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Thread: 1903 Springfields that were re heat treated

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  1. #8
    Deceased May 2nd, 2020 Cosine26's Avatar
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    SHT/LN Info
    Prior to and during WWII there seems to have been a lot of SHT/LN receivers available. Several manufactures ( Bannerman among them) advertised rifles built on LN receivers. Prior to the National Firearms Act of 1934, it was not a crime to remove a manufacturers marking and serial number. A large number of custom gunsmiths did this. Look at Capt. E.C. Crossman's sporterized M1903's. Many of the more unscrupulous dealers did this to hide the fact that the rifles were built on SHT/LN receivers. These receivers may or may not have been "re-heat treated" and the more unscrupulous dealers did not mark them for obvious reasons-they did not want you to know that they were SHT/LN receivers. I would believe that the Armory probably destroyed the receivers that they re-heat treated.
    1. in the 1920's and 1930's NRA members could buy new M1903 barrels from SA and have them installed and head spaced for $1.25 .
    2. The Armory would not install new barrels' on SHT/LN receivers. The Armory would replace the receiver with the latest model- either DHT or NS receiver.
    3. On several occasions both F.C. Ness and Col Townsend Whelen (in answers to questions in the Dope Bag of the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN MAGAZINE) recommended , that to save the owners SHT/LN receiver, it should be sent to R.F. Sedgley for re heat-treating and barrel installation. They stated that re heat treating was the equivalent of the DHT adopted in 1918. The Armory did not agree with this assessment. Both Ness and Whelen agreed that a properly hedspaced SHT/LN receiver was perfectly safe with good ammo.
    4. In one case Col Whelan recommended the choice of a Sedgley re-heat treated SHT/LN M1903 Sedgley sporter over the M54 Winchester.
    5. In another case a writer had a M1922 Hoffer-Tompkins .22 Springfield that he wanted converted to a 30-06. Col Whelen recommended that he send it to Sedgley for re-heat treating and barrel installation as SA would not perform the required operation. It is my understanding that the Model 1903 Gallery Rifle .22's were built on rejected SHT/LN receivers.
    6. In his book, ORDNANCE WENT UP FRONT, Roy Dunlap indicated that the Sedgley re-heat treating was merely an annealing process, resulting in a "soft" receiver whish under continuous firing would result in gradual increase in headspace.
    To shoot or not shoot a SHT/LN rifle is the owners prerogative, keeping in mind that during peace time SHT/LN receivers were not to be issued. During war time they were. In his book ORDNANCE WENT UP FRONT, Dunlap reports that when his ordnance outfit was headed to the Philippine invasion in 1944, they were issued a number of SHT/LN M1903 rifles.
    Please let us not beat this "dead horse" again.

  2. Thank You to Cosine26 For This Useful Post:


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