History
The Remington M1903A4 was based on the M1903 Springfield rifle which was the standard infantry rifle from 1903 on. In 1936 it was replaced by the faster firing 8 round M1 Garand rifle. The M1903 stayed in service during World War Two. Springfield made more than 3 million M1903 rifles.
M1903A4 Sniper Rifle
In 1936 the United States Army needed a sniper rifle. After tests by Remington Arms the choice was made to use the Springfield M1903. Production on this rifle was already stopped therefore Remington Arms stepped in and reproduced the M1903 rifle. The M1903 was relative accurate, Remington named their rifle M1903A3 and M1903A4 and used, after testing several sights, the Weaver 330C scope on the standard Army Sniper Rifle.
Weaver 330C Scope
The Weaver 330C scope had a relative low magnification of 2,5X. Some claim 2,2X others 2,75X. The scope had a narrow 1,9 cm tube which wasn’t waterproof and frequently fogged down or became waterlogged. It had long range limitations due to low magnification and limited field of vision. The army designated the scope M73 and M73B1. In the end it was an available and economic optic. It did however prove to be somewhat fragile in field conditions, prone to moisture seepage and difficult to use in low-light situations.
Although the Remington M1903/A4 rifle with the Weaver 330C scope was not the best sniper rifle during the war it was used on all theaters of war.
Specifications
The M1903A4 with the Weaver 330C scope had an effective range of 550 meters. It was a bolt action rifle with a 5 round stripper clip. It used 7,62mm (.30) cartridges. The basic M1903 Springfield had an effective range of 274 meters.
This Specific Remington Sniper Rifle
According to the museum Musée December 1944, the Remington M1903A4 sniper rifle seen on the photos is original. It has “W. Faucett” carved into the wood of the right side of the weapon forward on the front barrel. Complete with its original M73B1/Weaver 330C 2.5X scope, this rifle was found between Stoumont and Targnon in Belgium. An area that was the scene of desperate fighting during the Battle of the Bulge as Kampfgruppe Peiper attempted to follow the Amblève river toward the town of Remouchamps, where more bridges offered river crossings that might still make it possible to reach the Meuse river bridges at Liège. In the end though, Peiper could not make headway against the stubborn U.S. units that stood in his way beyond Stoumont. On December 24, he was forced to escape on foot with 800 of his men after abandoning 135 vehicles in the fields around La Gleize. The King Tiger tank in front of the museum is one of the panzers left behind.
