"Ship marked" M1903s legit?

[Rick the Librarian]

Occasionally, a M1903 shows up with the name (or abbreviated name) of a ship stamped on the butt. I've seen "Tenn", "Miss" "Utah" and a few others. A gentleman on another forum, who I respect, said in his opinion, these markings were not legitimate, since they were technically "defacing" the rifles. I just wanted to get your opinions.

It seems that many of these markings that I have seen looked like they came from the "period" the rifle saw service.

I was emailed about one rifle in the 1,510,000 range with a "TENN" on the stock. Most Navy and USMC M1903s I have seen (except for USMC sniper rifles) seem to be in the low numbered range. Of course, this could be a "restocking". I didn't actually see any photos of the rifle.

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