Remington M1903 Bolt Marking

[Cosine26]

On the VI's page under Remington M1903 there is listed a Remington M1903 with a bolt marked "NS". Did Remington mark their bolts as NS? I have a Remington bolt that has a large gas escape hole, no bolt stop detents, smooth body. Under the bolt handle is the "R" marking. The internals and externals are all marked "R". The top of the bolt handle is marked "NS" in large block letters . It looks as if the marking is struck with a single die and not as individual letters.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[m1903rifle]

Probably an attempt to make the bolt more valuable.

[Rick the Librarian]

Pictures would help.

[Calif-Steve]

An NS marked bolt would be a Springfield bolt. Likely changed out at a Depot?

[Cosine26]

Here are the pictures.


http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o15/Cosine1/ReBolt/P1010001_zpsa8f426df.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps6d2284c0.jpg

The bolt was purchased from Potomac Arms in 1958 to replace the unusable bolt I received in a DCM purchased unserviceable Remington 03A3 in 1956. According to both Hatcher and Campbell the early Remington M1903's were made of Nickel Steel up until March of 1942.
This bolt is smoother than the later Remington bolts but it has a stamped extractor collar and no bolt stop detents so is a little later. Bolt is marked "R" on under side of bolt handle. According to Campbell , short cuts were started in March 42.
The bolt has been altered to clear a scope using the Bueller scope blocks which protect the bolt from excessive hear which will anneal the camming surfaces. This fixture makes it unnecessary to cut a clearance slot in the receiver. It is fitted with a Mark 1 low safety.
I used it on my scope equipped 03A3 for a short while using GI scope mounts and a J5 Weaver scope. The J5 is a post war version of the 330 Weaver.
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...psa83a3ef7.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps35d131bb.jpg
Just curious.

[Rick the Librarian]

The bolt has a small R, which indicates a later bolt. Rumors persist that Remington obtained some late Rock Island M1903 bolts and used them in early production of Remington, but I've never seen any (no pun intended) "hard" evidence.

The NS stamp does not resemble any late RIA markings because it is on the top of the bolt handle; on RIA bolts, it was on the safety lug. The "R" on the underside is similar to those used on later Remington M1903A3 bolts. I admit I have no explanation for the NS stamp.

[m1903rifle]

All NS marked Springfield produced bolts will have the detents. You have a Remington produced bolt that has been marked NS by someone OTHER than the arsenal in order to get more money for it. NS marked bolts have always been pricey.

[Cosine26]

Hi RTL $ m1903rifle
I am familiar with faked "NS" marked M1903 bolts. I bought a couple back in 1972- unfortunately they were both J5 DHT bolts. I say unfortunately because I understand the J5 DHT bolts are kind of a premium in that ,as I understand it, they were used on early NM rifles. Since I was a shooter and not a collector they did not really bother me. They were very good shooters.
I was only wondering for I bought the bolt in question in the 1950's and faking ws not quite so common as M1903 and certainly 03A3's were not deemed to be collectable. Even Style T M1903's were being converted to 300 H&H for Bull Guns and M1903NM's were being "sporterized". The 03A3 was the "red headed step child" of the 03 family and not thought well of. I knew that the bolt in question was somewhere in the middle of Remington production for it was a lot smoother than later production bolts. I recognized that the stamped extractor collar and non bolt stop detents were from later production.
I do not agree that the NS bolts were the preferred bolts at that time. Most shooters liked DHT bolts for they felt that the NS bolts were "sticky". I shot with Jack Moore (an old time shooter who shot in the Nationals starting in the twenties and continued to do so until the 1960's) for about ten years and he told me that many of the old time shooters used to substitute SHT/LN bolts into new rifles after the NS rifles were introduced because they were "slicker" in RF matches. During the thirties, the DCM advised shooters to bring extra bolts to the matches just in case a bolt developed a crack. The SHT and DHT bolts were made of the same steel that the Krag was made of ands while it was not common it was not rare to find cracked bolts on the single locking lug of the Krag bolt.
Thanks for your interest and information.

[John Beard]

The bolt is a common Remington bolt and the "N S" marking is spurious.

J.B.

[Cosine26]

Thanks to all who responded.
Case Closed