I recently purchased a Mk 1 which I have yet to receive. If there is anything really original (i.e. Mk 1 trigger group and other parts), I may post pictures and ask more questions. At least, it appears to have a correct, period stock and a barrel which is most likely original, by the date vs. the receiver number.
Prior to ordering it, and after, I have looked up as much as I can on the subject of Mk 1 rifles.
Major Culver's " Pipsqueak Pistol" article was very informative. In it he states that the Mk 1 rifles were stored until 1937-38, at which time the rifles were modified with conventional parts and released to general use, the devices having been scrapped earlier.
1) If the devices were scrapped in 1931 or shortly thereafter , why did the Army wait to modify and release the weapons? Without the devices, they weren't of much use, except as regular weapons.
2) Lots (it seems) of Mk1 rifles I have seen for sale on the internet seem to have WW 2 barrel dates. Were they used that much in the few years after release that they had to be refurbished? Or were separate Mk 1 receivers made back in 1918-20 and put in storage?
3) Can we assume (bad word, I know) that surviving Mk 1s with the Mk 1 components somehow escaped the refurb in the late 30's, or are they mostly just restored by collectors using surplus parts?
4) Were some Mk 1 rifles issued during the 20's and simply never recalled for modification or, if recalled, simply modified at a different time than the general release in the late 30's?
5) I know it is not really likely, but are there any pictures of Mk1 rifles being used in the field (with or without the devices) anytime in the 20's or 30's?
I know, like many questions about the 1903 rifles, the above may be un-answerable based on lack of records and the fact that most who would have seen the Mk 1s in pre-WW2 service are now deceased. Still, a new collector rifle always raises questions for me, so I thought I'd ask.