My first 1903 Springfield

This is my first 03. I have been reading as many posts on "hatcher holes" and Marine 03's as I can but I would still appreciate opinions from guys who know. She has a "hatcher hole", an S stock with a SA/SPG cartouche and I believe thats an OG rearsenal stamp on the underside, with a 7. No punch mark near the serial number, and no stippled buttplate, but I can still hope, right? I would appreciate any useful comments. Oh! When I picked this up at the gunshop an old guy there told me the double heat treating didn't start til 856,000. Does he know what he's talking about? Thanks!

Barrel could be original to the rifle, but seems a little early for the receiver. Double heat treating started at around 775,000 and was in full swing at around 800,000. So your rifle is a nice double heat treated rifle. CC bolt is a Commerical Controls bolt and is a late WWII replacement. Very wrong and you "need " a correct WWI bolt to make it correct. Not sure about any USMC use, perhaps JB could take a look.

The gunshop owner is misinformed. I agree with Calif-Steve. A few case-harden receivers did "leak" through, but you're pretty safe. The barrel is probably original, but the rifle appears to have been refinished. Still, a nice example of a M1903 that has been around the block, but looks very presentable. The Hatcher Hole was used by the Army, as well, and I don't see any other USMC characteristics. Can I ask how much you paid?

Thanks Rick. I paid less than $1000 but not alot less. The guy I bought it from sent the CMP paperwork with it. He got it from them in 2002. Going to go shoot it and a just purchased SA/NFR garand today. Oh! It wasn't the owner, the guy said he had several 03's and then started talking about pressure if you use com. ammo. I don't re-load(yet) so he sounded like he knew what he was talking about on that subject. But I've heard everywhere else it was 800,000. He also said the comm. ammo soft primer issue is a myth. I try to keep plenty of M2 ball around for my now 5, .30 06 rifles, but I did have a box of 180 gr. that I thought I could shoot in the 03. Would that be safe or was he right about any comm. ammo and military rifles?

Your good shoot it, The issue that some people have with "too soft" primers has to do with the garand because the firing pin strikes the primer when the bolt goes into battery. It does leave a slight indent but if the're seated correctly no problem...

If your M1903 is in good mechanical condition, you can shoot a wide variety of military and commercial ammunition. In fact, I would be at a loss to think of any ammunition it couldn't shoot!

I took it out and shot it this weekend. My wife even thought I was a good shot because of it. But i did occasionally have to "seat" the bolt a second time to get it to extract the spent cartridge. No big deal tho. Got the 1918 H&P WEH sling I ordered for it. Now it looks really cool.