between 1903 and 1906, M1903 NRA - sold only to NRA standardized sniper rifle, but it was not well received mainly because Interestingly, the 03-A3 nomenclature remained on the receiver ring of the new M1903A4 sniper rifle although this marking was applied to the extreme left of the receiver ring and the serial number stamped on the extreme right side which permitted both markings to be plainly visible with the Redfield mount in place. All Springfields made after this change are commonly called high number rifles. Now you can dress up your office desk or man cave with a 1:3-scale replica of the best battle implement ever devised.. Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. Hammer Women Of Distinction Award, Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship, National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program. CMP does not recommend firing any Springfield rifle with a low number receiver. It is considered the U.S. Governments official production record. Introduction of improved heat treatment at SN800000 Introduction of nickel steel at SN1275767. Ordnance Department immediately contracted with Remington for M1903 rifles in order to arm the rapidly expanding U.S. armed forces. All parties concurred with the proposal and on Feb. 25, 1942, Smith-Corona was granted a contract for M1903 rifle production. $ The receiver rings of the new Remington 03s were stamped U.S./Remington/Model 1903/Serial No., and the barrels were marked RA (Remington Arms) in addition to the month and year of manufacture. Main menu: . (Smith-Corona manufactured an additional 233,998 03A3s). 1903 due to politics and the use of a new standard issue rifle only 9 Remington 1903A3 Serial numbers, barrel date. N to moisture gathering in the scope. Remington began manufacture of Model 1903 rifles in fall 1941. By definition, a SN, For purposes of this Table, all M1903 Modified and M1903A3 receivers serially stamped before January 10, 1943 were believed to be assembled into and counted as complete rifles with little problem with SN, After January 10, 1943, Remington was directed to cease monitoring SN disorders since the Ordnance Department was no longer concerned about this problem. No such comparable statistics are known to exist beyond February 1943. }); To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. This rifle was mainly phased out of service before the The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. SPRINGFIELD ARMORY US MODEL 1903 RIFLE SERIAL NUMBER RANGES (Including Rock Island Arsenal, Remington, and Smith-Corona production) SPRINGFIELD ARMORY PRODUCTION OF MODEL 1903 [Dated by calendar year: January - December] 1903 1 16000 1904 16001 67000 1905 67001 119000 1906 119001 269450 1907 269451 337861 1908 337862 358084 1909 358085 398275 If the milled upper band is marked with an "R" it'll be a Remington. New made M1903 A3 Rifles are original U.S. issued, hand selected & inspected, drill receivers of the highest quality and bolts married to new manufactured walnut wood "C" stocks and accessories. While Remington was struggling with increasing its production rate, the Ordnance Dept. The U.S. M1903 and M1903A3 Springfield rifles are the greatest of all U.S. military issue bolt action rifles. Currently, M1903 and M1903A3 models are not available, and CMP is not accepting orders. Most 03A4s had full pistol grip (Type C) stocks but, as stated, some were also delivered with the scant grip stock. Reportedly, very early in production, High Standard (the maker of the barrels) acquired some unfinished barrel blanks from Savage Arms Co. I found this: RA3 40969xx RA 9-43 RA3 40975xx RA 8-44 2g RA3 409792x RA 12-43 RA3 4098281 RA 11-43 RA3 4098456 RA 11-43 4g RA3 40989xx RA 9-43 Here: http://www.vishooter.net/RA3.txt If you need assistance accessing any of our content or would like it in an alternative format you can contact us via our contact form, click here. The stocks were stamped with an Ordnance Department escutcheon (crossed cannons) and the initials RLB on the left side below the magazine cut-off recess. Visually they can be distinguished easily by the smaller aperture rear sight instead of the barrel mounted sight like previous rifles. In addition, large numbers were shipped to various ordnance facilities for inspection and overhaul prior to being placed in long-term storage, typically after being coated in cosmoline. The company was permitted to reduce the amount of metal polishing prior to finishing, reduce or eliminate unnecessary machining and to relax many non-critical tolerances. High Standard was interested in the contract, but it was already operating at near peak capacity with existing contracts and would be unable to serve as prime contractor on the new project. The .38 Smith & Wesson Special, designed in 1898, rocked the handgun realm with its ballistic performance making it a cartridge for the history books. Made from premium-grade, vegetable-tanned leather, the Burdette Custom Holsters Detective SA-35 holster is a custom outside-the-waistband (OWB) model for the Springfield Armory SA-35 semi-automatic pistol. This serial number decoder will translate this information, determining the exact month and year that your specific firearms was created. Barrel length Barrel length Remington was initially assigned the serial number block of 3,407,088-3,427,087 for '03A4 production. }); Despite the shortcuts employed in the manufacture, the M1903A3 rifles were every bit as serviceable as the better-finished earlier production rifles. Smith-Corona and Remington rifles used the same type of stamped sheet metal furniture, including barrel bands, band springs, screws, pins, floorplate/magazine assemblies, and buttplates. It was suggested that the old M1903 production tooling in storage at Rock Island Arsenal be used to produce rifles for the British. granted the company a waiver for use of these non-standard barrels as their utilization would permit High Standard to deliver barrels to Smith-Corona sooner than would otherwise have been possible. The Springfield M1903 can trace its design roots to the Spanish Mauser gd3 gd3 gdO. U.S. MILITARY DATES OF MANUFACTURE U.S. Military M1903, & M1903A3 Rifle: Remington: Covering numbers: 3000001 - 5784000. Make: Remington. prototype of the 1903, but it had not been adopted by the military until members and stamped with NRA logo, M1903 Air Service - had a The M1903A4 was a sniper version of the Springfield M1903A3 fitted with a Weaver 330C scope. The U.S. Model 1903A4 Sniper rifle was based on the 03A3 as developed by Remington to save production costs in 03 rifle manufacture. Watch American Rifleman staff with the BFT47, a semi-automatic rifle chambered for the ubiquitous Russian cartridge, 7.62x39 mm, and its a rifle that is specd out by Americans, built by Americans, for the American market by Century Arms. Korean War in favor of the This total Remington production includes 348,085 M1903 Modified rifles. In October 1942, Remington was given permission to produce two-groove barrels for the M1903A3 as prior testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground revealed that satisfactory accuracy could be obtained with them. By early 1942 the company had made some 649 changes in 03 manufacture to speed production and reduce costs. ,* q Any such parts on a Smith-Corona 03A3 encountered today were installed at some point after the rifle left the factory, again, normally as part of an arsenal rebuild. Model 03A3s, either Remington or Smith-Corona, found with all-Parkerized furniture can be safely assumed to have been overhauled. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. The milled upper band (top) was used on Remington M1903 and M1903 Modified rifles, while the stamped sheet metal upper bands (below) was employed on M1903A3s. Great deals on Remington 03a3 In Rifle Parts. The rifles with the changes were termed the M1903 Modified although, as stated, there is some indication that this term was in use as early as November 1941. Shortly thereafter Remington began updating its tooling and equipment to accommodate the changes required for production of the new rifle. Watch American Rifleman staff with the BFT47, a semi-automatic rifle chambered for the ubiquitous Russian cartridge, 7.62x39 mm, and its a rifle that is specd out by Americans, built by Americans, for the American market by Century Arms. Any bolt found on a Smith-Corona rifle, other than one marked X on top of the bolt handle, or unmarked, is a replacement and not a factory original component. On the eve of Americas active involvement in World War II, it was apparent that there would be a serious shortage of service rifles for its rapidly expanding armed forces. made. It proved impossible to determine, without destructive testing, which receivers and bolts were so affected and therefore potentially dangerous. U.S. Army troops did not have a standardized sniper rifle in inventory at the time of the declaration of war, and there was increasing demand from overseas for sniper rifles. Remingtons started production in 1941 with serial number 3,000,000, it was during this time that the finger grooved walnut stock was replaced by cheaper versions and the M1903-A3 was born. (known for their typewriters). The Smith Corona M1903 rifle usually The Smith-Corona 03A3s were essentially identical to their Remington counterparts except for markings. 1903A4 receivers were all marked MODEL 03-A3, but the markings are offset to be readable when the Redfield Junior scope mount base is installed. Remington began production of the M1903 in September 1941, at serial number 3,000,000, using old tooling from the Rock Island Arsenal which had been in storage since 1919. Even after adoption of the M1, however, the 03 remained the primary American service rifle until production of the Garand could meet the demand. Final approved rifle production based on Ordnance Dept., Small Arms Branch, Industrial Division record summary dated March 10, 1944. Since these were final assembled and tested rifles made ready for Ordnance Dept. The early production Remington 03 rifles resembled late World War I production Rock Island 03s, as they were produced on the old Rock Island tooling. The receivers with these duplicate numbers were stamped with a C next to the serial number for identification and inventory control purposes. They can be decoded to find out when your shotgun or rifle was manufactured. Even with this increase in M1 rifle output, the anticipated supply of service rifles would be insufficient to meet the demand. Remington buttplates had 16 squares to the inch while Smith-Corona buttplates had 10 or 11 squares per inch. 6/26/18 - This is a1943 WWII US Remington 1903A3 Springfield Rifle in 30-06 caliber. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({ Smith-Corona was eventually assigned two blocks of serial numbers. However, the large supply of stock blanks acquired by Remington were primarily suited for fabrication of the straight-grip type of stock, so the M1903 nomenclature was not changed. h3 >* CJ( hO. Although not used as combat rifles in extremely large numbers as compared to the M1903 or M1 Garand rifles, M1903A3s definitely saw combat use in several theaters of the war including the European and the China-Burma-India theaters. Regardless, the majority of Smith-Corona rifles had four-groove barrels. The British were pressing for new rifles as soon as possible, and passage of Lend-Lease legislation opened up other avenues of arms procurement. Caliber: .30-06 Springfield. Ten trial production M1903 rifles were produced soon after the contract was granted, and the first 1,273 production rifles were delivered in November 1941. The United States Army generally did not serialize bolts. Markings: The left side of the receiver is . Action Type: Bolt Action, Internal Magazine The U.S. government ordered 134,000 M1903s from Remington the same day that the British contracts were canceled. High number bolts have swept-back (or slightly rearward curved) bolt handles. Remington received ever-increasing orders for 03A3s, and the Ordnance Department sought an additional source. The bluing and parkerizing are strong and the stock is the correct Remington WWII stock with just a few small dings. Military Police (MPs) and other ostensibly non-combat military personnel were issued M1903A3 rifles, but they were also employed by front-line combat infantrymen. Caliber:.30-06 Springfield Action Type: Bolt Action, Internal Magazine Markings: The top of the receiver is marked "U.S. / REMINGTON / MODEL 03-A3 . The rather rough-hewn 03A3 could be manufactured much faster and at a lower cost than the earlier rifles, yet boasted a strong action and a more efficient combat sight than its predecessors. Generally speaking, low number bolts can be distinguished from high-number bolts by the angle at which the bolt handle is bent down. Such rifles should be regarded as collectors items, not shooters.. Some extractors found on original Smith-Corona bolts were marked S on the bottom. Original, excellent condition with correct "R" markings and no rebuild or import marks. $12.75 shipping. The M1903, up until the United States involvement in World War I was By the time that the M1903-A4 was the Army's first This so-called last SN is an approximated end-number only. years prior (the Krag Jorgensen). The U.S. M1903 and M1903A3 "Springfield" rifles are the greatest of all U.S. military issue bolt action rifles. 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Co. of New Haven, Conn., for the production of 100,000 03 rifles. Action Type: Bolt Action, Internal Magazine. "Block" for these rifles and possible future orders were 49220015784000. I don't recall which ones. Typical receiver ring markings for the main three Remington 03 variants are shown above (left to right): M1903; M1903 Modified and M1903A3. Such was the situation at the beginning of World War II. Unlike some Remington parts, which were stamped R, the majority of Smith-Corona parts were unmarked, although a few marked G have been observed. The early Remington M1903 and M1903 Modified rifles (r.) were inspected by Col. Roy L. Bowlin, RLB, chief of the Rochester Ordnance District. The company was assigned the serial number block of 4,000,001-4,015,000 for the additional 03A4 rifles. As the M1903A4 was recently the subject of an article in these pages (Making The Most of G.I. As had been the case with Remington, some problems with procurement of rear sights from subcontractors resulted in the delay of initial deliveries. was reluctant to agree to such a proposal and, logically, took the position that Smith-Corona should be named prime contractor with High Standard serving as the subcontractor for barrel production. With the adoption of the 03A3, simplification of the M1903 was taken as far as feasible without adversely affecting the accuracy, strength or efficiency of the rifle. This warning is an update/addition to the Ammunition section in the Read This First manual enclosed with each rifle shipment (M1 Garand manual-page 6 and M1903 manual-page 10). The first Remington M1903A3 rifles were delivered in December 1942. After using up the six-groove barrel blanks, High Standard began manufacture of four-groove barrels, which were used for the balance of production except for a few two-groove barrels that were used for about a one- or two-month period in late 1943. Introduction of nickel steel at SN319921. Accepted. SOLD FOR: $1876. Stamped metal components were used wherever possible, such as on the trigger guard (l.). All sales are AS-IS with NO RETURNS OR EXCHANGES. Year of Manufacture: 1943 (Page 375 of Joe Poyer's book, The M1903 Springfield Rifle and its Variations, 3rd Edition). The barrel has two groove rifling sharp and very . the troops. Remingtons rifle production based on Ordnance Dept. Total production was 1,056,276 rifles, which included about 345,000 M1903 and M1903 (modified), about 711,276 M1903A3, and just 26,653 M1903A4 (short of the 28,365 ordered) = > G 9 : X 5 6 7 j k S T U y a e f hO. In June 1943, the Ordnance Department ordered an additional 8,365 03A4 rifles from Remington. This was commenced at Springfield Armory at approximately serial number 800,000 and at Rock Island Arsenal at exactly serial number 285,507. Made from premium-grade, vegetable-tanned leather, the Burdette Custom Holsters Detective SA-35 holster is a custom outside-the-waistband (OWB) model for the Springfield Armory SA-35 semi-automatic pistol. Recently, the Civilian Marksmanship Program obtained a sizeable quantity of M1903s, including a number of Remington M1903, M1903 Modified and M1903A3 rifles, and offered them for sale to qualified individuals. The final inspection marking format stamped on the left side of the stock was similar to the type found on the Remington 03A3s but lacked the RA (Remington Arms) mark. You might look on another part of Vishooter's website which lists the dates of manufacture - this is just a data base of reported rifles. Therefore, it should be remembered that factory-original Smith-Corona rifles will not have any R-marked parts. Even though large numbers of M1917 American Enfields were manufactured and issued during World War I to supplement the supply of M1903s, the Springfield 03 remained the standard U.S. military service rifle until the adoption of the semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle in 1936.
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