Jim
A few things
I?ve read your statements about Senich and can?t agree that he was an expert in USMC sniping or for that matter German sniping. His book on WW1, WW2 and Korean USMC sniping is good.. and really to this date the only work dedicated to the topic. As such he benefits from being ?first,? and the information being generally accepted .. and a lot of it is good stuff.. BUT
He obviously didn?t have as much information as you?ve assumed.. as he didn?t realize the significance of the documents in the National Archives pertaining to USMC procurement of both rifles and barrels for the Unertl scoped rifles.. Also his description (whether his or the people he chose to quote) are either misleading or not fully ?flushed out.? For instance there is more to the rifles than just adding blocks, milling out a hand guard and adding the scope.
Also Senich didn?t understand the Special Target rifles and how they fit into the equation. While his work is certainly better than a lot of stuff it is not indicative of someone who has completely studied all the information which was available.. or someone who would be considered an ?expert.?
As someone who also collects German WW2 I can also tell you the same things are true for his work on German Snipers.. decent but no where near complete, the ?go to work,? or indicating someone who is an expert in the field.
Second anyone simply looking at the photo you posted in this thread.. would realize there are serious issues with that rifle.. and as such it?s value to any serious discussion about researching USMC sniping is really minimal.
I realize you don?t particularly care for Steve.. but I would really caution you to leave ANY personal opinions out of your thoughts.. Steve and others have a plethora of knowledge of pre-Vietnam USMC sniping knowledge.. Also way more information has come from the National Archives as a result of Steve and others.. information which previously was certainly not included in discussion and presumably not studied.
Greg
