Attached is a picture of my SC A3 cartouche. Can a member tell me what it indicates. JF stamped over RAP. The RA are clear. The P I'm not sure about.
Printable View
Attached is a picture of my SC A3 cartouche. Can a member tell me what it indicates. JF stamped over RAP. The RA are clear. The P I'm not sure about.
JF is prob'ly the last owner's initals , I'm afraid. RA-P is a Raritan Arsenal rebuild stamp or at least a pass through visual inspection stamp . Depends on if your rifle has been redone , and , more importantly , if the rifle was in that stock when said stock was at Raritan.
Chris
Nice looking scant. Did you clean it up or did it look like that when you got it? It seems pretty nice. At least that little bit I can see.
Maybe someone was going to put FJA on the stock, and ended up putting the J first.
I bought this gun at a show years ago. The stock is as purchased. I have not cleaned the stock. I find no other marks on the stock other than whats in the picture. It is an SC in 366XXXX range. Since the patina of the upper hand guard (since replace with a new/old piece) did not match the stock, I am assuming it was reworked at some point.
emmagee1917 - With all due respect, why would someone put their initials on it? Do you mean a military organization or a private owner? Have you seen that before. Seems peculiar, but I suppose every thing has happened at least once.
It is not an original factory mark nor any arsenal stamp I am familiar with. I would guess , due to it's simple design , it was added by a private owner . If it had something along the lines of TVA or CD or ??PD or CHP or FBI , then you could make a case that it could have been a military arm given out to another govt. agency for thier use , but I draw a blank with JF . Back when these were cheep non-collectables , lots of sad things were done to them by thier owners .
Chris
The military never installed scant stocks on 1903A3s, not at rebuild either, I'm sure there are several that can back me up on that. Considering that and the JF (definitely not a US stamp), I'd say a previous owner installed it.
Perhaps they were going for "JFC" before they realized it was an older 1903 stamp????
agree, i belive that the RA-P is a rebuild, and the other mark is Not military of origin.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm disappointed it's not a correct stamp. I like my stuff correct, even if not in great condition. As I only have about $300 into this gun and it looks almost new (albeit a frosty barrel), I am still happy with it.
If you are going to put your own personal "brand" on the stock, why would you choose to do it cock-eyed over an existing stamp? Did schools or drill teams ever mark the wood?
Mike, I was referring to his 1903A3,, yes scants were used on 1903s and 1903A4s, but I am very certain that no 1903A3's ever came out of new production with scants, I have never seen or heard of a doccumented A3 (known correct) to come out of any rebuild arsenal with a scant either. I could be mistaken and it would certainly be news to me if they were, but I think this would be a good question for JB or RTL, I was hoping they would drop in.
I should specify on the 1903's also,,, only on Springfield (new) and they are scarce. No Remington 1903's came out in a scant from the factory. I think this was a topic a little while back, a guy at a gun show claimed to have an original Remington 1903A1 ($2500.00),,, from what I've found, such a thing never existed.
I'd just start looking for a different stock, if it bugs you. Shooter grade Scant stocks aren't that expensive.
Considering MANY MANY scant stocks are cut for A3 actions, I rather doubt anyone can say rebuilt A3's never got scant stocks.
M1903A3s came out of rebuild facilities with both Scants and Type C, as well as "straight" stocks. Obviously, after 65+ years, it would be hard to tell for sure if a current 03A3 had a Scant as a legitimate rebuild or something a previous civilian owner had done.
I know thread is bit old but I too have a scant stock with "JF" stamped on it. It is also stamped RA-P.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...eb47dcdb-1.jpg
Keeping this old thread alive, I also have an m1903 with a RA-P and JF stamped scant stock. I doubt that some collector was doing it.