Lack of cartouche on 03 Springfield stock

[Der Jagar]

Hello to the forum. Checking on if anyone has ever seen a 03 Springfield stock without/lacking any cartouche's. A 03 was being offered on Gunbroker that had a CMP certificate, had been in the hands of the Greeks for a while, was in pretty good condition. The seller advised no cartouche's were visible, the stock doesn't appear to have been sanded as visible 'dings' are present on the stock and other evidence showing lack of any heavy sanding. The receiver serial number shows a 1923 year and was Springfield rebarreled in 1930. Condition and bore very good. Just wondering about that lack of cartouche-could the gun have been restocked in the field without going through a weapons armory, thus lacking any official armorer stamp? Curious, can't find any reference to this in any of the books I have on 03's.

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[Rick the Librarian]

Yes, very common to not see an inspection stamp. The reasons could be many - you mentioned a couple; the stock could have been installed by a previous owner, too.

[Der Jagar]

In looking at many Springfield/RI 03's (including Remington models) over the years at gun shops, gun shows, on line, and pictures, I've always seen a cartouche of some form on them. K98 Mausers are a different story from what I've read and seen, the symbols and numbers are less prominent. Read once somewhere referring to K98k's that when you think you have them figured out, some rifle will throw you what amounts to a curve ball and mess up a lot of what you think you've figured out about them. Talked with the seller of the 03 in question and the guy he bought it from, bought it through the CMP as is. Still leaves a lot of unknown owners though for a rifle originally coming off the line some 94 years ago. Thanks Rick for the info.