Strange 1903 receiver stamp. Help!

[31pickemup]

Ok here are the barrel stamp and the sight stamp. I'm going to put it back together and get pics of the complete rifle in better lighting

[Chuckindenver]

the drawing number on teh sight base is common on barrels made after 1937, many 37 to 39 barrels had the last number hand stamped,
on a few NM rifles..they switched to a DHT bolt, as the NS bolts felt sticky in a NS action. so they smoothed them out by using a DHT bolt. J5 is a DHT bolt.
the safety sleeve, is a common change, the broke, and wore out easy, for a rifle this old, that likely seen some hard use...first as a NM rifle, then as a spotter, then its seen some hard use.
though uniuqe...its not super rare...but cool. swap the sight out{ easier to do the fix it} and she,s ready for service.
i have seen a lot of NM parts marked with Drawing numbers made after 1937..extractors, triggers, sears, sight bases, sights, buttplates, cocking rods, to name a few..mos fire control parts that were marked as such were also CV marked as well.

[John Beard]

Hey Gang
I found a 1903 at the local gun show. It was in a beautiful pre-WW2 NM C-stock with drawing number. Its a 1934 Receiver with a 1939 National match barrel. Sight base is stamped C64112. Bolt is not a NM but is a pre-mid 1918 but it has later holes in it. But the strangest thing is the receiver. It has a A2 stamped after the 1903. I've never seen this before. Has anybody ever seen this? I can't find anything about it. Is this receiver even a NM?

You have an M1903A1 National Match rifle that was issued to the USMC and, subsequently, converted to M1903A2 configuration. As described by Rick the Librarian, an M1903A2 was used as an artillery sub-caliber training device. The conversion to M1903A2 configuration required that the trigger and ejector pins be staked in place because the rifle had no stock on it. The rifle has since been converted back to National Match service rifle configuration and fitted with a National Match star gauged barrel. "C 64112" is the Ordnance drawing number for a National Match barrel and receiver assembly and "A/749" is the star gauge record number. The plugged holes you describe suggest that the barrel was taken from a USMC sniper rifle.

As pointed out by others, your rifle's bolt was manufactured at Springfield Armory in early 1918, was issued to the USMC, and is probably double heat treated. The bolt sleeve came from a Smith-Corona M'03-A3 and the cocking piece came from a Remington M'03-A3.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[31pickemup]

Is this rifle in the database?

You have an M1903A1 National Match rifle that was issued to the USMC and, subsequently, converted to M1903A2 configuration. As described by Rick the Librarian, an M1903A2 was used as an artillery sub-caliber training device. The conversion to M1903A2 configuration required that the trigger and ejector pins be staked in place because the rifle had no stock on it. The rifle has since been converted back to National Match service rifle configuration and fitted with a National Match star gauged barrel. "C 64112" is the Ordnance drawing number for a National Match barrel and receiver assembly and "A/749" is the star gauge record number. The plugged holes you describe suggest that the barrel was taken from a USMC sniper rifle.

As pointed out by others, your rifle's bolt was manufactured at Springfield Armory in early 1918, was issued to the USMC, and is probably double heat treated. The bolt sleeve came from a Smith-Corona M'03-A3 and the cocking piece came from a Remington M'03-A3.

Hope this helps.

J.B.