Just acquired my first '03 Springfield.

[AustinWiseguy]

I appreciate your opinion on it. Thanks!

[Art]

I had a similar situation with an M1903 Greek return rifle. It is a 1921 rifle with a correct 1921 barrel. MarineA1Sniper whose knowledge of USMC rifles is encyclopedic and who no longer posts here...unfortunatly confirmed that it was a USMC rifle. So did John Beard. The barrel has the letter "A" under the date which means that it passed inspection during a rebuild. when I asked how the rifle could go that long without a new barrel the answer was that it probably was issued to a bandsman or cook and never left the United States. It does happen. In fact very rarely a rifle will show up that apparently was never issued or was used very lightly and never went through rebuild.

Congratulations on your rifle.

[Merc]

The Greeks seemed to have taken good care of the 03s they were given. My 1925 03 Greek return was still mostly covered by the heavy grease they used as a preservative when I bought it. A friend bought from the CMP in 2002 sold it to me last summer. He never cleaned or shot it and didn’t have a clue that it was a Greek return. You could say that he never really got to know the rifle.

I baked the stock in the sun to get some of the oil out of the wood fibers and then treated it several times with acetone. It was a mess but there was no rust or rot anywhere after being in storage for more than 50 years, so I tip my hat to the Greeks. It has a Remington 03A3 stock, a Remington 03A3 bolt and a High Std 9/44 barrel. It’s finish is 99% with no measurable wear (and shoots nice groups).

[AustinWiseguy]

Thank you again, Art and Merc. I'm continuing to research and came across a guy on the MilSurp forum who also had a Greek return. His had that mysterious mark under the barrel which I think is a small-case "pi" symbol. Read that this Greek letter sometimes refers to pressure and if it means anything, I'm guessing it might be another inspection mark of theirs. The point about being issued to support troops is a good one. I suppose mine may have been rear-guard issued and then made its way to a Navy ship's small arms arsenal.

Question: Is there a difference between an 03 and an 03A3 stock? Can you point me to any references that would describe it? Thanks again for helping me get more familiar with this rifle. Love this history.

[lyman]

Thank you again, Art and Merc. I'm continuing to research and came across a guy on the MilSurp forum who also had a Greek return. His had that mysterious mark under the barrel which I think is a small-case "pi" symbol. Read that this Greek letter sometimes refers to pressure and if it means anything, I'm guessing it might be another inspection mark of theirs. The point about being issued to support troops is a good one. I suppose mine may have been rear-guard issued and then made its way to a Navy ship's small arms arsenal.

Question: Is there a difference between an 03 and an 03A3 stock? Can you point me to any references that would describe it? Thanks again for helping me get more familiar with this rifle. Love this history.

biggest difference is the cut for the rear sight, on the 03's and the cut for the rear band or retainer (that held the A3 handguard near the front of the receiver,)

there were replacements made that had both features,


after a very quick search the best pic I could find, of a replacement stock with both features

note the small cutouts in the stock just in front of the barrel mounted sight collar,

[Merc]

The 03A3 stocks that I’m familiar with were made without finger grooves and will have Lt. Col. Frank J. Atwood’s initials (FJA) and the Ordnance Wheel symbol stamped on the left wrist. There are four different inspectors marks just forward of the trigger guard and a circled P stamped just behind the trigger guard.

[Merc]

http://www.proofhouse.com/cm/us_inspector.htm

Inspector chart.

[clintonhater]

I baked the stock in the sun to get some of the oil out of the wood fibers and then treated it several times with acetone.

In the '60s, when dirt-cheap milsurp rifles were being advertised in all the gun mags, I bought a good many of them, including several with stocks so oil-soaked they were black as tar. Fortunately, the professional do-gooders & bed-wetters had not yet banned the sale of carbon tetrachloride, the most effective of all oil & grease solvents, & unlike acetone, not flammable--in fact it was used in liquid fire extinguishers! Could be bought at any drug store. If you find yourself doing this again, I'd suggest wrapping the wood with paper towels, then black plastic, before leaving it in the sun.

[Merc]

In the '60s, when dirt-cheap milsurp rifles were being advertised in all the gun mags, I bought a good many of them, including several with stocks so oil-soaked they were black as tar. Fortunately, the professional do-gooders & bed-wetters had not yet banned the sale of carbon tetrachloride, the most effective of all oil & grease solvents, & unlike acetone, not flammable--in fact it was used in liquid fire extinguishers! Could be bought at any drug store. If you find yourself doing this again, I'd suggest wrapping the wood with paper towels, then black plastic, before leaving it in the sun.

The acetone seemed to have pulled the oil out but placing the stock in a black plastic bag will definitely raise the temperature a lot higher. I heard adding cat litter inside the bag also works to absorb oil. I remember when Carbon Tet was still being used. Nasty stuff.

My 03A3 was still covered with dried cosmoline when I bought it several years ago. Acetone and a rough dish washing sponge worked well to remove it without disturbing the metal finish or the stock. No oozing oil with cosmoline.

The thing that I wonder about is how some gun owners can buy an old gun that’s still covered with a preservative and never clean or shoot it.

[clintonhater]

I remember when Carbon Tet was still being used. Nasty stuff.

If you have heard that, or read that, allow me to correct this false impression. It's no more "nasty" that acetone or lacquer thinner (the best substitute for carbon tet I've found; each time I go to the hardware store to buy a can, I wonder if EPA will have banned it, too), provided it's used with some element of common sense--but that's always excluded from EPA testing. Years after I was cleaning those stocks, I had a job in a lab which involved cleaning glassware with carbon tet, done inside a ventilated hood; probably used a quart every day. I have survived to the age of 77, with no reparatory or other serious health problems beyond controllable hypertension.