Remington 1903 Build..

[oldcorps]

Doesn't "modified" mean low hump?

[Rick the Librarian]

Nope ... "Modified" was used by the U.S. Army to describe ALL Remington M1903s because they used a number of features different than the standard Springfield M1903 - a "straight" stock, high hump handguard, etc. as well as several other features grandfathered in. This was caused because Remington used the machinery and gauges that had been mothballed by Rock Island. It was felt that there would be too great a delay in changing the Remington design to reflect improvements made since Rock Island ceased production of M1903s in 1919.

A lot of people, including authors who should know better, used the "Modified" term to describe so-called "later" Remington M1903s. In any case, Remington M1903s continued to have high hump handguards until the end of production in early 1943. However, handguards tended to break a lot and they were often replaced with those with a lower or straight profile.

[oldcorps]

Rick, are you referring to Bill Brophy?

[Rick the Librarian]

No, there were two other authors who use the term incorrectly. Brophy did not like Remington M1903s and only included information to please his friends. We have moved a long ways since his book was published in 1985.

[usabaker]

Rick - Just out of curosity whould you happen to know what price range I should be looking at for a Remingtion/RIA High Hump Handguard? I've made allot of mistakes on my 1903 Bulid adventure and would like to avoid another.... Thanks!

[oldcorps]

There is a lot of bad advice on forums. The last living person I know with any professional standing in the trade gave up these daisy chains on the M14 Forum four years ago. It's amazing how little was known by those with postgrad degrees in ordnance engineering who actually formulated the policies in question long ago. Guess Crossman, Hatcher and Brophy really had no idea... Hmm...

[oldcorps]

Just and FYI, but when Remington began production of the 1903 it acquired all of the tooling previously used by the Rock Island Arsenal and made 350,000 of that pattern, a high percentage of which were Lend Leased to Britain. Stock dimensions are identical to late Rock Island production in all respects during '03 production with the exception of cost-cutting measures such as eliminating grasping grooves during later production and other minor production shortcuts.

Good luck!

[Rick the Librarian]

There is a lot of bad advice on forums. The last living person I know with any professional standing in the trade gave up these daisy chains on the M14 Forum four years ago. It's amazing how little was known by those with postgrad degrees in ordnance engineering who actually formulated the policies in question long ago. Guess Crossman, Hatcher and Brophy really had no idea... Hmm...

Not quite sure I'm understanding what you're saying?

[oldcorps]

Unless you're a published authority on these rifles it hardly matters.

[firstflabn]

Just and FYI, but when Remington began production of the 1903 it acquired all of the tooling previously used by the Rock Island Arsenal and made 350,000 of that pattern, a high percentage of which were Lend Leased to Britain.

The official Lend Lease stats published by the Office of the Chief of Military History shows 64,003 '03s of all types - and that's the total for the entire British Empire (excluding Canada).

Are you operating with a novel meaning of 'high percentage'?