1903 Springfield

charlenco

A friend suggested I ask the pros so here goes:

Ser. # 883xxx

RIA over flaming bomb at top of barrel

2-19 below flaming bomb

U.S. Springfield Armory Model 1903 on the reciever

Very nice Parkerized finish on the metal.

Stock has the following markings:

224 stamped on the top of the handguard, forward of the rear sight.

Just above the triggerguard are two stampings, both enclosed in boxes. First one reads W.J.S. and the second is S.A. over S.P.G.

Any information greatly appreciated.

charlenco

have 03 springfield ser # 185xxx. I read that there was a stamp on bottom of reciever that signified if the rifle was safe to shoot. there are a bunch of things stamped on bottom of reciever. does anyone know what the stamp put on by armory to signify that it is safe to shoot.Has 1942 barrel 4-groove.

charlenco

I have a 1903 Springfield that has been sproterized with Hoffman Arms parts. I inherited this gun from my great grandfather. It appears to be missing the rear sight. Does anyone know of a place where I might find this piece?

charlenco

I have a gun that was given to me by my grandfather. I don't know where he got it, and he doesnt seem to recall, however i can't seem to find a picture of it anywhere.Nor can i find it's value. The only time I've seen one was in the movie Saving Private Ryan. It looked exactly like the gun that the sniper (Jackson) used. It is a Springfield 1903, that I'm sure of, it says it on the barrel. But it doesnt look like any of the 1903's I've seen at gun auction sites or even the ones at the Springfield Armory site. It has an interchangeable scope,and a military strap. As I said it looks just like the sniper rifle in the movie. It has a short stock, and it can use strip clips, with a drop-out bottom. Any help to identify this?

charlenco

US Springfield Armory Model 1903, serial # 22xxxx, dated AV with flaming bomb 12-18, bayonet, straight grip, very good condition. What is the approximate value and does it fall within the serial number range making it safe to shoot?

charlenco

Hi,
have a 1903, made at Springfield Armory, serial 411xxx, (411K.
Beautiful rifle, all original. Any idea as to value?
Thanks.
PS: even has the cleaning kit in the butt.

charlenco

A guy I know asked me to find out about the value of this rifle. Its serial number is 1231145 which translates to a build date of 1921. It was re-barreled on 9-24. Here are a few pics:











If you need more pictures I can send them to you. I also wanted to mention that it looks like someone taped the barrel for some kind of scope.

charlenco

Can anyone explain all the "peeps" and "U" notches on a 1903 Springfield rear sight?? I'd like to shoot this in a Garand match my club holds but have no idea what all that is about. Also, the 1903 I just acquired is in the 460K range serial number. I understand that below 800K they are unsafe due to incorrectly heat treated receivers, but this one is a WWII rebuild with a new 8-42 barrel. Would the army re-barrel an "unsafe" receiver?

Thanks for the advice

charlenco

#916xxx date of mfg. please anyone.

Horse Plains Drifter

I have never heard that, but that doesn't mean it isn't so. Springfield '03s with a sn under 800,000 are recommended non shooters due to heat possible treating problems.

4440rk

Go to odcmp.com and click on 1903 and you will see the serial numbers that are unsafe to shoot. If yours is really that a low a serial number it is UNSAFE

dfletcher

Just to clarify, 1903s made @ Springfield Armory with an SN under about 800,000 were not properly heat treated. At Rock Island I believe the cut off point is 250,000.

Some low number 03's were modified with what was called the "Hatcher hole" - just a faint memory on this one but I belive Gen Hatcher tapped some sort of gas bleed off hole in the receiver ring. Perhaps others can fill in the many blanks on this.

Hawk Carse

Just to clarify the clarification, some 1903s below serial 800,000 were not properly heat treated. Hatcher says it was because experienced SA workers were judging temperature by eye. One Internet Expert says one man doing that was responsible for the overheated receivers.

There were 138 documented blown up rifles out of over a million made with single heat treatment. Plus some number broken by being hit with a hammer or dropped on a hard floor to ascertain the nature of the problem. That is a crapshoot with low odds but high consequences that would make me reluctant to shoot one, although I have in the past.
The Army had a different take on it. Better one rifle blown up with injury to the soldier than a batallion unarmed. Common reports that low number rifles were scrapped are contradicted by the number of low number actions with WW II barrels.

Horse Plains Drifter

So I have a question while we are here. I also have an '03 with a WW II barrel. The sn is 777thousand and change. So my question is wouldn't these have been shot enough over the years to have weeded out the bad recievers? I guess there's no way of knowing how much a certain rifle has been shot though. I just hate having a rifle that can't be shot, and I wasn't aware of this when I bought it.

dfletcher

On the one hand, as you figured, if it's been around this long it must be OK. But you never know when metal may give and it could be that it's survived the last 50 of its 90 years because no one fired it. Remember alot of these were sold as surplus in the 50s & 60s with the caution it should not be fired. So this 90 year old rifle may have well had only a few fundred rounds through it.

You may want to consider selling it for a few hundred dollars and using it towards another gun.

charlenco

this rifle action is almost in mint condition. it has a 4-groove 2-42 SA bbl and a scant stock on it. Barrel looks new in borescope.

bpost

To specifically answer your question on safety.

SAFETY is ALWAYS first when dealing with firearms unless involved in a hot firefight for ones life.

Since your rifle falls into the questionable receiver range of serial numbers prudence dictates that you NEVER FIRE THE RIFLE.

Remember; SAFETY is ALWAYS first. Death or severe injury from firing a rifle and having the receiver burst is a very real possibility.

Emmett Dunham

Strange and funny that the military knew that the rifles were unsafe and at the begining of WWII, they refitted, rebarrel and issued these rifles.


Emmett

nmyers

Based on the safety problem, your rifle has no value as a shooter. And, having been rebuilt, it has no value as a collector.

But, all is not lost. If you have a gunsmith remove the barrel, you can profitably "part it out" by selling the barrel, stock, handguard, trigger group, bolt, & other small parts at auction.

Neal

perry shooter

Emmett During WW II we were not fighting a politically correct war like we have been doing the last 57 years were were sending men into battle with what we had and we did not have the luxury of having all men with first class state-of-the-art weapons . This is true even today do all of our troops have the best protection equipment NO We use what we can get from the budget the military has to work with . Do you think if we fire bombed Bagdad like we did Tokyo and Dresden in WW II that we would have our young men being killed in the streets today? We on the other hand can make a decision to use a unsafe firearm because we can justify it in our own mind and ignore the facts from others that try to warn us. Sorry about the RANT.