Remington 1903 "N/Z" Stock ??'s

[John Beard]

I have a Remington 1903 Stock marked on the right side butt with the N/Z Stamp and a 4 digit number beneath the N/Z. I've seen photos of other authentic N/Z stocks with 4 and 5 digit numbers stamped on them in the same general location.
Are these numbers N/Z inventory numbers and likely done in sequential terms of receipt? - In other words the 4 digits were received earlier than the 5 digits and likely to be on a lower/earlier serial # Remington 1903?

I believe that it would be reasonable to assume that NZ inventory numbers were done sequentially in terms of receipt. But, several factors cloud the issue:

(1) The rifles were issued to more than one NZ organization. Duplicate numbers, therefore, likely exist.

(2) Remington did NOT assemble and pack rifles in serial number sequence. A single packing crate could easily contain rifles scattered over a 10,000 rifle serial range.

(3) The rifles were not necessarily received and unpacked in New Zealand in the order they were shipped from the U.S., thereby scattering serial number ranges even further.

Your suggestion that NZ numbers roughly correlate with Remington serial numbers is not valid.

Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!

J.B.