Early Finger Groove Stock 1903

[pcaru1]

I just picked up a 1.3 million SA 1903 with a 6-44 HS barrel. Bore is mirror brite and gauges a 1 at the muzzle. Serial number puts it around late 1928 for the receiver. It has what appears to be a faint cartouche of BA-W.L. on the stock. Benicia Arsenal rebuild I suppose. "P" in a circle struck twice at the wrist.
A couple of things strike me as odd.
1) The tip of the stock looks like it is stamped RI in seriff but has been overstruck twice with "S". Is that possible?
2) No parts other than the Remington R4 replacement bolt, lower band, and the trigger have mfg. marks. "U" on the band and what looks like a lot # on the trigger. Which is staked in place. I have looked through Poyer's and Brophy's books and can't seen to get any clear answers.
Any thoughts or comments welcomed. I have included some pics. Reply for more specific pics and I will accomodate. It even came with an original Boyt 42 sling mounted on it.

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[firstflabn]

Nice rifle. I have an arsenal rebuild 03A3 with a BA-W.L. stamp exactly like yours. Mine also has an OG stamp, so I can't be sure where the rebuild was done. Mine has a pristine replacement barrel dated 12-43 (nine months later than the receiver mfg date). Does yours also have the OG stamp? I have not been able to learn anything specific about Benicia's postwar work; it was a feeder for San Francisco Port of Embarkation on the outward bound side of the war effort. I have only seen a handful of 03/03A3 stocks with the Benicia stamp (plus a couple of carbine stocks). With two rebuild stamps I can be even less certain than you when the stock came to be mated with the barrelled receiver.

My best wild guess is that Benicia may have done preliminary receipt, sorting, inspection, and cleaning of rifles returning from the Pacific or used in west coast training camps and passed them on to better equipped facilities for rebuild. Again, this is just a guess based on the fact that Benicia was a larrge operation during the war yet only a few stocks seen today are so marked.

[John Beard]

Your rifle's stock is a bit of a puzzle.

The grasping grooves have been altered substantially. The fore end appears to have been slimmed down, which made the grooves much more shallow and narrow. I also note that the stock profile has been altered around the right side of the receiver ring.

The markings you describe on the fore end tip indicate that your stock was likely made by Rock Island Arsenal during WWI. The two additional "S" markings may be spurious.

The R4 bolt was made at Springfield Armory during WWII, not Remington.

The number on the trigger is a drawing number and indicates that the trigger may have come from a National Match rifle.

The "U" on the band indicates "UP" and goes on the right side of the stock.

The "BA-WL" is the overhaul inspection stamp of the Benecia Arsenal in California.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[pcaru1]

Firstflabn- No there are no other markings that I can see. Looks like there were some inspector stamps in front of the floorplate but they are not readable. It has what I think is a commercial floorplate on it, real shiny bluing, and had an 03A3 buttplate on it. I have a correct one for it.

John- The RI on the tip is there. There is also an "S" overstruck. The second "S" is hard to make out, maybe willing myself into seeing it, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I had trouble getting a good picture. I will try to post some stock photos. The stock has been well sanded at leaest once, probably more, and I would assume that is why it looks questionable to you. I will break out my books and do some measuring to see for sure. The wood fit is pretty good so whoever refinished it did a nice job.

NM trigger? Would that just have been grabbed out of a bin and put on? The biggest question I have is why are there no mfg. marks on any parts, at least the ones that are usually marked, other than those mentioned. I have Brophy, Hatcher, and Poyer's books for reference. Any other sources of info out there?

All in all it's a nice clean rifle. Wanted a nice shooter and I am hoping I found one. Thanks.

[Rick the Librarian]

The NM trigger could have come from a variety of sources. There were a number of NM parts not used on NM rifles, or it could have come off one that was scrapped for some reason.

Unlike many European rifles which were marked on EVERY partt, almost down to the individual screw, U.S. rifles weren't marked that way. Many parts were unmarked.

[pcaru1]

Here are some pics of the wood. After seeing this in different light, I don't think those are armorers marks in front of floorplate but rather a flaming bomb?? You can definately see the sanding marks along the forend. Would an arsenal sand out some minor marks or leave them? Or just change the stock? Thanks for the input.

[John Beard]

Your stock is definitely a Rock Island stock from the late WWI period. The "S" markings on the fore end tip indicate that the stock may have been salvaged from a leftover pre-WWI stock. It wouldn't be the first time.

Clark Campbell also wrote a good book on the M1903 rifles. Unfortunately, most books are quite dated and none are without error.

Hope this helps.

J.B.