C3A1 Sniper Rifle

C3A1 (via Twincamharley )

C3A1. The scope mount appears to the the original Parker-Hale one for the C3A1.  (via Twincamharley )

The C3A1 Sniper Rifles with Unertl 10X scopes were procured by the Canadian Armed Forces in 1988. 500 were obtained by having Parker-Hale in England “refurbish” the “old” C3 sniper rifles. The Canadian Armed Forces did not have Capital money at the time, but did have Operating money. Everything was replaced except for the bolts and the stocks. 

THESE RIFLES ARE NOW OBSOLESCENT AND ARE REPORTEDLY ONLY USED FOR TRAINING IN THE CANADIAN ARMY (2018)

The C3A1 had a removable magazine, Parker-Hale bipod, C3 10-power Unertl scope and no iron sights. 

originally the C3A1 rifle were fitted with the same wooden stock as the C3, however there was an upgrade program to refit C3A1 rifles with McMillan A2 synthetic stocks as the older wooden stocks could be affected by moisture. There were the same concept of spacers to adjust the butt length (now being called “length of pull” by Americans) and an adjustable cheek-rest. 

Canadian sniper, apparently in Afghanistan. It looks like he is using a C3A1 sniper rifle with a synthetic McMillan A2 stock. Photo appeared 2002-02-11 NOTE THAT THE PHOTO APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN DOCTORED. THE BORE WAS 7.62mm, BUT IN THE PHOTO IT APPEARS TO BE CLOSER TO .5″ (12.7mm).

The Canadian C3 Sniper Scope originally used on the C3A1 sniper rifle is a 10 power Unertl which is the same as the U.S.M.C. version except that it is calibrated in Metric. After Unertl went out of business, USO made MST-100 scopes which are almost the same, though Canada is not know to have bought any. Some Canadian C3 sniper scopes ended up in U.S. Marine Corps service as when the War on Terror broke out, they “raided” Unertl’s facility and took every scope of this model, including those on-hand awaiting delivery to Canada. 

The C3A1 was used in combat in Afghanistan and remains in the system for training purposes. Some at least have been modified with Picatinny Rails and older telescopes from the Timberwolf have been moved to the C3A1. 

Parker-Hale went out of business about the time that they finished the contract for the C3A1 rifles and this made spare parts procurement a huge problem and was a major reason for looking for a replacement sniping system. 

C3A1 sniper rifle DND photo
C3A1 rifle with Picatinny Rail replacing the original Parker Hale C3A1 scope mount. This enables the Canadian Army to change scopes easily, and I have heard that scopes from the C14 Timberwolf have been moved to the C3A1. (Photo credit: Canadian Army)

 

CFB Gagetown 2003. The event appears to be an international sniper competition. The rifles here appear to be the C3A1 with the McMillan stocks.
CFB Gagetown 2003. The event appears to be an international sniper competition. The rifles here appear to be the C3A1 with the McMillan stocks. (Colin M Stevens’ Collection)

 

AN ORIGINAL C3A1 AT CFB BORDERBB BASE MUSEUM

The Canadian Government has not sold firearms to law-abiding Canadian citizens for decades, so access to a real C3A1 is very limited. In the Fall of 2023, I arranged for a visit to the CFB Borden Base Museum. The wonderful staff allowed me to photograph their original C3A1 sniper rifle which was in storage. Sadly this one has been deactivated and does not a a scope fitted. It would originally have had an Unertl 10X scope but other scopes were also fitted later in service. My time there was limited but here are some photographs that I took. 

C3A1 Right side CFB Borden Base Museum 2023
C3A1 Right side CFB Borden Base Museum 2023