"Ship marked" M1903s legit?

[Rick the Librarian]

Occasionally, a M1903 shows up with the name (or abbreviated name) of a ship stamped on the butt. I've seen "Tenn", "Miss" "Utah" and a few others. A gentleman on another forum, who I respect, said in his opinion, these markings were not legitimate, since they were technically "defacing" the rifles. I just wanted to get your opinions.

It seems that many of these markings that I have seen looked like they came from the "period" the rifle saw service.

I was emailed about one rifle in the 1,510,000 range with a "TENN" on the stock. Most Navy and USMC M1903s I have seen (except for USMC sniper rifles) seem to be in the low numbered range. Of course, this could be a "restocking". I didn't actually see any photos of the rifle.

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[RCS]

A have five 1903 stocks/rifles with USN ship markings but unable to post the photos here

[John Beard]

Occasionally, a M1903 shows up with the name (or abbreviated name) of a ship stamped on the butt. I've seen "Tenn", "Miss" "Utah" and a few others. A gentleman on another forum, who I respect, said in his opinion, these markings were not legitimate, since they were technically "defacing" the rifles. I just wanted to get your opinions.

It seems that many of these markings that I have seen looked like they came from the "period" the rifle saw service.

I was emailed about one rifle in the 1,510,000 range with a "TENN" on the stock. Most Navy and USMC M1903s I have seen (except for USMC sniper rifles) seem to be in the low numbered range. Of course, this could be a "restocking". I didn't actually see any photos of the rifle.

Unlike the Army, the Navy had no reservations about stamping ship names and rack numbers in stocks. In most cases, the markings are legitimate.

J.B.

[tinbender]

At one time, I had a couple of line-throwing stocks. One was a 1903 scant stock and the other was a Model 1917. Both were shortened just forward of the rear band. Both had the butts filled with about 5 lbs of lead and shotgun pads. Both had what I assumed were the ship's alpha-numeric designations stamped into the stock. It was AA 88. I looked it up on the Dictionary of Naval Ships and it turned out to be an Auxillary Frigate. No name though.

Mike

[Loy Hamilton]

like this?

[DRB]

Some may be legit some are not. I would not pay a premium for one so marked unless SRS has record of it having served on that ship. What comes to mind are the CA salvage 03s from Pearl. Those are not marked CAL but the serial numbers are known. A long while ago a guy was selling bayonets with ship names stamped on them. It is generally understood the guy was making them up as they all looked the same with differant ship names stamped on the grips in the same font and style. John Holbrook has a Navy 1911 marked DEL that is probably legit from the Delaware. Bottom line is I think the Navy did it for sure but I also think as many if not more were done to try to enhance value.

[Arisaka99]

This one is on the auction sites right now.

[RETREAD]

As an aside, the Navy sure marked their . 38 Victory revolvers to a certain degree. usually inside the grip with the ship designation.

[John Beard]

Some may be legit some are not. I would not pay a premium for one so marked unless SRS has record of it having served on that ship. What comes to mind are the CA salvage 03s from Pearl. Those are not marked CAL but the serial numbers are known.

Rifles recovered from the USS California on the bottom of Pearl Harbor were indeed marked "CAL". This is a photo taken by Pete Davis of S/N 886082 in his collection which is documented by SRS as having been recovered from the California. The rifle was apparently assigned to the Marine contingent aboard the California and still exhibits the markings and characteristics of Marine issuance that it had on the day it went down.

J.B.

[DRB]

I stand corrected.