A legend on my doorstep

In July 1952 a wooden crate was delivered to the quarters of Robert Gates on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The crate had a return address to Evaluators Ltd in Quantico Virginia - a weapons contractor which specialized in military and law enforcement firearms. 1952 was the year Evaluators Ltd began delivering on a contract with the US Marine Corps for the newest generation of USMC sniper rifles - a heavy barreled and accurized version of the Winchester model 70 target rifle.  Per the contract, new model 70 target rifles were delivered from Winchester to Evaluators Ltd where they were modified and accurized to meet Marine Corps specifications. 

Design of the rifles and oversight of the contract had been entrusted to USMC Brigadier General George Van Orden. Although retired, Van Orden was a natural choice to be brought back for this oversight role. 10 years earlier Van Orden had co-authored a Marine Corps report recommending adoption of the Model 70 rifle and the Unertl 8X scope for military use in WWII. While the intent of this 1942 report was ultimately unsuccessful and the Marines never did authorize the model 70 for combat use during WWII*, Van Orden's place and influence over the future of USMC snipers had been established.  Following the unsuccessful 1942 recommendation, Van Orden was tasked with establishing the training program for USMC snipers and ultimately put in charge of the rifles they would use. As a result, Van Orden became known as "the father of Marine Corps snipers” and this new rifle from Evaluators Ltd became known as "the Van Orden sniper rifle”.

*Although not authorized for combat duty during WWII, some model 70s did make it into theater with USMC snipers.  You can read about those rifles and their story HERE.

A USMC “Van Orden" Sniper Rifle

The barreled action of the Van Orden sniper rifle was identical to a Winchester model 70 target rifle. This included the stripper-clip slot, specially tuned and ‘T’ marked trigger, as well as the 24-inch medium-heavy contour target barrel hand-lapped and chambered in .30-06 Springfield.  The rifle featured a Lyman 48 WH receiver sight, Lyman 77 front sight, and Winchester scope blocks ready to accept a Lyman STS target scope, as recommended by Evaluators Ltd. The stock was similar to a straight comb standard rifle stock, including the “claw” style Winchester steel buttplate.  It differed from the standard rifle stock in that it was uncheckered and the stock geometry was adjusted to fit a shooter more like the Springfield 03A3 match rifles - the drop of the stock was reduced and the pitch was increased, resulting in a slightly shorter length of pull than a standard model 70 stock.  The actions were hand-fitted into the stocks, which were finished with boiled linseed oil rather than the lacquer acetate used on the civilian model 70. A variation of the Van Orden rifle was also produced with a marksman style stock.  This second style of Van Orden rifle was called the “SPECIAL TARGET” model.