Quote Originally Posted by LeagleEagle View Post
Did anyone ever do the stats on how many receivers failed in combat in WW1? It would seem that probably most of the '03s used by the AEF were low numbered. And wasn't wartime ammo a factor as well?
When Hatcher kept records of the 1903 failures he only recorded those that he could document. As far as I know there were no records kept of rifle failures in Franceicon during WWI. If you go through Springfield Research Service records you will see accounts of receiver failures of early rifles before Hatcher started keeping records.
As chuck mentioned, any receiver can fail, but it was the single heat treatment 1903's that failed catastrophically when they did, turning into a hand grenade.
It is certainly up to each individual to decide whether or not to shoot their low number Springfield.
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