British Marked Remington 1903

[Rick the Librarian]

As they were shipped at the height of the submarine war in the N. Atlantic, I have no doubts that at least some were lost. But I never heard about "half" being lost. Again, I'd be interested in any hard data.

[Craig Eberhardt]

The caliber and proof pressure marking indicate it was proofed after 1954. What letters are at the 3:00 and 9:00 position on the crossed swords?

Anyone receive documentation on half the Remingtons being lost at sea?

Thanks for the info.

Coincidentally I purchased this rifle only yesterday and it will take a few weeks or more before I get my hands on it.

Any ideas about the markings on the side of the rear sight band?

Thanks again

Craig Eberhard

[Craig Eberhardt]

What is the correct stock for a 6/42 Remington 1903?

[Rick the Librarian]

Probably an unboxed "spread" RLB stock. R L B

[Johnny Peppers]

Thanks for the info.

Coincidentally I purchased this rifle only yesterday and it will take a few weeks or more before I get my hands on it.

Any ideas about the markings on the side of the rear sight band?

Thanks again

Craig Eberhard

Just guessing without photos, but with the British broad-arrow property mark, they could be the British military inspection marks. Normally it indicates the facility that did the inspection, and identifies the individual inspector that did the inspection.

[JGaynor]

Fairly easy to track down lists of ships sunk by U boats. Finding and then searching the ship's cargo manifests would be a more daunting task. Info might be on line but i haven't found it yet. One would think that Ordnance would have tracked losses during the war so that critical items might be replaced?

Regards,
Jim

[Johnny Peppers]

While it would certainly appear that small arms would be a critical item early in the war, in reality most of the small arms sent to England remained in almost if not unissued condition. The Model 1911A1 pistol was still being shipped to England in 1945 with the end of the war was in sight.

[sakorick]

Probably an unboxed "spread" RLB stock. R L B

I think so Rick.....but it's close. As I recall, FJA started appearing around SN100,000. This rifle would also have 6 inspector's marks and a circle P. Remington used at least 3 OC cannon cartouches and this one could have either of the first two versions. If we can find out the letters between the crossed sabers, I can tell the date it was proofed. Regards, Rick.

[Rick the Librarian]

Respectfully disagree - the FJA did not appear until about 3,200,000. I also don't think these rifles had six subinspection stamps. Four was the "usual" with more occasionally being added, I assume if something else on the individual rifle needed to re "re-inspected".