1920 vintage 1903

[Fred G.]

Shazam! I wonder if there was a pierced primer or if the brass case split open on the side of the body. The rear sight assembly is still correct for a 1920 National Match rifle. The cocking piece is a replacement. The color case hardened cut off might be one of those aquired from Rock Island for the 1920 National Match rifles because Springfield had a difficult time coming up with enough because their prodution of Cut Offs at that time were for the Mark I 1903's that were being produced. The butt plate is correct. The trigger is a replacement (should be serrated). Of course the front sight was replaced. The stock and hand guard look correct. The barrel looks to be original to the receiver. Safety looks correct. I can't tell what type bolt there is without seeing the stamping on the safety lug. Any marks there?
It looks to be a 1920 National Match rifle that fell into hard times.

[Fred G.]

Gosh, if the receiver doesn't have any set back or damage, I'd think you could rebuild a faximily of a 1920 National Match rifle around it without too much trouble. Just remember, a swept back handled J5 bolt (Properly polished) would be just as correct as a J6 bolt which is kinda tough to find.

[Derrick R.]

There are no markings on the lugs of the bolt.The trigger has grooves in it, by serrations do you mean a cross hatch pattern ?
What would one do to check out the receiver ? I know a gunsmith but sometimes its hard to find a good one. I can see no cracks of any kind but should it be magnafluxed or something similiar ?
Fred do you know where a good J5 or J6 bolt might be hiding ? Thanks for your help, I dont think I can get hurt on the rifle for the price I paid.

Derrick

[Fred G.]

The trigger should be Grooved. I use the term serrations.
J5 bolts can be found on eBay occasionally as well as Gun Broker. The trick is to find one that is already Armory polished with a swept back handle.
I've not seen a J6 bolt anywhere. Possibly somebody has one squirreled away.
I would want a gunsmith to use a Springfield Armory Headspace Bolt along with a full set of 30-06 head space gauges, Go, No Go and Field gauge, to check for a stretched receiver. I'm not sure what else would be necessary, but I'd always be wondering why the gas blew back into the receiver and magazine well. I'd have that barrel checked out by a competent gun smith too and not just a guy who says he's one because he owns a shop and fiddles around with stuff in his spare time. There are probably such competent guys who frequent this site. I've never needed the services of a Gunsmith but they're out there.

[Derrick R.]

Thanks for the info Fred. I looked at my trigger again and it has the serrations you mentioned at the lower end of the trigger.I believe this is a NM that has really taken a beating. After just looking at it again this rifle may have been shot while still packed in grease. There is dried grease and crud that is thick on it in places that should not have it there if you are to shoot.Inside the receiver and in the all the nooks and crannys.
Well thanks for all the help and will keep you posted on what I find and the possible progress on bringing this rifle back to life.


Derrick

[Fred G.]

Oh yea, I can see the grooves along the length of the trigger in the 2nd photo. Derrick, did the guy you bought it from say where he got it?

[Derrick R.]

All he said was he has had this rifle for along time . I think he bought it in a lot of guns.
Derrick

[SA M1Dom]

Beautiful stock on that rifle!

[Fred G.]

Beautiful stock on that rifle!

Thanks!

---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

Derrick, I just noticed that your bolt certainly is a J6 and it was blued! Hmmm... I wonder if somebody did that to the normally bright bolt...? I believe that your rifle was originally a 1920 National Match Rifle while it was being used when somebody just blew it up. THAT is a shame. A sad, regrettable shame and a waste of a very rare rifle! I wonder how they did it? I'm no expert on such things, but I'd think that maybe there was a primer pocket pierced and the force of the escaping gasses blew back into the receiver and mag well and blew the rim of the bolt face off. Anyway, that's what I'm guessing at.

[Fred G.]

Derrick, here is another stock with a DAL cartouche. It's on eBay. Just click on the link....

1903 Springfield Fingergroove Stock DAL Very Nice Ogek | eBay