The "Model 1903A1 (Sniper) United States Marine Corps" rifle (misnamed "USMC Model 1941" by many, according to Joe Poyer in his book Collecting the American Sniper Rifle 1900 to 1945 page 53)
(jgaynor) Clarification please. 1,750 or 2,725? Did you mean to write "1750 8x Unertl scopes delivered of which 975 were still on hand in depot stocks."? As it was written with "and", that bumped the total to 2,725.
On that point Joe Poyer (op. cit. p. 66) believes that at least 3,500 scopes were acquired, of which 1,750 were accepted by April 1945. Sadly Unertl factory records were not retained. (Poyer op. cit. p. 66) A detailed database of surviving scopes would at least establish high and low serial numbers of known "USMC-SNIPER" marked scopes - assuming the run of numbers was uninterrupted. Such a database could help resolve that issue in the absence of Unertl and USMC records.
Interestingly on olive-drab.com they write "serialized 1000 to 2775" which is 1775 i.e. 25 more than stated here. Ref: http://olive-drab.com/od_other_firea..._m1941usmc.php
I have a special interest as I have an Unertl 8X scope, without the spring (as per USMC standards), with USMC mounts, with the USMC Micarta carrying case and with a serial number within the range quoted for UISMC-SNIPER rifles. It was bought in a military surplus store about 2008. It ended up in the hands of a former USMC sniper instructor and he sent it to me. The puzzle is that the scope is marked "1114 / J. UNERTL" and has neither the classic "USMC - SNIPER" marking nor the "J. UNERTL / OPT. ... CO."commercial logo. It is in rough shape having been submerged it looks like, though the lens caps were still on and the insides remained dry. The large end cap (objective lens) was rusted in place in it took weeks of soaking in penetrating oil and judicious work to free it up. A previous user/owner had used a wire wheel to clean off the rust and there is no finish left on the exterior. As one reader on another forum (Milsrups.com) stated, it was the only one he had seen that looked like it had been used on Guadalcanal!
Colin