Strange 1903 receiver stamp. Help!

[vintage hunter]

The barrel date looks hand stamped, should'nt it be roll stamped? The font is also different from the ones I've seen. Strang that it has filled in scope block holes in the barrel but not the receiver. Also could you post a pic of the A 749 star gage #.

[Calif-Steve]

Star gauge stamp on muzzle looks homemade. Not so sure about this one.

[Cosine26]

31pickemup
I certainly do not want to degrade your rifle.
There are others more expert than I on this subject but I shall venture some imfo based upon the pictures you have posted.
1. The barrel appears to be a shiny blue, not normal for a SA barrel of the era, so I suspect it has been refinished.
2. The receiver seems to be devoid of any finish. I believe that it should be a dark blue/black carbonia finish.
3. After examining the bolt picture, I believe that I see a "J5" stamped on the bottom of the safety lug. According to VI's Information, this would tend to put it in a small lot of DHT bolts that was made circa 1918 prior to the introduction of the curved bolt handle.
4. The windage knob appears to be of too early for a vintage for a 1939 rifle.
Given that it has a pre-war type C stock, I would guess that this is an assembled rifle by someone other than Springfield Armory.
My opinion for what it's worth. Looks like a nicer rifle. Only shooting will tell you the quality of the barrel. The above observations were made on the basis of your pictures. Close physical examination by an expert may tell a different story.

[31pickemup]

Oh its ok Cosine. Just trying to get some info on it. Ok Its not a bight blue barrel' its more like a black satin which is correct fot the date. The front barrel stamping was rolled on. Also the receiver has finish its just thin as hell and the pictures dont do it justice. The bolt is a straight type.Ill take more pictures of the barrel stamp after work and post them.

[Rick the Librarian]

Im curious on what Rick the Librarian says about the A749 on the barrel. If it is legit is it worth anything? I'm going to put the C-stock back on it until I find out more about it.

If the A749 is on top of the barrel, unless the numbers are obviously faked, the barrel could well be a Star Gauge. The "asterisk" just doesn't look right, though.

[Mike D]

It looks like the ejector and sear pins are "staked". Do any of you guys know if this is consistent with NM rifles? Just curious.

[Cosine26]

The trigger pin and the ejector pin are staked so that they don't fall out when the receiver assembly is used in its A2 configuration. No stock was used withthe A2 configuration.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I have a backsight similar to that, with the slider that slews off to the left with increasing range. It puzzled me as well, until someone on the Bren forum identified it as being off a Browning 30-06 machine-gun !

Take a look at the thread "Puzzle backsight" on the Bren forum!

I have never heard of National Match machine-guns, but then again, I live a sheltered life! So knowing zilch about such arcane matters as sub-caliber devices, I submit that this is a very peculiar mixmaster.

Patrick

[Rick the Librarian]

As I recall, the "C64112" was a drawing number used on late 1930s parts for M1903s of all "flavors", not just NM rifles. You see the same on late 1930s stocks (D1836), and handguards (D28179).

[vintage hunter]

It's not a MG sight, The 1903 rear sights and the Buffington sights on Trapdoors and Krags were quite sophisticated, in addition to windage and elevation adjustment they had rotational drift compensation factored into the elevation scale as well.