Rock Island National Match

[Rock1903]

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to the 1903! I just acquired a beautiful Rock Island 1903 Ser# 288384. It has some of the characteristics of a National Match rifle from what I have been able to find on the net:
-bolt highly polished
-I dont know how to describe the stock
-star gauged barrel... S A 9-42
-Lyman 48 receiver sight w/globe front sight

I dont know much about these rifles but shouldnt the bolt be etched w/the serial number as well as the stock? I shot the rifle yesterday and with Federal 168gr match rounds it shot a couple of 3 round 1 hole groups but the majority were 1" with no groups over 1.5". The bore is not that great...the grooves are dark and rough but the lands are nice a bright and not too rounded. How do I find out if this is a National Match rifle? Thanks!

Information

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[JGaynor]

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to the 1903! I just acquired a beautiful Rock Island 1903 Ser# 288384. It has some of the characteristics of a National Match rifle from what I have been able to find on the net:
-bolt highly polished
-I dont know how to describe the stock
-star gauged barrel... S A 9-42
-Lyman 48 receiver sight w/globe front sight

I dont know much about these rifles but shouldnt the bolt be etched w/the serial number as well as the stock? I shot the rifle yesterday and with Federal 168gr match rounds it shot a couple of 3 round 1 hole groups but the majority were 1" with no groups over 1.5". The bore is not that great...the grooves are dark and rough but the lands are nice a bright and not too rounded. How do I find out if this is a National Match rifle? Thanks!

Well you have come to the right place. In the mean time if you could take some more and better pictures it would help.
The stock appears to have the "B" style pistol grip and it is possible your rifle may be a "U.S. Riifle Cal 30 Style NBA" although I'm not sure what to make of the 1942 barrel and globe front sight.

Regards,

Jim

[Chuckindenver]

wellllllll.
heres what i see,. 1922 Gallery rifle stock. {no crossbolts}
if the barrel has a star gage stamp at 6" it is a fake..they stopped using the star gage in 1940, and switched to an air gage.
looks like a nice shooter...not a NM however.

[Rock1903]

Thanks for the info! I'll get some better pics, the one I posted is the one the PO sent me. I also noticed that the rifle has been drilled and tapped for a Unertl scope and the buttplate looks like an NM but without the hole in the middle. Thanks again for the info!! AWESOME SITE!

[Rock1903]

Heres some additional pics...I cant get a clear pic of the star gage. It looks like a flaming bomb though with the letters S A and then 9-42

I just tried to upload additional pics and was disallowed saying the file type exceeded 293 KB. What am I doing wrong?

[JGaynor]

Heres some additional pics...I cant get a clear pic of the star gage. It looks like a flaming bomb though with the letters S A and then 9-42

I just tried to upload additional pics and was disallowed saying the file type exceeded 293 KB. What am I doing wrong?

nothing the site has certain limitations on photo file sizes. There are a couple of ways around it.
1. Set up a Photobucket(tM) account - upload the pictures to Photobucket(tM) and then use "Display the upload form from Photobucket" thats at the bottom of each of thee pages. When you craft your response with the extra pics can copy the links to each image (in photobucket) to the body of your message. = It seems a bit more cimbersome but it reduces the amount of storage used on the milsurps server.

2. if 1. above is confusing or too much feel free to email the pics to me and i will be happy to post them for you. jgaynor[killspam]@optonline.net
delete the [killspam]

Regards,

Jim

[JGaynor]

wellllllll.
heres what i see,. 1922 Gallery rifle stock. {no crossbolts}
if the barrel has a star gage stamp at 6" it is a fake..they stopped using the star gage in 1940, and switched to an air gage.
looks like a nice shooter...not a NM however.

Good call on the stock Chuck I looked right past the cross bolts

Regards,

Jim

[Rock1903]

Thanks again...I'll give photo bucket a try! BTW What is a Gallery rifle stock?

[Chuckindenver]

if the buttplate has no trap door, it is a .22 buttplate as well.
looking closer at the target sight, looks as its a .22 target sight.
measure the distance between holes on the D&T..id bet they are closer to Weaver bases then Unertle..
look under the sight elevator on the receiver bridge. see if you find another hole, or holes..
the term stargaged, has been thrown around pretty loosely in regards to barrels...
barrels made before 1940...may have a astrix mark stamped on the muzzle edge, at 6:00 and then a stargage number ahead of the rear sight base, or on the bottom side of the barrel under were a sight base would be, in the case of a NRA sporter.
iv seen a few Marine target rifles. with no muzzle mark, and a stargage number ahead of the rear sight base.
a gallery rifle stock is a type of 1922 stock, cal .22LR target rifle. and not a highpower rifle stock.

[JGaynor]

Thanks again...I'll give photo bucket a try! BTW What is a Gallery rifle stock?

A stock that was originally on a .22 rimfire rifle based on the M1903 action, most likely an M1922M1.

The military has long used .22 cal rifles for indoor (gallery) marksmanship training and practice.

The M1922M1 also used the distinctive squared off Style "B" pistol grip.

Regards,

Jim