Austrian sporterized M1903?

[Michael Petrov]

1903 by Mauser.

[Alfred]

Kind of like fighting a forest fire, put out out one and another jumps up.

In 1929 A. F. Stoeger got Townsend Whelen to design a custom sporting rifle for them as they were entering the custom rifle market. Because Stoeger had a working relationship with Mauser it seems they sent a copy of the blueprints to Mauser, Mauser converted the measurements to metric, end of story.

Back before WWI Mauser made at least one rifle using the 1903 Action, this had NOTHING to do with the later Stoeger drawings.

Where would I find information on the pre WW1 Mauser/1903?

There was a Mexican Mauser that combined elements od 03 Springfield with the basic Mauser action. Mostly cosmetic and ergonomic additions.

PS
One of the finest commercial Mausers was the "Special Range Rifle" a competitor of the Springfield at least up to the 600 yard mark, not many of those made.

[Michael Petrov]

"Where would I find information on the pre WW1 Mauser/1903?"

You just read it, there is a little more in my book and there might be some info in Jon Speed's last book but I have not checked that. The pictures were found at the Mauser factory by Jon Speed and he was kind enough to share them with me.

[Alfred]

"Where would I find information on the pre WW1 Mauser/1903?"

You just read it, there is a little more in my book and there might be some info in Jon Speed's last book but I have not checked that. The pictures were found at the Mauser factory by Jon Speed and he was kind enough to share them with me.

Be nice to at least know the caliber for sure.
The action would be well suited to the longer German african game cartridges.
The rear sight could be the same or at least very similar to the Special range Rifle sight.
The Range Rifle has a handguard that obscures the view but the rear open sight looks similar, in size at least.

Years ago I passed up a near perfect J P Sauer & Son in one of the long 8mm chamberings, 8X60 or longer.
Only reasons I didn't jump on it was first the difficulty in finding ammo, and that it looked to have been restocked with a butt and fore arm that seemed to be in an american style.
Later I found that these had been stocked at the factory in this style for the US market.
Last time I saw one of this for sale they wanted about 20 times what I could have paid for it. Beautiful rifles.

[John Beard]

2aimtrue,

The serial number of your rifle falls somewhere between S/N 1331357 and S/N 1359464, exclusive, and was manufactured at Springfield Armory in late 1929 or 1930. The barrel was also manufactured at Springfield Armory in 1930 and is the original barrel. The receiver is made from nickel steel and should be safe for shooting if in good condition.

Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing!

J.B.

[Jim Tarleton]

Nice old rifle. Great information provided by all. For those interested in the old rifles, I can highly recommend Michael Petrov's book. It is great throne reading!

Jim

[Rick the Librarian]

I agree with Jim, Michael's book is great!

[2aimtrue]

Happy New Year and thanks to all, but especialy Michael Petrov and John Beard, for the information posted on this thread and to Rick the Librarian for starting it.

I had not intended to characterize the rifle as anything other than an interesting post-WWII European sporter. There seems to be some confusion among a few people about what, exactly, a guild gun is. I wish I could find the source of the article on the internet, again, that discussed the practice of modifying military stocks for sporters and the guild gun definition. In my enthusiasm as a novice and the fact that the stock seems so perfectly inletted to accomodate the original rear sight collar, and everything else for that matter, I made a stupid assumption.

On the CMP site, there is a discussion about early and late bolts for the 1903 that describes the later, double heat-treated, ones as having a slightly swept-back handle. They say that some of the later bolts had straight handles but that they are not easily identified. As my bolt is the straight handle type, is there any way to determine whether it is a later version and possibly the original bolt for the rifle?

The scope is at Don Miller's being refurbished. I would like to find replacement sling swivel hardware that is orginal or an accurate replica. Can anyone point me toward a supplier? The butt-end of the stock is a little short for me, especially with the scope sitting so far rearward. Can anyone reccommend a recoil pad that is similar to something from the period and which can be mounted without modifying the stock? Should I go with a slip-on? And, finally, I would love to find a messed-up hand guard that I can experiment with and, possibly, adapt to the rifle.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Calif-Steve]

That bolt shpould have some tiny numbers stamped on the bolt handle. S 10? Check. Handguard? Recoil pad? Sincerely, all you could possibly do is mess up a rather nice and valuable sporter. Leave it alone. Put on a sweater and then a shooting coat. Leave the rifle as original, please.

[2aimtrue]

That bolt shpould have some tiny numbers stamper on the bolt handle. S 10? Check. Handguard? Recoil pad? Sincerely, all you could possibly do is mess up a rather nice and valuable sporter. Leave it alone. Put on a sweater and then a shooting coat. Leave the rifle as original, please.

I have examied the bolt thoroughly and there are no numbers stamped anywhere.
I would not do anything to the rifle that is not reversible and without damage. The recoil pad idea is to gain some length in the stock butt, not for recoil protection. The scope sits so far to the rear that scope-eye is a problem unless one exercises caution.
Believe me, I do not want to mess the rifle up. I just want to whittle on some wood.