"This is my rifle....", but who had it before me?

[ElWoodman]

Recent purchase of m1903 rifle/Springfield Armory/USMC barrel 's' dated12-43/stock , lock and innards all original 1910. serno 400204.
Any info on where it went post factory would be appreciated. Scuttlebutt says there's a 'Marine A5' aroud here who might be able to hook me up with that type of intel.


Semper Fi y'all!
ElWoodman, late of C/5

[Randy A]

The 12-43 barrel although USMC stamped, is not USMC. They cancelled that contract long before that date and those barrels have been available on the surplus market for many years. There is a chance the rifle could have been in USMC posession at one time in it's life, but it's almost a cretainty that USMC did not install that barrel on it.

[Mike D]

That serial # is not listed in SRS books.

Mike

[Sunray]

Those kind of records were not kept by anybody.

[TDP0311]

ElWoodman,

I purchased one of the later Sedgley USMC barrels (43-44 manufactured) also, and found out that it was one of many that was bent due to them being unused surplus and discarded. Someone must have got a hold of them in bulk, as they re-straightened them and re-parked them. They did an incredible job unfortunately, as it is very hard to tell the barrel is structurally unsound. Shine a light down the barrel, and exactly half way down you might see a faint shadow... if so, you have one of the barrels that was bent. There are some 43-44 Sedley USMC barrels that weren't bent apparently, and hopefully that is what you have too.

The Marines did used Sedgley USMC barrels made in 41-42 though, and the combination of one of those barrels with other factors can suggest the rifle to have been a Marine one.

[cplnorton]

I think most of us believe the 43 or 44 dated Sedgley barrels were never used and sold as surplus. Most were bent and re-straightened .

One way to tell. Every Sedlgey barrel that I have seen that appeared to be real had vice marks on the barrel under the handguard. The Marines barrel vice they used to change the barrels left deep grooves in the barrel as it dug in. Also the receiver should have a hatcher hole if the Marines installed that barrel. Every 41 or 42 dated Sedgley barrel I have seen has had a hatcher hole and vice marks on the barrel.

Does your rifle have either of these traits?

Vice marks.

[Randy A]

I don't place a lot of faith in the presence (or absence) of the Hatcher, I don't think the Marines were the only ones installing them. If that was true then every 1903, with the exception of a couple that I've ever picked up were USMC rifles. Another factor is that most I've found that didn't have the hole were old low number rifles that were most likely pulled from service earlier.

[cplnorton]

My point on the hatcher hole is for a WWII dated Sedgley barrel, the Marines should have installed a hatcher hole when they installed the barrel. John Beard could tell you the exact date, but it was in the mid 30's I believe when the Marines started to drill the hatcher hole. So if his receiver doesn't have one, but has a wwII dated Sedlgey barrel, then under my logic the Marines didn't install it because of the absence of the hatcher hole. The same goes with the vice marks. All USMC 41 or 42 dated Sedgley barrels I have seen had the vice marks as well. So without these two traits present, I think many would suspect the barrel was installed by someone other than the Marines.

And yes the Army did drill the hole as well, so it is not definite provenance of the USMC. But the lack of it with a Sedgley barrel is a red flag to me.

[islandhopper]

I have a 9/42 Sedgley without vice marks. Others exist as well. Elwoodman, post pics of your rifle (hatcher hole area, serial area even if you want to blur a few numbers, top of bolt, stock markings if present and buttplate). That could help.

[RCS]

Here are some photos of a SA Jan 1931 dated barrel that was purchased from the Great Lakes Naval Retail Store in the 1960's by a friend (they also sold '41 & '42 dated USMC barrels too)these barrels sold for $3 each. (they also sold 1903A3 barreled actions for $10 )

Note that this barrel has the same type of vise marks that the USMC Sedgely barrels have in front of the rear sight base