'03 Mark 1

[xtarheel]

Just got another '03. I already had a Rock Island '03 and A Remington '03-A3 so I picked up a Springfield '03-Mark 1 from the CMP. Most of the older '03's that I have seen have been rebarreled as some point. This one however has an excellent bore and the barrel date and serial number both indicate 1919 production. Is this unusual? Also the stock has no cartouches however there is a number heavily stamped in the stock which I understand means it was a Greek lend-lease. Is that correct?

 

[DMK]

I don't know if the original barrel is unusual from CMP, but the serial number on the stock would be put there by the Greeks. The U.S. didn't S/N the stocks.

Does it have a black or gray finish?

 

[xtarheel]

While the cocking piece and other parts are parkerized, the barrel under the hand guard and the magazine well are definetly black. Ihaven't checked the back of the trigger yet to see if it is original Mark 1 or not. The rifle is currently on a work bench at work.

 

[jefnvk]

Most likely it won't have the original trigger.

The original barrels aren't common, but they aren't really rare either. Mine is a 1919-era rifle with a barrel dated 1918, I'm told there was a group of rifles that went through testing the Pederson device, wore the barrels, and were replaced with 18 barrels. The barrel itself gauged practically new on the muzzle.

On the rack of 24 MKI's, there were usually 3-5 original barrels at the North store.

The big question is, does it have the original (or at least an MKI) stock?

 

[xtarheel]

I was wondering the same thing about the stock. I dug out my copy of Brophy's book on the 1903 and read the chapter on the Mark 1 last night. It apears the only difference in the stocks is the slight relief in the area of the ejection port. When I get back to work on Tuesday, I'll take a look.

 

[jefnvk]

I was wondering the same thing about the stock. I dug out my copy of Brophy's book on the 1903 and read the chapter on the Mark 1 last night. It apears the only difference in the stocks is the slight relief in the area of the ejection port. When I get back to work on Tuesday, I'll take a look.

Yep. And if you don't have one, they are impossible to find without paying about as much as the whole rifle.