US Springfield 1922 M2 questions and pics

[Ben Cartwright]

At the Wilmington gun show this weekend I picked up a US Springfield Model 1922 M2, it is in .22 caliber. I have heard about them but had never seen one. I feel in love with it at first sight, I love to color of the wood which is very nice with a few dings here and there but a real deep color. The metal shows honest wear and is similar to a well worn 1903A3 I have, looks like a black parkerizing that is wearing away. The serial number is 65x (someone said I should never mention the serial number because someone may call BATF or the police and claim it is a stolen gun)
The barrel is marked 7-32 with the flaming bomb. The stock has an M2 on the butt of the grip but no other cartouches. The receiver has white metal where the bolt goes and came with one magazine. The bore is really nice. I added the sight hood to it at the show.
I have heard that most of these were refinished, this doesn’t look it to me, all the stampings are sharp. How do I tell if it was ever refinished? And what can anyone tell me about it.

Information

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[Herschel]

The Springfield .22's came from SA with the bolt well (round channel the bolt travels in) in the white. When these guns were reblued/reparkerized the bolt well was left with the same finish as the exterior of the receiver. The bolt well on your rifle is a strong indication that the metal still has the original finish. It appears to be the black parkerizing that was characteristic of these rifles in the 1930's. It is my opinion, based on what I can see in the pictures, that the metal on your rifle has the original finish. The barrel date of 7-32 is appropriate for an early M2 rifle. I would say the barrel is original. The bolt that came on your rifle would have a locking lug that looks exactly like the locking lug on a 1903. The best I can tell from the full length photos, your rifle bolt has the squared locking lug with the headspace adjustment feature. This bolt came into service in about 1935 so the bolt would not be original to the rifle. Nearly all the early M2 rifles had their bolts replaced with the later type (with headspace adjustment). If the bolt in your rifle was installed by Springfield Armory or a govt arsenal the serial number of the rifle would have been etched on the bottom with an electric pencil. I have commented in an earlier post on this forum that less than 5% of the M2 Rifles escaped refinishing. Two have been described and pictured on this forum within a week that I say have the original finish. This tends to refute my opinion of the scarcity of original finish M2's but I say this is a coincidence and the original finish M2's are indeed very scarce. The correct magazine for your rifle will have a small M2 stamped on the to left side. If the magazine lacks the M2 stamp, then it is for the 1922M1 and may or may not feed cartridges reliably. Congratulations on the find.

The sight hood is to protect the sight blade. It obscures the target when trying to shoot with it in place. Removing and replacing the sight hood will remove finish from the front sight base. I suggest you remove it and leave it off.

[Ben Cartwright]

Herschel
Thank you very much for the come back! I will take the hood off, I put it on at the gun show as a 1922 MII that was there had one on it.

The bolt does indeed have the serial number electropened on it, in two different spots with an M2 on the top of the bolt, the bolt seems to be two part or something and the serial number goes over that part. The dealer said the gun was from 1934, but I have no idea. The locking lug does look like the lug on a 1903.
I don't see an M2 on the magazine, but at least it had a mag.

Can it be single fed and it is best to put the cartridge in the magazine or can I just drop it in there and feed it or will it mess up the extractor as it has to "slip" over the rim?

On two of these guns showing up in a week, my guess would be coincidence.

[Herschel]

In The Springfield 1903 Rifles, Brophy says there were 2,330 M2 rifles made in FY 1933. I would say your rifle was made in late 1932 or early 1933. I shot an M2 Rifle in ROTC years ago. I know we loaded them single shot but don't recall if we pushed the cartridge down into the magazine without removing the magazine from the rifle or just by pushing them into the chamber. I don't think it will hurt the extractor to slide over the cartridge head but am not certain about that. Rather than risk breaking a hard to find part I would load the cartridges in the magazine. The locking lug in the photo appears to have the flat surface like the late M2 locking lugs. It just occurred to me that some replacement bolts for the 1903 from WWII have the square locking lug. The original bolt on your rifle would have the concave outer surface.
The M2 magazine will a very noticeable M2 stamped in it. Your magazine must be for the 1922M1. Since it does not come up quite as high in the receiver the M2 bolt may over-ride the top cartridge in the magazine. If it picks up the cartridge and loads in reliably then you have no problem. It is just not the correct magazine for the rifle. The rear sight on your rifle needs the screw in aperture. They are, or at least in recent years were, available from Lyman. They are a $10 to $15 item.

[Ben Cartwright]

Herschel
Thank you again. I ordered an aperture for it already. The mag feeds live rounds fine, a snapcap didn't want to go into the mag but that is fine. So the mag is good to go.

I am very glad that I decided to pick this up, it was expensive and has a few issues but it will fit my collection well. I am very interested in trying the rifle at the range.

Here is a shot of the bolt from another angle I don't think I got the locking lug, that is the part that rotates down, it is flat maybe wider at the top than the bottom by a smidge.

[Herschel]

Ben, I can see enough of the bolt to tell that it has the soft metal plug covering the head of the screw that adjusts headspace when the rifle is being assembled. The soft metal plug is to keep "bubba" from changing the headspace adjustment.

[mannparks]

Ben, you are very lucky man to have that m2.
That's the rifle that I've been looking for.

Beautiful.

Charles

[Ben Cartwright]

Charles
Thank you, it was sort of an impulse buy, but since I already have a 513T and an Enfield trainer it wasn't as it fits into the collection

[1563621]

Recent pick up! 1922 M2 SA 22 - Album on Imgur