Originally Posted by
Marine A5 Sniper Rifle
1) I am not sure how you know what everyone thinks, but I think it took less than 30-days to complete.
2) You have now affirmed what I have said all along. The Marines emptied their armories of armorers to outfit the 4th Brigade. I can document the Marines making tapered bases in 1916. A nagging question, in my mind, has been why the Corps chose Niedner to make the first 150 rifles.
3) You have a document that states Marine were going to mount A5 scopes on '03's? My question is why? They already had more sniper rifles than they would need to equip both the 4th and 6th Brigades with rifles left over. Subsequent orders of sniper rifles would be senseless, and the Corps did not waste money. I can see them buying spare scopes to offset scope attrition, but assembling more sniper rifles makes no sense at all. Not at all.
4) I believe the first shipment of rifles came from WRA, and they had tapered bases installed by WRA (ignoring the Niedner rifles).
5) Just how long was this training session at WRA? How many men were trained, and exactly what were they trained to do? Where did they go once they completed their training? Can you support this claim using the Muster Rolls?
6) You can document the Army and Navy ordering A5 sniper rifles in mid-1917?