I ran into this 1903 yesterday and couldn't pass it up. It was super cheap and it needed to be rescued! It has a few problems that I'll outline in a minute, but I am now starting to think that it might (?) have some USMC "signs" but not sure. I am interested to see what everyone here thinks.
The bad:
*Stock has been sanded or is very worn, it shows signs of someone trying to add very poorly done checkering and then was worn over time. I'd guess it's more wear than sanding.
*Upper hand guard has been sanded recently and bare wood is showing over the entire hand guard, of course it does not match the rest of the stock
*all sling hardware has been removed from the stock and is missing
*it's starting to turn brown in some areas of the receiver, but barrel and bolt are very nice
*I'd guess the front sight has been replaced
Suspected issues that might indicate USMC history:
*It has a greenish color bluing that does not seem to be worn parkerizing. It does not show well in the photo, it looks more brown in the photos
*I think it has the hatcher hole...but not 100% sure what that looks like
*The serial number has been etched in the bolt, older and worn but it's there
*Serial number might be in the right range? 360,731
* Replacement barrel is 9/27
*the guy I got it from said it came from the Navy, not sure why he thought that but I'll try to find out
*I'll note the butt plate has NOT been stimpled
I'll get more photos posted in a day or so.
Bolt Etching:
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...psgv054bol.jpg
Receiver:
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...psrccoasf2.jpg