Stock Stamping

[jerrbear]

I believe this has been brought up before but I don't remember seeing an answer. Wonder if anyone knows what the letters SS stand for on side of the butt stock near the end. I have this stamping on my Remington 03A3. Thanks!

[Jkibler2]

I believe this has been brought up before but I don't remember seeing an answer. Wonder if anyone knows what the letters SS stand for on side of the butt stock near the end. I have this stamping on my Remington 03A3. Thanks!

I believe it means sold serviceable after going through refurb.

[John Beard]

The "SS" is believed to mean that the rifle was inspected for sale by the DCM and was found to be in serviceable condition.

J.B.

[jerrbear]

Thanks guys for the help.

[BEAR]

Mr. Beard,
By your statement about the "S.S." stamped stock I understand that this is a educated theory, not documented fact. That being said (and I highly respect your expertise and opinion), I have a "S.S." stamped stock that was traded off an ROTC drill rifle for a pinned RA S stock some 26 years ago.
Although these drill rifles were rendered inoperable they were not transferred from government property books and stayed in the Army accounting system as deactivated drill rifles. We were required to lock these rifles up in the arms room in the same manner as active rifles.
The pictures below show the full stock and only stamps on the butt and wrist.
DSCF6475.jpgDSCF6479small.jpgDSCF6481.jpg

[John Beard]

Bear,

Thanks for your reply!

You are correct. The meaning of the "S.S." and "U.S." stampings is not documented. And for that reason, I was careful to use the word "believed" in my reply. The circumstantial evidence, however, is reasonable.

An "S.S." stamping in a stock does not necessarily mean that the rifle was sold through the DCM, but was only inspected for sale through the DCM. After inspection, the rifle could easily have been diverted to a drill rifle. I note that your stock is for an M'03-A3, which is consistent with the DCM sales criteria. Nevertheless, your report cannot be ignored.

Thanks for posting it!

J.B.

p.s.,

An "N.R.A." marked trigger guard showed up on a rifle at the CMP. Wonder how that got there?

[BEAR]

J.B.

p.s.,

An "N.R.A." marked trigger guard showed up on a rifle at the CMP. Wonder how that got there?


Well, one thing I've learned in my 60+ years is the only thing certain about life is...nothing is certain!
Thank you for the reply.

BEAR

[BEAR]

Not to beat a dead horse, but sometimes my brain will bring memories long forgotten out of the mist.

While I was returning the "S.S." stock to my safe last night I suddenly remembered an incident at that ROTC unit shortly after I arrived. The unit used to have a drill team some years before I showed up and there were about eight stocks that had cracked wrists and big dings. The Colonel wanted me to see about securing some more stocks to bring all the rifles into a serviceable condition (for a drill rifle). The unit secretary said that they had replaced about six stocks about 10 years back and she had a file on the transaction. There was a letter from Cadet Command that said that the Army could no longer supply 03A3 stocks due to lack of supply. Included was a catalog from Springfield Sporters from which the stocks were ordered previously. Unfortunately, Springfield Sporters no longer had anymore stocks for sale.

So, I am now thinking that the stock I traded probably was one of the Springfield Sporters stocks (because it is really in good condition) and thus the "S.S." stamp because it did not come from Army supply channels.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

BEAR

[John Beard]

When I read your first posting and was considering a reply, the thought occurred to me that the stock didn't originate from a drill rifle at all but, as they say in animal husbandry, had "jumped the fence" and had migrated from elsewhere to replace a damaged drill rifle stock. But I didn't bring that up, lest I appear to be grasping at straws.

In addition to your stock being an M'03-A3 stock, which is consistent with the "S.S." and "U.S." markings and the DCM sales criteria from that period, the stock also exhibits the overhaul inspection stamp of the Ogden Arsenal. And the "S.S." marking is in a clearly different font from the font applied at Raritan Arsenal. So now we see two different arsenals making the same inspection and applying the same marking and on the same type of stock. Coincidence? Not likely.

For what it's worth.

J.B.