What was the rarest of the " General Issued" in the U.S. model 1903 family? N.M's, snipers DCM guns excluded-SDH:D
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What was the rarest of the " General Issued" in the U.S. model 1903 family? N.M's, snipers DCM guns excluded-SDH:D
An original rod bayonet M1903 would be my vote.
I don't know if this fits in your definition of 'general issue' but I'd say the air service rifle...
the trench modified 1903, is one of the rarest, or the M1922 in 22 Hornet, NBA sporter, any of the heavy barreled military 03,s.
or any 1903 variant under serial number 5..
1922, in Cal, 22 hornet..nice serial number as well..i was told once by a so called expert, that this rifle isnt that rare,,lol, how many rifles do you see with serial number 3??let alone one in 22 hornet.
Beautiful rifle Chuck. I take it you sold it at a profit?:D
thanks, well yes, ya gotta suport your toy habbit somehow, that rifle is in a museum collection, in Nevada the last time i talked to the new owner.
i have a rule, though i am a collector, and a gunsmith, i dont own any weapon that i cant or wont shoot.
like having a super model for a girlfriend that you dont want to mess up..
id ride em like i stole em.
iv owned and worked on a few rare examples of the 1903 rifle, and have my collection down to a nice lot, from 80 or so rifles down to about 20 1903 variants.
i personally like the NS receivered SA,s and low number RIAs the best.
i feel the same way about the other hobbies i have, bikes, guns, and trucks,
i race vintage MX, and race a restored 1967 Husqvarna 360 Viking..a real one, not a cheesy made up POS.
and get grief for it every time i take it out..it was made to race, and thats what ill do with it. when it breaks, i fix it, and race it harder..
just like my guns, they were made to shoot, and most were made as a battle rifle, and thats what they should do...shoot..!!
1903's up here mostly consist of: 03's, 03/MK1's/a few 03 modified's / A3's & what I suspect as lot A4 clones. As for variants of the exotic type there maybe a few owned by high end collectors, but I think most came the way of surplus pieces and assemblies put together when the border and our governments weren't so anal about law abiding gun owners. There is a little interest in 03's up here (me being a big fan) because they weren't the rifle our fathers & Grandfathers used in war, the Enfield wins out.
By the way, I have five motorcycles in the garage and a very understanding wife. Two of them are a KX500 & a SX250. Not vintage, only the rider some days...:beerchug:
Ok sdh, whats the answer?
I guess I have to clear this up just a little, DCM guns are out, they were not general issued as were the sniper variants, I'm grouping all ISSUED M1903's and their variations to the end of WW II that were issued to the regular solders into this question.
I also just dropped a hint, Come on guy's I know one of you guys gotta know :madsmile: