1903A1 NM Hatcher Hole

Hello,

I have a 1903A1 NM, s/n 1496423, with a barrel date of 12-36. It has all the NM features (polished bolt with sn, checked buttplate, sn on stock, etc). I also noticed it has a "Hatcher Hole" or gas port on the left of the receiver. Is this gas port typical for this date of manufacture or was it part of a later arsenal reconditioning?

I've heard the roughly 25,000 of the approx 28,000 NM rifles were reconditioned with this port, but not certain if the gas port was part of the original manufacturing process.

The rifle is in excellent condition, so what happened to these NM rifles after they were reconditioned? Sold to DCM? How long after manufacture as NM rifles were they sent back for reconditioning? Why would all the original parts remain?

Any help or insights would be great.

Thanks,

Scott

Lots of the NM's were sold at Camp Perry. You could buy either a new rifle or a used rifle (after the Matches). When WWII happened the NM's were shipped out for combat. The Marines got many for sniper use. I am sure other folks have ideas about the NM's.

For this serial range, the hatcher hole should look factory done. I have a lot of friends with NM rifles in this 1.496 range and all are factory Hatcher holes.

Your rifle though is very interesting already. It is surrounded by known Marine Unertl Snipers. Which the Marine Unertl snipers were just built on the Marine NM team rifles. My buddy has one about 20 digits off yours and actually I know of one that is one digit off yours. lol

The Marines received NM rifles in certain years for Marine Team rifles. The year this one would have fallen into, if it was Marine. The Marines received 150 that year.

At the end of each season the Marines team rifles were returned to Philly to be gone through, then they were put into storage for the next year use in one of three categories.

I would be very curious to see your rifle. The Marines did do some modifications to their rifles that can be seen in pics. I would be very curious to see if it has these traits. You really honestly might have a former NM Marine Team rifle. It's not for certain, yet. But you are in a excellent range. :)

Scott
Your rifle is a DCM sales rifle.
The rifle was sold to a private individual
before WW2.
Probably stayed home.
Respectfully
Ed Byrns

Oh crap, I'm tottaly wrong. I figured someone already had checked the SRS on the serial, so I didn't check that list. I was just running the serial off my Marine one.

Ed is 100% right. It has a DCM sales hit. So it was just a commercial sale before the war. It wouldn't have had anything to do with the Marines.

It's neat though it's so close. My buddies rifle is 17 digits away from yours and I'm sure he would still love to see pics of your rifle. His has a 12-36 SA star guaged barrel as well. :)

Are you sure your rifle is re-conditioned? It was sold pretty quick after it was built. But now you have a 100% documented NM rifle. In the old days of the SRS, you could get a letter and see who your rifle was actually sold to. But I don't know if they do that anymore, as far as provide the name of the guy the rifle was sold to.

1496423A1NM 052037DCM RIFLE SALES 1922-42

Sales letters showing the name of the original buyer are still available from Springfield Research Service.

Having two 1903s which are consecutively serialized would be great. You should get in touch with the guy who owns the USMC sniper that Steve mentioned!

Here are a few photos of my M1903A1 National Match. It is serial number 1496423, manufactured in 1935 (per oldguns.net). Barrel date is 12-36. It appears to have all the correct NM features and markings, although I'm still doing research. It has a SRS entry as sold to an individual via DCM on 5/20/37. I am working on getting an SRS letter. Any other insights would be appreciated!

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...igfhtcover.jpg[/IMG]
with P.J. O'Hare front and rear sight covers in place

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...ft_overall.jpg[/IMG]
note Hatcher hole. Appears to be original manufacture and not a rework.

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...bolt_recvr.jpg[/IMG]
matching receiver and bolt serial number

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...lzia/stock.jpg[/IMG]
serial and drawing number on bottom of stock

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...arrel_date.jpg[/IMG]
barrel date (it is 12-36 sorry for the blurriness), along with prooof punch in ordnance bomb. The barrel is star-gauged although my photo was blurry.

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...-cartouche.jpg[/IMG]
rebuild cartouche. Why? I wonder, since the rifle was built in 1935 with a 12-36 barrel date, was it ever used in the National Match (which takes place during summer)? Why did it go back to Springfield for rebuild/rework, and when? Is the barrel part of the rework, so reworked in early 1937 and sold in May the same year?

I'm still learning about M1903s so any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

Nearly all later NM rifles had the SA over SPG cartouche on the stock. So this one is original and legit. The rifle looks absolutely great and is a marvellous piece - I'm envy of you for owning this piece! You might also check the handguard, probably it has a drawing number on top of it. Does it have a star gauge on the muzzle?
Edit: the stock should also have the P in the grip area.

Yeah that looks great. I don't see anything re-worked yet. From what I see so far, I see an original, excellent condition NM so far.

Even though your receiver says it's earlier. I know of a lot in this serial range that were put together for the 1937 NM's. Everything I have seen around your rifle makes me believe it was made for the 1937 NM's but sold before. Otherwise it was a new build, and probably only a few months old when sold.

But double check for the star guage stamp at the muzzle and the record number under the handguard as Georg said above. But it will have them, I have really no doubt.