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1903 Springfield Rejected Prototype Receiver
vintagegunsmith
Member Posts: 4 ✭
I have this ultra rare Springfield model 1903? receiver that I picked up at a estate sale years ago. When I first got it I researched the heck out of it and found that it was part of a military contract that was rejected. Consequently most of these were tossed yet a few had leaked out to the public somehow where they were used in what were called Frankenstein guns if I recall that being the term. That's what I remember reading and I'll be darned if I can find that info again! I should have wrote it down but I didn't. Does anyone out here have any idea where I can find the info on this? Look closely, it's not a mark I. There's nothing like it out there that I can find this time around.
Comments
Without any kind of processing proof marks, it makes the genealogy of this receiver suspect. In the late 1960s, a company called National Ordinance out of California was selling a 1903 springfield receiver casting, that was allegedly done in Spain, with some finish machining done here in the US. They show up time to time for re-sale, but safety and heat treat would be a primary consideration.
Thanks Chris! That sounds somewhat as similar as what I remember seeing online a few years back. You're info may be better though because this doesn't appear to have the oxidation one would expect from a WW2 era receiver. When I got this I had a 1903 Springfield stock and this wouldn't fit properly at all. So there's that too. Yet thanks to you I have a little more info to go on. Thanks for your help!
Bought a bunch (30 or so) at an auction in Indy, 15 + years ago. Sold for $50.00 ea as paper weights. Not an good for trying to reuse as actions.
here is some info.
Well thanks Hoosier. That helps get me closer to actual identification. It's still going to keep working at my brain however, if I can't come up with an exact match!