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Thread: 1903 Low SN - shoot or don't shoot?

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  1. #21
    Legacy Member Sunray's Avatar
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    "...They have documented history..." No 'they' don't.
    "...documented as 8mm ammo..." That's about how an M1icon Rifle was blown.
    "...during a Great Depression..." Nonsense. The issue was well known and fixed long before 1929(Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929.). Nobody was doing any developmental work on '03's during any part of the Great Depression. Too busy working on the M1 Rifle until 1936 and finalizing it's development(like fixing the 7th round stoppage issue.).
    Anyway, the issue is not if it'll blow, but when, maybe. The receivers were found to have been burned during heat treating without any kind of scientific measurement of the heat. The heat treat guys were judging the heat of the steel by eye. It was found that the steel was actually hotter on a sunny day than the guys thought and that resulted in the steel being burned. Think how toast gets burned. In any case, there's no way to tell if a particular receiver was burned or not, so the Ordnance Dept., of which J.S. Hatcher was Boss, opted to withdraw from active service all “low-number” Springfields. A lot of which got reissued during W.W. II because of yet another shortage of rifles.
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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

  3. #22
    Legacy Member A Seabee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob q View Post
    I have fired over 1 million rounds through over 3000 different firearms , a friend had done 4x that and we have never had any " blow up " in our hand . Maybe you are doing something wrong ?
    I'm in the Navy. I've seen a 9mm Sig bulge a barrel and grenade the magazine, and I also saw an M2 .50 cal blow the top cover 30 feet high when a case ruptured because of bad headspace. so, yeah, it happens
    Last edited by A Seabee; 02-20-2018 at 07:47 AM.

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  5. #23
    Legacy Member TDH's Avatar
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    Bob Q you are a lucky man. I've fired a good many rounds as well the first was a Cobra derringer in 9 mil and I'm glad it was a cold day and I had on thick leather gloves. I found 9 pieces and Cobra was more than willing to replace it quickly. It.s replacement is a .38 sp. It had less than 20 rounds through it. The second was an XD in .45 and it blew out a chunk of the plastic frame just above the trigger guard. That one could have been my fault with a heavy charge. One thing I have discovered about firearms is anything can happen even when you are being super careful.

  6. #24
    Legacy Member Ridolpho's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TDH View Post
    One thing I have discovered about firearms is anything can happen even when you are being super careful.
    Exactly! As users of old rifles an important part of our safety drill is studying historical info regarding potential design and/ or metallurgical problems. Many designs have minor issues (which we can stickhandle around and shoot safely) but few have it as clearly defined as "low number" '03's. It is the users responsibility to study up on what you're shooting- a randomly selected gunsmith may know nothing about the old "relic" you want to shoot. As far as statistics are concerned, the frequency of failure of " low #" '03's may not seem too scary on the surface but keep in mind that for many other old rifle types it's very difficult to find examples of catastrophic failure with standard ammo, let alone talk about a failure rate. There's simply no way to justify use of low number rifles but I would sure like to have a nice one in my collection.

    Ridolpho

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