Custom 1903 Springfield

[444 Magnum]

My father bought this customized 1903 Springfield rifle in Wyoming in the early 1970's. This .30-06 has brought down antelope, mule deer, and white tails in both his and my hands.

The frame dates to 1918 so it is hardened steel. Everything else is new. I love the wood on this rifle and the schnabel forearm.

There are no exterior marks to indicate the shop that did the work. I may take the stock off someday to look for marks there but I haven't as of now.

My brother and I both wanted this rifle. I had to trade him two shotguns and a Marlin 39A to get his blessing. I'm glad I did.

The rifle has had a Tasco 4x scope on it as long as I can remember. It's still clear but doesn't pick up much light. It may have to go...

 

[444 Magnum]

A pic of the action with the magazine cutoff.

 

[raljr1]

Someone who knew what they were doing made that stock. Yeah, it deserves a better scope than that Tasco.

 

[Bald1]

That’s a beauty. I bought a sporterized 1903 in a group of estate guns once. It didn’t look 1/4 as good as that one. I was going to sell it but like so many other guns, my son decided he needed it. As I recall he also got an unfired Mini 14 out of that deal.

 

[Rotorhead1026]

Springfield or Rock Island? Receiver s/n? Only the first three digits are needed to determine date of manufacture.

 

[GypsmJim]

I have one that looks very similar. It is a tack driver, even with the original barel, cut down of course. Most accurate rifle I own.

 

[sigp220.45]

I love that rifle. It pisses me off some milsurp nerd could say its “Bubbafied”. Its a work of art to me. Congrats.

 

[444 Magnum]

Springfield or Rock Island? Receiver s/n? Only the first three digits are needed to determine date of manufacture.

Springfield 1918 #921xxx

 

[erikpolcrack]

A pic of the action with the old safety (now deactivated).

The large tab on the left rear of the receiver is not a safety. It is the magazine cut-off lever. When the ON is showing, the magazine functions normally. When it is turned down and the OFF is showing, the magazine is "cut-off", essentially making the rifle a single shot. This was a foolish early-last-century conceit by ordnance officers, hoping it would save ammo if soldiers saved the magazine load for emergencies. The OFF position will keep the bolt from going back far enough to pick up a cartridge from the magazine. The Springfield will function fine as a single-shot because the extractor is beveled and sprung so that it will snap over the rim of a loose cartridge placed in the receiver. Most Mauser-type rifles will not do this reliably. The cartridges must feed from the magazine. As far as most soldiers were concerned, the cut-off did have some value. In the OFF position, the follower of an empty rifle would not pop up and lock open the bolt when performing Inspection Arms. Original military followers had an up-angled rear to lock open the bolt as a positive reminder to soldiers in combat that is was time to grab another stripper-clip and reload. Another way of handling the problem while in garrison was to push a quarter down flat into the magazine and slide it back far enough to keep the follower out of the way.

 

[Murdock]

In the same vein. Done by a German (marked on barrel) gunsmith around 1960 based on the style. I'm a sucker for pretty wood. Beautiful checkering on your rifle.

As gorgeous as the custom work can be, it reminds me that it drives up the scarcity of original military firearms, and their prices as well. It's a complicated world.

 

[444 Magnum]

The large tab on the left rear of the receiver is not a safety. It is the magazine cut-off lever. When the ON is showing, the magazine functions normally. When it is turned down and the OFF is showing, the magazine is "cut-off", essentially making the rifle a single shot. This was a foolish early-last-century conceit by ordnance officers, hoping it would save ammo if soldiers saved the magazine load for emergencies. The OFF position will keep the bolt from going back far enough to pick up a cartridge from the magazine. The Springfield will function fine as a single-shot because the extractor is beveled and sprung so that it will snap over the rim of a loose cartridge placed in the receiver. Most Mauser-type rifles will not do this reliably. The cartridges must feed from the magazine. As far as most soldiers were concerned, the cut-off did have some value. In the OFF position, the follower of an empty rifle would not pop up and lock open the bolt when performing Inspection Arms. Original military followers had an up-angled rear to lock open the bolt as a positive reminder to soldiers in combat that is was time to grab another stripper-clip and reload. Another way of handling the problem while in garrison was to push a quarter down flat into the magazine and slide it back far enough to keep the follower out of the way.

You are right. I had completely forgotten about this. I edited my post to reflect it. I think I always thought it was the old safety as a child and didn't learn better until years later. I haven't seen this rifle in over 10 years and it slipped between the cracks!
Thanks.

 

[Golddollar]

That's a beautiful gun. I have an 03A3 in a similar configuration that I did the stock work on when I was a boy. I loaned it to my little cousin one season and he took a deer at 225 yards with it. He'll get it when I pass on.

 

[jjrr]

That is a beauty, on the magazine cutoff I have read somewhere that some of the military officers who were around during the civil war had that feature put into the design for “volley” fighting.

 

[Muley Gil]

That is a beauty, on the magazine cutoff I have read somewhere that some of the military officers who were around during the civil war had that feature put into the design for “volley” fighting.

The Krag bolt actions also had the magazine cut-off.

 

[Greyman50]

My Dad bought a O3 from Bannerman in the mid 30s, had it sporterised by a old gunsmith on Pack Square in Asheville, NC. Nothing fancy but beautiful custom walnut stock with hollowed buttplate with checkered wood in center. Son has it now and guess he may use it hunting. “ Kicked like a mule”…

 

[Murdock]

Regarding the M1903 magazine cutt-off, I recall reading someplace (Jeff Cooper's The Art of the Rifle maybe?) the "The Springfield was a Mauser modified by Krag ideas."

Given the law suit the Germans filed for patent infringement, I guess Mauser did, too.

 

[Rotorhead1026]

Springfield 1918 #921xxx

Higher than Springfield 800xxx is good - better heat treatment.

 

[jdlii]

Beautiful rifles!! 1903 and 1903A3 rifles were prolific after both World Wars. The dependability and accuracy of these rifles was well known and deserved.

The prices that they sold for in the 60's, 70's and 80's seem incredibly low by today's standards but, when you look at the average wages during those time periods, they were not "cheap." Griffin and Howe built beautiful rifles using 03' actions and I have been lucky to actually hold and inspect a few. They are beyond my financial reach.

 

[DWalt]

Higher than Springfield 800xxx is good - better heat treatment.

True, but there is a lot more to that story. Hatcher's Notebook discusses it fairly thoroughly. The Army conclusively documented that blowups were not the result of improper heat treatment during manufacture. In fact, the early low SN 1903s were never pulled from service by the Army. So any 1903 is OK. But later manufactured 1903s did use different alloys and heat treatment. I have an earlier 1903 (6666xx) that I have fired extensively without incident. It is still in its original military configuration.

 

[Rotorhead1026]

True, but there is a lot more to that story. Hatcher's Notebook discusses it fairly thoroughly. The Army conclusively documented that blowups were not the result of improper heat treatment during manufacture. In fact, the early low SN 1903s were never pulled from service by the Army. So any 1903 is OK. But later manufactured 1903s did use different alloys and heat treatment. I have an earlier 1903 (6666xx) that I have fired extensively without incident. It is still in its original military configuration.

Indeed, the malfunctions were from other causes - and the extant heat treatment underperformed. The newer technique was considerably better. I too had a low numbered action I shot frequently. It’s safe as long as you don’t try something stupid. That’s true for any firearm.