National Match, International Match? Need help!

[404tbang]

Howdy,
My name is Greg, and I just found this site last night. I wish I had known about this place years ago!

I have a 1903 Springfield that is unlike any I have had before. I have been trying to research it, and I just don't know how. I saw that some of you have SRS and DCM sales records, and I hope you can help me.

The serial number on the rifle is 1,403,758. I know that the reciever was built in 1931, apparently after the National Matches at Perry. I have been told that the rifle before it, and the one after it, were NM rifles, and that they were built in blocks, so presumably, it is a NM reciever. It is not in an original stock by Springfield. It has what looks like the German double set triggers in what I can find of the Brophy book online. The triggers are sweet! It has been fitted with a Lyman 48 sight, which is missing the slide. I am not sure what the difference is between the Lyman 48s and the 48c.

The barrel is what caught my attention.

It was made by legendary barrelmaker Eric Johnson.

I have some rifles built by Johnson. He was famous for rimfire barrels. I know a couple of people that have copies of his shop records from 1933 to 1965. Eric was the 1929 prone rimfire National Match champion at Camp Perry. He won with one of his own barrels. According to Doug Wickland, a senior curator at the NRA National Firearms Museum, Johnson barrels still hold the record for the number of National Chamionships won with a custom barrel maker's barrel. At least up until two years ago when I spoke with him. I presume this means from a small, individual barrelmaker, not a custom barrel making factory. Johnson retired in 1965 at the tender age of 78, so it seems to me that is an impressive record. Mr. Wicklund also told me that discriminating shooters still look for rifles with Johnson barrels.

One of the people with the records told me that Eric built 7 1903's in 1935. I don't know how many he built overall, because he focused on rimfires. I have found an ad from 1932 in the American Rifleman, during a period when he was in Ardmore OK, in partnership with John Dubiel. He advertised 30-06 match barrels and installation. I also read in one of the 1932 American Rifleman where he had done some fine shooting at 600 yards either in OK or TX, or both.

Prior to this, Eric had worked for Hoffman Arms, from 1923 to 1928.
Hoffman also employed James (?) Howe, of Griffin & Howe after he left the company with his name in it.

Eric has built rifles for Art Jackson, Art Cook, and many other legends of rimfire shooting. His rifles have been to the Olympics. Before there was Karl Kenyon as a legendary rimfire gunsmith, there was Eric Johnson.

I say all of this to set a background about Eric Johnson for those who don't know who he was. Even the high end gunshops that I sometimes go to here in Kentucky (yes, we have some) don't know about Johnson, and presume the gun has been bubba'ed.

Eric Johnson was NOT a bubba!!!

I have done enough shameless promotion. It is not my intention to come accross as arrogant, please do not interpret it that way, I just wanted to lay the background about Johnson so y'all won't think the rifle has been bubba'ed too much.

The rifle dates from a time period when Johnson did not put serial numbers on his barrels, nor did he record the serial number of the reciever. On some later rifles, it is possible to find out who owned them, which allows them to tell their story about who owned them and what shooting accomplishments were made with them. Some of the info can be backtracked through match reports in the American Rifleman from different time periods. It sort of brings the shooter back to life. Some of these rifles are sort of like functional pieces of history, and I want to help them tell their story as opposed to just ending up in a gunstore after an inheritance or estate auction with no one respecting them for what they are.

So, if I can get some info from the SRS records and particularly the DCM sales records, I might be able to get a name. And if I can get a name, I can go back to the guy with the shop records and find out who it was made for, and hopefully when.

The rifle is pretty much mint. The barrel is 1 inch at the muzzle. The bolt is polished, but the reciever has been blued, so the rails aren't polished. The striker (?) has CV, for chrome vanadium, stamped on it. The extractor does not, don't know if it was buffed off, or never there. The bolt does not have a receiver serial number on it, it shows a couple of grind spots, don't know if it was ever there or not. I read in what I could find of the Brophy book online, that there were heavy barrels made for some of the NM rifles by Winchester, Remington, Pope, Hoffman Arms, and a couple of others. The barrel is 28 inches long, scope bases are installed on the barrel. The buttplate appears to be missing a piece to make it adjustable, it is a bit short.
The double set triggers appear to look like the German ones pictured in the Brophy book. They go light, and crisp. I don't have a trigger pull gauge, but I am guessing in the 3-4 oz range as currently adjusted, don't know how light they go. My Anschutz goes to 2oz, they are not that light. The firing pin spring is EXTREMELY STRONG! I am guessing this is one of the type springs designed by Garand. It is the strongest spring, by far, I have ever had on a Springfield. The cocking piece is not headless.

If someone can tell me how to post pics, I will. It might take a day or two to catch my teenage son to help me, I am computer challenged as he puts it. He is being charitable. I am computer stupid!

Sorry for such a long first post, but I wanted to give y'all enough information to go on, if you are merciful enough to help me.

Thank you!
Greg

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Chuckindenver]

your number is not on the DCM sales list.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Hi Greg,

Here's a link for a couple of ways to post photos.

How do I upload or post images on MILSURPS.COM? - Military Surplus Collectors Forums

Looking forward to seeing your photos!

[Rick the Librarian]

You might contact Michael Petrov (I don't know if he posts here, but he does post on Jouster). He would definitely be the guy to talk to about your rifle.

[Michael Petrov]

Is this one I already looked up?

[404tbang]

Hi Michael!
Yes, you were kind enough to look this one up for me. It has been a while since we talked. I did not think to ask what you looked it up in when we talked, if you told me where you looked it up, I just plain forgot. If you looked it up in the SRS records, I sincerely apologize to you and the folks I would have pestered here. I would not have have posted about it in that case. When I found this site, I saw where someone asked about looking a rifle up in the SRS records and the DCM sales records. I thought perhaps someone could put a name to the rifle, especially with the DCM records, and I could then get in touch with you or Hap and compare it to Johnson's shop records.

I still have not had my son help me with the pics. When I do, and it will be soon I hope, I will send them to you, too.

Again, I apologize if I have offended, I could not recall where you looked the rifle up.

Thanks!
Greg

[JGaynor]

404, FWIW Eric Johnson is mentioned albeit briefly in the custom rifle section of Phil Sharpe's, The Rifle in America. Although its an older reference and out of print its still a valuble addition to any gun reference library. In particular the 1947 and later editions which capture WW2 rifle production.
Regards,

Jim

[Michael Petrov]

Greg, Not a problem on my end I was just not sure If I had looked this one up or not. The Eric Johnson shop books are not set up to find barrels easily so I thought I would ask before looking.
Good luck in your search for more information.

[404tbang]

JGaynor,
Thank you, I will look for a copy of Phil Sharpe's book. Anything with Eric Johnson info is of great interest to me!

Michael Petrov,
Thanks for understanding. I was paranoid that I had accidentally offended you! Last email you sent, you had found the names of the 7 03's Eric Built in 1935. I could not come up with a way to peg any of the names to the rifle at the time.

It occurred to me that if the rifle went to a shooting team, and if it was possible to get the names of the guys on the team, one of them might match up with the names you had found. Other than that, I am still stumped.

Michael, this is the mother of all long shots, and I can't remember if I asked you, is one of the names you found in Johnson's records regarding the 03's in 1935 Woolsey Caye from Louisville, Ky?

That is the guy who bought the Johnson Straight Pull serial #1 in 1933. The stock on the Straight Pull and the Springfield have some extreme similarities, enough that I have no doubt they were made by the same person. I have been in contact with Woolsey Caye's grandson trying to see what I could learn about the rifle and the man. I was told that he shot rimfire and centerfire at Perry in the 1930's. He passed away in 1943 of a heart attack. He was a WW1 veteran. His grandson bears his name, but he was not born until 1947.

If Caye's name is one of the one's in the records, I would be fairly confident he would have been the one with that rifle, even though there is no serial number proof. Having those near identical stocks would give him the same feel for both a rimfire and a centerfire. Sorta like having a Rem 40x in rimfire and centerfire.

Thanks!
Greg

[Jim Tarleton]

Good luck in your search.

Jim