Ria m1903

[Father Ted]

Here are some pics of the entire rifle in which I inquired about inspector WJS inspector stamp on stock. I was able to carefully remove the very heavy, old coating of shellac leaving every scratch and ding intact as well as stamps and proofs, and apply some much needed BLO. The rifle came with the cleaning kit, manual, and a very old but still usable (for shooting not parade) sling. It has a replacement High Standard 5-44 barrel which gauges .5 at muzzle and is in brilliant shape. I was able to tighten up the wobbly rear sight with some brass shims that I frequently use to true up my woodworking equipment and I think it will be a fine shooter. Receiver is in the 3106xx serial range. I plan on taking it out tomorrow if winds are not up. Thanks for looking and input on previous thread.
cheers

Information

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[CptEnglehorn]

Nice lookin rifle, I see its in a mk.1 stock as well.

[Rick the Librarian]

I agree - nice example of a rebuilt M1903. I didn't notice the Mark I stock, but there it is. Does the handguard have a "D28179" stamp on the top?

[Father Ted]

Yes Rick, I guess the previous post was unnecessary . And hand guard is #'d as such. How did you know? Have you been snooping around my house again? What does it signify? Thanks
Cheers

[Crashyoung]

You have a beauty there! What year is the receiver?
If it shoots as well as it looks, you have it all.
Knowing these rifles, it will!
If not, I would trade with you!
Mine shoots, but doesn't look as nice.

On another track, the first picture, the chair the rifle
is on. Is there a button on the arm to adjust the back?
It looks like a chair that was made in Grand Rapids
many years ago. I had one like it, and it had a slide
out foot rest. I miss that chair, it was comfortable.
My dobie likes the love seat we have now, tho!

[Father Ted]

You have a beauty there! What year is the receiver?
If it shoots as well as it looks, you have it all.
Knowing these rifles, it will!
If not, I would trade with you!
Mine shoots, but doesn't look as nice.

On another track, the first picture, the chair the rifle
is on. Is there a button on the arm to adjust the back?
It looks like a chair that was made in Grand Rapids
many years ago. I had one like it, and it had a slide
out foot rest. I miss that chair, it was comfortable.
My dobie likes the love seat we have now, tho!

Thank you, receiver is somewhere in late 1918 range, and I've taken it out twice now and I am very pleased
As for the chair, I built it to Stickley specs and it has removable pegs on chair arms which can be moved back or forward to recline. No lazy boy foot pop out but I did make a matching ottoman that, if I'm lucky my dog will let me use.
Cheers

[Rick the Librarian]

Just a hunch. The D28179 stamp was put on late 1930s handguards, a drawing number. Other parts made at the same time were marked with other drawing numbers. They were like "catalog" numbers, not serial numbers.

[dokcop]

Nice gun. Nicer chair. We have both in common. I spend the long winter days up here in the northern end of the Peoples Republic of New York fondling my .03s and building Stickley furniture out of cherry I've logged off my place over the years. I'd love to talk to you about staining and finishing white oak a la Gus - which is giving me problems you have obviously solved. If you get a chance, I'd appreciate getting in touch. Apologies for diverting from the thread. Dokcop@gmail.com

[WarPig1976]

doccop, look into spirit based stains. MUCH better results then oil based when used on hardwoods.

[dokcop]

Thanks, Father. How do you handle the raised grain in white oak? Sanding/planing seems to excavate the softer wood on the white oak that grows around here and is hard to beat, regardless of sanding techniques and razor sharp planer blades. Fine on posts, etc., but a smoother finish would be nice on table tops….

Regards, Dokcop