Old military rifle ??

[litman252]

My Friend was showing me his deer rifle, we don't know what it is, need some help.

bolt action, M 98 type of safety.
Cocking indicator in rear of bolt, drops when fired.
Left side has bolt release, says "ON"
30-06 cal.

Thanks for any help.
Tony

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Sounds like a US M1903 Springfield. Can you post a pic?

 

[shooterIII]

By your brief description it sounds like a Springfield 1903. In the last issue fo The American Rifleman there are some good pictures and some info on the arsenals that they were made at.

Stan

 

[litman252]

Thanks guy's I'll work on a pick.

Tony

 

[ReadyontheRight]

Can you flip the bolt release down to where it says "Off"? And do you put it 1/2 way between to release the bolt?

If so, it's likely a 1903. It should have the manufacturers and serial # on top of the receiver in front of the bolt opening.

 

[litman252]

Stamped on the end of the barrel is a R A. Underneath that is a stamp of a bird(sorta like the Ruger symbol). Under that there is a 4-42. There are serial No's above the chamber
Tony

 

[litman252]

Left side close up.

 

[shooterIII]

By looking at the pictures you posted it is defininately a Springfield M1903. The only way I know to tell if is an A1 or A3 is to look under the front scope base where the model and serial no. are.

Stan

 

[Smoke Rizen]

Military Rifle

The first picture shows a lever directly under the rear of the scope this should be the safety. it appears to be in safe position unless it doesn't function. the lever on the right should be a selector switch unique to the 1903 series rifles, allowing the rifleman to select off, in this position the rounds in the Magazine will not feed. The rifleman must feed rounds one at a time becoming a single shot, but allowing the rifleman to hold his Mag. in reserve in case of a rapid fire situation. It was not used on the Mausers, so I'd say it's a 1903-03A3,or God forbid A4. I am concerned about the safety being restricted. Are You sure the safety works? I'm sure the lever on the left side is not the safety. Please unload and check to see if it functions.Thanks, S.R.

 

[Mike Irwin]

That's a sporterized 1903-A3 with what appears to be a scant stock and an aftermarket bolt handle that's been welded on for scope use.

The barrel stamping I think means Remington Arms, April 1942, which likely means that the entire gun was made by Remington instead of Smith Corona.

 

[shooterIII]

The safety is aftermarket because with the issue safety you would not be able to use it.

Stan

 

[Mike Irwin]

OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Wait one second... upon looking at the photos a little closer, the contour and thickness of that trigger guard makes it look like this one could be a 1903-A1.

 

[Jim Watson]

It has been sporterized to the point where I can't draw any conclusions as to the exact model. It is some sort of 1903 pattern rifle with a Remington barrel. Might be a Remington '03 or an 03-A3, I can't bring up the receiver bridge well enough to see if there is an A3 peep sight dovetail under the rear scope mount. Milled parts used to be readily available and it was common to use them in sporterizing an 03-A3 to replace the stamped trigger guard and floorplate. Or it might be some other make '03 with a Remington replacement barrel.

The safety is an aftermarket scope safety that works in half the movement of the GI so it is not blocked by the scope eyepiece. The receiver has been drilled and tapped for a peep sight, too.

 

[Smoke Rizen]

Old Military Rifle

I thought those 2 holes on the right side rear of receiver were for a peep. You can determine Maker and model by taking the front mount off. It's all right there above the serial #. Some times it's better not to know. Might be the rarist Bubba-ized receiver there is! Continue to enjoy hunting with,and shooting,it. S.R.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Who made a 1903 peep sight that was mounted on the right side of the receiver?

 

[Jim Watson]

Nearly everybody.
The cutoff housing is very irregular in shape and would make it difficult to mount a receiver sight on the left side. I think there was a no-drilling sight that replaced the cutoff shaft, but the conventional Lyman and Redfield peeps went on the nearly flat right side of the bridge.

 

[Smoke Rizen]

Old Mil. Sights

Also, Marbles, and Belding & Mull, Marbles, and Redfield are still selling them. I'm not sure if the others are.

 

[Jim Watson]

Please advise sources for new Redfield and Marble's (Marble-Goss?) receiver sights soonest.

Redfield has been out of business for some years and had quit making iron sights long before that. (The present Redfield is a subsidiary of Alliant bought from Blount Industries along with Weaver, RCBS, Speer, CCI, and a number of other shooting product lines. I think their scopes are imported, their mounts made on Redfield machinery relocated to a Blount plant without Redfield's environmental troubles. No iron sights in sight.) Marbles is making tang sights afgain but I have seen no sign of receiver sights from them.

 

[Jim K]

The receiver bridge contour looks like an '03, not an '03A3. As to the '03A1, the only difference between the '03 and the '03A1 is that the '03A1 has a pistol grip stock. There is no other difference in the trigger guard or any other part.

Jim

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't doubt it, just couldn't tell. You have better eyes or a better photo program than I do. The bolt is an '03; with the contoured safety lug instead of the square block of an A3. But bolts got swapped around, too.

 

[litman252]

And to think, I was proud of the "sorta like a 98 type of safety." statment.
Thanks much to all of you, greatly apreceated.

Tony

 

[Gewehr98]

Something else...

I don't see a rear sight dovetail on the rear receiver ring, 1903A3 and 1903A4's are built with that dovetail. There's no flat-top relief on the aft side of the dovetail as it should be seen on that rear receiver ring, either. Conversely, the 1903 and 1903A1 had a raised channel and arched hump in the rear receiver ring, where the rear safety lug passed through the ring during bolt operation. You can see that hump just behind the scope mount base.

My money would be on a 1903, 1903Mk1, 1903A1, or most likely, the 1903 (Modified) as built by Remington. The latter sounds even more plausible, especially with that April 1942 Remington barrel. Remington didn't switch over to 1903A3 production until the fall of 1942, and even then, 1903 Modified production may have overlapped 1903A3 production for a short period.

The easiest way for litman to find out is to plug his receiver's serial number into this website:

1903 Springfield Serial Numbers

 

[Mike Irwin]

"As to the '03A1, the only difference between the '03 and the '03A1 is that the '03A1 has a pistol grip stock. There is no other difference in the trigger guard or any other part."

According to Small Arms of the World the A1 also had a checkered buttplate and a grooved trigger.

But spank my a$$ and call me Charlie, I didn't do very well on this one at all!

 

[Smoke Rizen]

O.M.R.

Right on Jim! The Redfield 70 sight I had seen was only a listing for parts,and not many are available. The Marble peep is a tang mount so it's out of production too. How about Lyman? Are they still making the 48(I think)? I've seen an aluminum version,I think a 57? But I'm sure it's not as strong as the old Lyman. Thanks S.R.

 

[Jim Watson]

Lyman no longer makes the 48 receiver sight.
The 57 on my old Remington is all steel, but the new ones in Brownells are aluminum, as are the Williams.
I guess you could get a Springfield base for one of the current match sights if you wanted to sink a couple of hundred dollars into it. But the older sights can be found at gun shows and from dealers and speculators.