November 5, 2014

Steve-
Sorry that I cannot help with rifles, but there is one piece of ephemera that might help. I have a (near) complete set of the paperwork that went with a Van Orden “Special Target” rifle shipped to USMC for the rifle team. The outer (typewritten) envelope is addressed to the Quartermaster General of the Marine Corp and signed by George Van Orden and Victor Brown, USMC retired. Also included were the mimeographed range instructions, etc. If they’re of any use, I have high-resolution scans of all the supplied documents in a Dropbox folder and if you send me an e-mail address by PM I can send you a link to download them.
I also downloaded the photo below (probably posted by you), depicting the USMC rifle and pistol team at Camp Perry Sept 7, 1955. Several M70s in the front row.
My one Van Orden Sniper rifle, though, has no direct US Military connections, as it’s one of the hundred or so VO Snipers sold to individuals, in this case Victor Dawson of Silver Spring MD in March 1956.
BTW… For my own future use I’d like to get clean full length/side view photos of an original one of the (383) M70 (pre-war) Standard Grade M70s sold to UMSC in 1942 and one of the mid-1950s Sniper rebuilds of those rifles. Is the one you pictured in your post a genuine UMSC Sniper rifle?
Good Luck!!! Where will your article be published?
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
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