Avatar
Search
Forum Scope




Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
Lost password?
sp_Feed sp_PrintTopic sp_TopicIcon
Van Orden
Avatar
Big Larry
Member
WACA Member
Forum Posts: 2559
Member Since:
December 31, 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
1
December 24, 2017 - 10:50 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print

Here for your enjoyment is a real. papered Van Orden Sniper. It is still in it’s target stock and was purchased by the US Army at the 1954 National Matches. Some fool ground off the US markings on the receiver and made a mess of it. I have a copy of the original sales papers sent to me by my late friend Peter Senich. The rifle was a gift from my good friend Herb Rosenbaum, who is now the Chief of Police in a small town near Birmingham Alabama.

The Marine version had a non checkered sporter stock unlike the rifles the Army used. The scopes, early on, were 8X USMC marked Unertls left over from WW2. Marines never threw anything away. The Marine Unertls with the Micarta Can can go as high as $10,000. When and if you use a Unertl scope on a 30-36 do not use the return spring. The scope will make you bleed as it did my X BIL.

Picture is a genuine original Van Orden Sniper rifle with a Lyman Super Targetspot mounted.         Big Larry Former US Militaria collector.

 

Copy-of-Van-Orden-Sniper-M70-001-1.jpgImage Enlarger

Avatar
model21guy
Member
WACA Guest
Forum Posts: 6
Member Since:
December 25, 2017
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
2
December 26, 2017 - 1:56 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print

Great gun, Larry.  Please read my December 25 post on the “model 70 USMC buildup” thread.

Avatar
Louis Luttrell
Winchester, VA
Member
WACA Member
Forum Posts: 1270
Member Since:
November 5, 2014
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
3
December 26, 2017 - 5:18 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print

Hi model21guy-

Congrats on your find.  They turn up periodically, usually unrecognized.  I think I’ve seen five of them (by serial number) listed in various auctions in the past few years (sometimes altered, sometimes original) but in only one case did the auction house recognize/describe the rifle as a “Van Orden Sniper”.  Yours, like mine, was one of the “civilian sold” Van Ordens.

It’s hard to put an exact value on one but they attract the interest of military sniper rifle enthusiasts (even though most were used only for match shooting, e.g. Camp Perry) as well as Winchester collectors/target shooters, so will bring something of a premium if at least two bidders recognize it for what it is.  I paid $2250 for mine, with the original unchecked standard style stock, and thought it was a good buy (RIA did not identify it as a Van Orden).  A good one might fetch twice that under the right circumstances.

M70-351439-1.jpgImage Enlarger

Please consider posting a photo of yours when you get it out to the range.  If you cannot post photos directly, you could e-mail to me at [email protected] and I’ll post it for you.

Also, since you are heading to the range, you might like the following images of the original instructions that came with your gun.  Note that Evaluators Limited referred to the rifles as “Sniper” or “Special Target” depending on whether it had the standard to marksman style stock:

Range-Card-Sniper-Special-Target.jpgImage Enlarger

Sniper-Rifle-Sight-Adjustment.jpgImage Enlarger
Special-Target-Operation-Maintanence-crop.jpgImage Enlarger

Thanks for sharing your find!!! Laugh

Lou

WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters

WACA-Signauture-3.jpg

Avatar
model21guy
Member
WACA Guest
Forum Posts: 6
Member Since:
December 25, 2017
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
4
December 27, 2017 - 3:56 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print

Thanks for the reply and for the pictures.

Forum Timezone: UTC 0
Most Users Ever Online: 4623
Currently Online: Bert H.
Guest(s) 566
Top Posters:
clarence: 7119
TXGunNut: 6463
Chuck: 5873
steve004: 5209
1873man: 4703
deerhunter: 2711
Big Larry: 2559
twobit: 2505
mrcvs: 2212
Maverick: 2042
Newest Members:
GunLegacy
tcwyb
spikemiller
ob98
Ricky Summer
Peter Cipollini
Jhark
Oldtimer52
parkerposy
rayhobbs
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 18
Topics: 14813
Posts: 132558

 

Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 2057
Members: 10048
Moderators: 3
Admins: 4
Administrators: Mike Hager, Bert H., JWA, SethJ
Moderators: Rob Kassab, Brad Dunbar, Heather
Navigation