It unfortunately, does not denote the reason or scope of the test. The rifle has been altered but based on the conditions of the reciever, it was never a M1903 A5 Sniper rifle, and there is no mention of any telescopic sights in the testing. This is another example why primary documentation is extremely important for the purposes of historical research. Some rifles had as many as 5600 rounds fired through the rifle during the testing phase. The test indicates the condition of the rifles, where the rifles came from and how many rounds were fired through them. The files indicate these rifles were used in a ammunition test, the test was concluded and WRA was requesting shipping instructions since they were still government property on loan for the test. That however is nothing more than conjecture since no one has been able to locate the files since they were first discovered. Many believed these were M1903 A5 Sniper rifles which were sent to WRA for repairs following World War I. The speculation is that since the majority of these serial numbers are in the 600,000 serial number range attributed to Winchester Repeating Arms (WRA) Company in 1919. There are 150 M1903 and 29 M1917 rifles on the list. The serial numbers have been known among collectors. These numbers will be included in our January 2019 serial number lists. This rifle was recently discovered from a list of Serial numbers in the files of the Office of Chief of Ordnance. We have uploaded some of our work we have performed for our clients and subscribers.
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