Transformation of a hacked Sporter back to military trim

[Mark W.]

I bought this M1903 for $125.00 a couple years ago. Upon getting home I discovered it was a "Low Serial Number" Springfield made in Feb of 1918. It had not been physically molsted no holes nothing removed that couldn't be replaced. Granted getting it back to collector grade was going to cost way more then I could afford. A nice WWI era S type Finger Groove stock can run close to $400.00 alone.


So I decided since I was going to keep the rifle as will my son when its his I would get it back to "Looking" as correct as I could. I bought a S type finger groove reproduction stock from Dupage Trading (I think I got the last one they had as it disappeared from the web site right after) it was actually made by Boyds and was very fat. I sourced some original mechanical drawings for the Stock and Hand Guard and went to whittling it to as close as I could get with what I had to work with.

The hardest was the finger groove ends looked completely wrong I had to lenghten the grooves round the ends and straighten the lines after having to narrow the stock down quite a bit in the area of the lower band.

The wood around the trigger guard was very proud so that was reduced to match the metal best I could looking at photos of original stocks.

The Handguard was a real challenge since it was kind of a newer version then the WWI era I wanted it was not as tall nor was it as square near the top rear as it should have been. I worked with what I had and reshaped it as close as the material would allow. It should be about .100" taller and the corners should be sharper. But its way better then it came.

I made a mistake redrilling the lower band spring hole (the lower band spring stud was welded off center and I had to adjust the hole to center it in the slot) I show a photo of the plug I used to fill the old hole.

I have about $250.00 in the new stock and replacing the missing metal I est. 30 hours of time not including the week it took to stain and apply 10 coats of WATCO boiled linseed oil finish to the stock. No idea what the rifle is worth now nor do I care its now a keeper and should one day my fortunes greatly improve I'll dress it in a proper period correct stock and matching metal. For now that it looks like it should is enough for me. I really enjoyed the project even if it was at times very frustrating. Now of course my M1 Garand looks very natty sitting on the rack next to my newly restocked M1 Carbine and the M1903. I guess this Winter I work on the Garand.

Anyway I have before and after photos and will try to alternate them for you.

Right side before:



Right side after transformation:



Right side bolt detail before:



Right side bolt detail after:



Left side details before:



Left Side after:



Rear Sight and handguard details:



Rear Sight and New Handguard details:



Trigger Guard before:



Trigger Guard after:



Finger Groove detail now:



Lower band detail now:



Right Butt stock detail:



Lower Band Spring Oops:



New Front Sight and Cover:

Information

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[Mike D]

Nice job with the new stock!

[ABPOS]

A tinkerer's work is never done!!!!

Super great job. Looks really good!

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Very nice resurection job as well as a nice before/after photo layout! Is your son old enough to have participated in the restoration?

[Mark W.]

Very nice resurection job as well as a nice before/after photo layout! Is your son old enough to have participated in the restoration?

My son is a E5 in the US NAVY he's an electronics tech currently stationed on San Clemete Is servicing the Navigation beacons for the Naval Air Station. he has been all over the far East on Guided Missle Cruisers and all over the Atlantic on a Burke Class Destroyer. His older sis was a Corpsman in the US NAVY with time in Iraq and various Naval Hospitals in Europe and the US. Both are active shooters. My Daughter scored Expert with the M16/M4 M9 and trained on the M19 grenade launcher. My son scored Expert on M16/M4 M14 M9 and qualed on Shotgun. He has trained and fired a Quad 50 mount in operations.

He is leaving active duty 12/13 and plans on attending Oregon Institute of tech seaking a degree in Electrical Engineering.

My Daughter is the mommy of two beautiful girls and a Physicians Assistant in Portland where she lives with her Husband.

Both have designs on all dads firearms LOL

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

You are obviously as skilled at rasing kids as you are at restoring firearms. With two children with those backgrounds you had better build her one as well.
Please thank them for there service for me. And thank you for raising two who answered the call.

[ABPOS]

Every good Navy retiree needs at least one good M14. Or civilian version. Not to mention a Garand, 1911, M9, Sig P226 or MK11, whatever they call it. Etc Etc Etc. A thompson with the drum would be a good one too. hehehehhehehe Now you have your work cut out for you. [COLOR="black"]

---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------


Oh, and by the way, thanks for making me envious of your ammo selection. I don't have any tracer rounds. I do have a few AP though.

[Mark W.]

Every good Navy retiree needs at least one good M14. Or civilian version. Not to mention a Garand, 1911, M9, Sig P226 or MK11, whatever they call it. Etc Etc Etc. A thompson with the drum would be a good one too. hehehehhehehe Now you have your work cut out for you. [COLOR="black"]

---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------


Oh, and by the way, thanks for making me envious of your ammo selection. I don't have any tracer rounds. I do have a few AP though.

Good thing I didn't lay out the one with the pretty blue tips or the ones with the green and white tips. Both two early to go with a WWI Springfield (as are the WWII tracers and APs)

[Salt Flat]

Mark, You did a fantastic job especially with the handguard shape and the finger grooves. The finish came out great too. It's getting hard to find replacement stocks with a nice grain like that. Salt Flat

[Mark W.]

Thank you guys. Its always nice to get a little pat on the back when a project like this is completed. Hopefully this winter I will be doing my M1 Garand (sadly the father inlaw my source for my Garand decided to take a rasp to a couple places on the stock that came with the rifle from CMP. So almost all the original stamps are gone. So I will most likely do the same kind of reproduction replacement on it. In our family except in very rare cases once a firearm is bought it stays. So I know my son and daughter will be owning these firearms one day. I want them to have some nice stuff to remember dad by.