I do not mean to add to a controversy but Clark Campbell in his '03 SPRINGFIELDS, indicates that the front guard screw was lengthened from 0.9" to 1.0" to correct a stripping problem encounter in training camps. He further indicated that this created a problem with the M1903 in that the front screw would sometimes "bottom out" causing severe accuracy problems with the M1903. I measured my spare guard screws and find that all rear guard screws are the same length (within manufacturing tolerances) but of the 5 front guard screws -3 are short (~0.9") while two are long (~1.0"). The part numbers were not changed so that when we were using the 03 and the 03A3 we always shortend the front guard screw so that it would not bottom out in the 03. I doubt that the government would authorize a change in length of the rear screw to improve the appearance of the 03A3 rifle. It would seem to me that the 03A3 with its drilled through holes could accomadate a longer screw than the 03 with its blind holes.