“X” Marking on lower band of 5/42 rifle
Hello all,
Just going to try to keep this one short and sweet.
I just recently picked up a very nice 5/42 correct rifle originally from the collection of Bruce Canfield and have since been inspecting it.
One thing that stands out to me is an “X” marking on the left side of the lower band. A photograph of the marking can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/nq16tZt
Does anyone know what this means? Is it the letter X or is it a cross?
Thank you!
- Michael
2 Attachment(s)
lower band single letter stamp
There is a collector, Ed Byrns, who is often on the CMP website who keeps track of these lower band letter stamps. he has maybe a half dozen or so to date. Found on both arched and flat bands starting in 1942 and a few in early '43. All Springfield and reason for the letter stamp is not known.
I have one on a mid 1942 SA rifle and have seen others too.Attachment 128834Attachment 128835
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Revision 2 bolt marked X 1
Thanks Ed for posting the list of lettered lower bands. While on the subject of X marked parts, years ago had a friend in Calif that found a revision 2 bolt heat lot X 1 in a SA 63K rifle with a S-A 8-40 barrel. The rifle was damaged and the parts were being sold, I was able to buy the bolt. So far I only know about two other bolts also marked X 1 but not in rifles. The data charts posted never show the X 1 bolt so has to be uncommon to find.
Photos show the X 1 boltAttachment 128836Attachment 128837