Don't know if this helps. I've had an early Smith Corona since I was 18 back in 1975. Has a six-groove barrel dated 12-42. Bought it in a pawn shop along with a fairly nice Kragicon Jorgensen and gave $200 for the pair. The fellow came off a little for buying both and the Krag had the higher price tag. 'O3A3s weren't worth faking back then so don't think the gun was monkeyed with in some garage. It was squeaky clean and new looking when I got it. Took my first two deer with it and shot it in high-power competition for some years. Never thought much about the rifle's origins for many years. It's put up in a scant grip stock which is a Remington feature. Most other parts are Smith Corona except for the front band which is some Parkerized thing. Oh, the bolt is a Commercial Controls sub-contract production item, marked "CC." That's the way I got it.

Been thinking about its origins for the past few years. I have a theory that it was never issued. Was perhaps a barreled action that was assembled into a rifle to be sent out through the DCM program in the 1950s/1960s. No way to verify that theory.






Here it is in a recent photo taken for a forum article about U.S. military contract guns produced by typewriter manufacturers.