Indicators of original finish?

[Scott Wilson]

Thank you everyone for the help so far. Mostly good news, the front sight is blued, as is the lower band spring. The front sight also has the alignment stake present. There appears to be some sign of the cleanup cut at the muzzle but it is faint. I also found some more remnants of the asphalt paint in protected areas.
stake mark.jpgmuzzle ring.jpgfront sight.jpgfront band.jpgcollar.jpg

[togor]

Have you told us about this rifle and I missed it?

[Scott Wilson]

I posted a couple of pictures of it several years ago. I am trying to improve my education on these between the wars rifles.

[MGMike]

The stock has been reworked. There appears to be a patch inlet into the right hand side just abaft of the bolt handle.

M

[Johnny P]

The stock shows a patch in the bolt turn down area, and the shot of the finger grooves shows that some previous owner got heavy handed sanding them, rounding the sharp edges off.

Does it still show the acceptance mark/initials on the left side of the stock, or the P proof behind the trigger guard?

[clintonhater]

Nice looking rifle, punch mark in the center of bomb indicates the rifle was overhauled. Or at least reinspected.

Overhauled, yes, but re-inspected, maybe not--even if that was the correct protocol. My 11-22 with a "SA-SPG" re-inspection stamp (original insp. DAL) does not show this punch mark. Seems to be (I hope!) one of the "lucky" ones that went back through SA without being messed with.

[clintonhater]

It appears a large block of Model 1903 rifles in the 1.21 million serial number range were set aside for NRA/DCM Sales rifles. Yours could have remained in this block, but never sold and removed as WWII approached.

Could 1,251,146 be within this "sales" grouping? It's the same one I referred to above lacking the punch mark.

[Scott Wilson]

When I bought this rifle out of a pawn shop over 15 years ago, it was in an 03A3 stock. The current stock I picked up later. I believe the patch at the bolt handle was to cover the cut for a Lyman sight but who knows.
DAL.jpg P.jpg safety.jpg

[Johnny P]

The rifle shows no signs of overhaul that I can see. The punch mark in the flaming bomb is not consistent. I have one 1903 NM that is totally original, and another that was a U.S. Coast Guard team rifle that was returned to Springfield for total overhaul. The totally original rifle has the punch mark, and the totally rebuild rifle does not.

Stock has the correct DAL acceptance mark on the stock for that time period. You lucked out on the stock.

[Johnny P]

Could 1,251,146 be within this "sales" grouping? It's the same one I referred to above lacking the punch mark.

No luck on that number. The range of DCM shipped rifles in the 1.2 million range are from 1200051 to 1298438 with most being in the 1.21 range. They were a mix of service rifles, NM's, and Sporters. Most NM's and service rifles had their stocks changed to the A1 type stock. For something like $1.50 you could have the service stock changed to the A1 type when it became available. The service rifles that had their stocks changed to the A1 stock had the acceptance mark, but no P proof mark, as the rifle was just changed from one stock to another.