What's the correct stock for my first 1903?

[terminal99]

I just picked this up at a local gun shop. It's a Remington 1903 made in 1942. The stock it has right now isn't bad. It's a Fajen and feels good. I could probably sell it and get some money back. What did the original stock for it look like? Did it have finger grooves or a certain maker? What's up with the front sight? It's pretty high. Thanks for the help!

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[1903kid]

that rifle is from the transitional "modified" period. I cannot see the top of the receiver, but about that time, they started to machine notches there just before changing to the 1903-A3. The sight base correctly has no lightening cut outs. I have a rifle close in serial number. The stock should be a straight stock, no finger grooves, with a smooth butt plate. New Old Stock hand guards are pretty easy to find. All of the parts should be marked "R". There are subtile differences between Remington parts and Springfield parts. I found a new old stock replacement stock for my rifle on E-bay. I had a lot of fun shagging down the "R" marked parts. New 1903 pattern sights are also plentiful, to replace your bubba welded front sight. No idea why it is up there so high.

[enbloc8]

Mine (also an early 1942) has a straight stock with no finger grooves, a plain small Ordnance bomb stamp on the tip, and no notches for the A3 handguard ring.

A detail that I notice about it (that may or may not be critical) is the profile of the stock wrist...a pre-WW2 03 straight stock has an oval wrist that is "slender", an 03A3's profile is more circular and fat. This stock's wrist has an oval profile, but it's noticeably fatter than a prewar example...sort of a transitional design between the 03 and the 03A3.

[1903kid]

You may be hard pressed to find a stock with no notches for the A3 hand guard ring., and I agree on the other details. I think the "type 11" stock is what these are called. Interesting observations on the section of the stock wrist. They got larger in that area, some say to prevent cracking/breakage there.

[Chuckindenver]

straight grip stock, no handguard ring cut, RLB out of a box, tough one to find. an early A3 stock with pins rather then cross bolts FJA RA marked would do ok. until you stumble into a correct stock.

[Rick the Librarian]

Generally agree with Chuck - the most common marking I see is a "spread" R L B. Looking at the right side of the rifle, are all the parts (trigger guard, lower band, rear sight, etc. marked with an "R"? If not, I wouldn't worry about finding an RLB-marked stock - just a "generic" one as Chuck suggested, would be good enough.