium-heavy goal barrel is a put up struggle substitute. The left aspect of the barrel has the usual Winchester legend and trademark adopted by: “MODEL 70-30-06 SPRG.-“. Oval Winchester “W/P” proof marks are stamped on the left aspect of the barrel and receiver. “WINCHESTER/-TRADE MARK-” is roll stamped on the left aspect of the receiver rail. The serial quantity, “48213” is roll-stamped on the proper aspect of the receiver under the rear sight base. The rifle has no Marine or U.S. property marks on any part. A Lyman micrometer sight base is mounted on the left aspect of the receiver. The WWII U.S.M.C. Unertl 8X telescopic sight has a charcoal blue end and is fitted with anodized aluminum Unertl goal mounts on Winchester bases. The scope tube is roll-stamped: “J. UNERTL/USMC-SNIPER” in two traces above the serial quantity “2232”. The scope has a high quality crosshair reticle and is fitted with screw-on metal lens covers.”
Lot 3542: Uncommon and Nicely Documented Winchester Mannequin 70 U.S.M.C. – Excellent, Uncommon and Nicely Documented Winchester Mannequin 70 U.S.M.C. Bolt Motion Sniper Rifle with Unertl Telescopic Sight. (n.d.). Rock Island Public sale Firm. {photograph}. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/74/3542/rare-and-well-documented-winchester-model-70-usmc.
