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Legacy Member
Commercial Rifle Built on 1903 Action?
Going through some old magazines, I ran across a review of a "Midland Model 2600 Rifle" in the Proof House section of the February, 1994 issue of Guns and Ammo. It is stated that the rifle is based on the 1903 Springfield design. In the rather poor pictures, I can see the trademark Springfield safety lug on the bolt and that high arched receiver bridge to clear it, so it's not an A3. The review states the rifle was made by the Gibbs Rifle Co. of Martinsburg, WV.
Now I've never heard of the above rifle and have not heard of any commercially made 1903 receivers. I know National Ordinance, Santa Barbara and maybe others made fake A3's (I have a National Ordinance). I have heard of a Gibbs Rifle Co.; a friend had a rifle so marked.
Can anyone comment?
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Last edited by ArtPahl; 03-20-2019 at 09:25 PM.
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03-20-2019 09:22 PM
# ADS
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Advisory Panel
The Midland rifle was an interesting hodgepodge of parts assembled by Parker Hale into an economy rifle. The Gibbs Rifle Company was a spinoff of Navy Arms, and acquired the assets when PH folded.
An 03A3 bolt was used. The safety was deleted, and the hole plugged. The cast receiver has the footprint of a sporting 98 Mauser. The barrel is essentially a commercial 98 with a slightly longer shank. The trigger guard/magazine with hinged floorplate is a standard cast PH mauser sporting unit. The trigger assembly is a PH Mauser with a different seat. The stock is a Sile Mauser sporter, carved in Italy.
The Springfield bolt nose is shaped to fit a coned breech barrel. The Mauser type barrel has a flat face. The receiver does not have the inner collar of the true Mauser 98. Consequently, the head of the cartridge case is hanging out in the air.
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Legacy Member
Gibbs Rifle Co. rebuilt '03A3's out of sometimes questionable receivers just like National ORDNANCE(an ordinance is a law), et al.
A Midland Model 2600 Rifle is a Parker Hale brand name built on a Mauser action using an '03 style bolt.
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