RIA 1903 Questions

[trunkmonkey48]

Hello I traded a scope for this rifle and I don't know much about it Except the following and I can't find and info of it:

Rock Island 1903 Serial number 145867
Has A.V. Stamped on the barrel 1-19 and it looks like a bomb stamped behind the front sight
Under the barrel in the wood is stamped R.I.
The Stock has a P stamped behind the trigger in the wood and no other markings anywhere
The Firing pin carrier has a small R stamped into it

I can't find any other markings and I don't know when it was made or what it may be worth, I was thinking of taking it in but I don't want to be had, or get rid of a piece of america history. I don't know if it is safe to shoot either. I have it all cleaned up and ready to fire.

Jeff

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Kirk]

Your rifle was made about 1909 and your barrel was made in Jan 1919 91-19). The stock was made by Rock Island as evidenced by the RI on the tip. Are there any other marings on the bolt on the root of the bolt handle or on the safety lug?

It is generally accepted except by the CMP that SA receivers below 800000 & RIA receivers below 285507 received a "Single Heat Treatment" and are called Low Number, LN, receivers. During manufacture, some (not all) of these LN receivers were heated too hot during manufacture to the point the steel was burned and the grain structure affected. No definitive way is known to identify what receivers were burned and which were not and thus determine how strong any particular receiver is and which are likely to fail. The problem is the marginal strength of burned steel. Its strength is reduced but is adequate for a round of ball ammunition. But, if a cartridge has a pierced primer or splits on firing, the force of the gas escaping into the action exceeds the strength of the steel and causes the receiver to shatter or blow up. Later receivers were double heat treated (DHT) or nickle steel (NS) and are much stronger. Most people choose not to shoot a SHT or LN receiver - but some do. Also, this is not to say HN receivers have not failed - they have and still do but chances are very remote.

Can you post pictures? ViShooter hosts a website with much useful info. http://www.vishooter.net/m1903.html

As a minimum, if you decide to shoot the rifle, have a competent gunsmith check it out and make sure the headspace is OK.

Congratulations! even if you don't shoot it, you have a real piece of history.

[trunkmonkey48]

Yes I will get some pictures posted. The only other making on the bolt it like a Dot marking on the safety lug. The rifle is what I would consider in good condition yet. I do collect world war 1 and 2 rifles, so I was happy to trade this. Thanks for the info on this rifle.

[Rick the Librarian]

Kirk, you might have "added" a number. I'd say more like 1904-5.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Congratulations with the early Rock Island, trunkmonkey48, and welcome to our site! There are some of the most knowledgeable and helpful 1903 experts anywhere who frequent this forum.

As Kirk said, the LN receivers have a remote reputation for catastrophic failure if there's a problem with ammo, and the argument for shoot or not has been debated here more times than I want to remember - sometimes resulting in ruffled feathers. I hope we don't start again in this thread - just use the search feature in the upper right side of the page and type in 'low number' and you will find plenty of opinions either way in previous threads.

Personally I think the early Rock Islands are the most desirable of all the 1903's and I'd be very happy just to have one as a rare collectible piece. I hope you can get some detailed photos to us - as the old saying goes, 'A picture is worth a thousand words' and it's never so true as when trying to evaluate an old military rifle. Sometimes there have been modifications done to these in the past that aren't apparent to the untrained eye and they can greatly influence collector value, as I'm sure you probably know.

Looking forward to your photos. There's basically two ways to post photos here. One is to upload them to Photobucket or some other host site, and then copy and paste the URL.

The other is to navigate to the photo and upload it here directly. Both ways are fairly easy once to do it a couple of times.

Below are links that go to detailed instruction of each method that we've put together. They are screen prints of each step. At the bottom of each instruction page there is also a .pdf you can download and print if you need to so you can have it beside you at your computer while you're working.

This is the photobucket method -
How do I show pics from Photobucket, Flickr, ImageShack etc. on milsurps.com?


The direct upload method -
How do I upload pictures to my posts for storage on milsurps.com?

Feel free to send me a PM if you have problems or questions about posting photos.

~ Harlan

[trunkmonkey48]

Harlan thanks I was trying to figure out how to upload photos. I will try to get some photos up today for you guys to see it

[LeagleEagle]

The AV barrel was made by the Avis company, they made replacement barrels for '03s in WW1.