Apr 09, 2017 Springfield 1903 Serial number date ranges. Two of the 68 were made at Springfield Armory and had serial numbers in the 950,000 range. Of the remaining 57 receivers 33 were manufactured by Springfield Armory and 24 by Rock Island. I now know when my Remington 1903 A3 that my father bought for me from the NRA when I was 15 in 1960 for. The change was made at approximately serial number 800,000 for rifles made at Springfield Armory and at serial number 285,507 at Rock Island Arsenal. Lower serial numbers are known as 'low-number' M1903 rifles. Higher serial numbers are said to be 'double-heat-treated.' Toward the end of the war, Springfield turned out the Model 1903 Mark I.
My intent in these post is not create a “Basement Article” but rather a quick reference of the 1903 Service Rifle as to the commonly requested questions relating to the Arms. As such majority is actually already found in publication via other internet sources and published books.Springfield Armory was on a Jul 1 – Jun 30 fiscal year and reported numbers of rifles completed for each year but not the dates of serial numbers struck. From 1907, the Armory reported the first serial number of the year. Since no effort was made to use the receivers in numerical order, considerable variance exists between the number of rifles built and the number of serial numbers struck.
Therefore, rifle completion dates can not be precisely determined.1903 Jul 1 – 1 M1903 production begins with Rod Bayonet rifle (RB assembly: December 1903 – January, 1905)1904 Jan 1 –?1905 Jan 1 – 91792 Calculated SN (Beard & Ferris) Last Rod Bayonet rifle completed (74408 RB’s made)Distinctive Rod Bayonet parts production ceased Jan 11,1905. Remington M1903/A3/A4Month-end Serial Numbers1941 M1903/A3Oct 3000009Nov 3001282Dec 2 M1903/A3Jan 3017335Feb 3029316Mar 3051205Apr 3077187May 3105878Jun 3138819Jul 3169956Aug 3198937Sep 3224009Oct 3258293Nov 3295471Dec 3 M1903/A3 M1903A4Jan 3384420Feb 34193Mar 35656Apr 35166May 37290Jun 37732Jul 38499Aug 38914Sep 39874Oct 40503Nov 40968Dec 418561944 M1903A3 M1903A4Jan 410Feb 4209xxx Z3747Mar 4996805Apr 4998493May 4998558Jun 499859x. Now lets Talk the Low Serial Number SpringfieldsLow numbered Springfield receivers and the terrible danger they pose to a shooter. (Low numbered receiver are those with serial numbers below 800,000 made at Springfield Armory, and below 286,506 made at Rock Island Arsenal.) Some have stated emphatically no rifle with a low numbered receiver should ever be fired under any circumstance because of the risk of serious injury or death, but that high numbered receivers are perfectly safe.But what of the history: The U.S. Model 1903 rifle, commonly called the Springfield, was used by the U.S. Military between 1903 and 1945. When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 there was a marked increase in the use of this rifle for training.
Between July and December 1917 eleven rifle receivers shattered, causing one severe and 10 minor injuries to the soldiers using the rifle. Despite the intense demand for rifles caused by our entry into the war, production at both Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal was halted in early 1918, and an investigation launched to determine the cause of the problem.It was determined that the workers responsible for heat treating the receivers had used an “eyeball” method that relied on the color of the heated metal to determine if the steel had been heated to the correct temperature.
Unfortunately, according to General Hatcher, the officer in charge of the investigation, “ it was quickly found that the ‘right heat’ as judged by the skillful eye of the old timers was up to 300 degrees hotter on a bright sunny day than it was on a dark cloudy one” (See Hatcher, Julian Hatcher’s Notebook, Third Edition, Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1966, page 215). Heating to the higher temperatures led to crystallization of trace elements within the steel, making it too hard, and rather than deforming under high pressure, the receiver shattered, often permitting the bolt to exit the receiver, causing injury to the shooter.
Between 1917 and 1929 three soldiers lost an eye to receiver failure, and six more had unspecified injuries consider serious. An additional 34 soldiers received minor injuries from receiver failures.
There were no deaths reported from the failure of a Springfield receiver.The heat treating method was immediately changed to a double heat treatment, and pyrometers were used to determine the temperature of the heated receivers. The change in heat treating was instituted between serial number 750,00 and 800,000 at Springfield and by serial number 285,506 at Rock Island Arsenal.
Rifles manufactured after these serial numbers are referred to as “high numbered” receivers and are commonly stated to be safe to shoot.Between 1917 and 1929 there were 68 burst receivers. Of the 68 no serial number were available for 11 receivers, four of those that failed in 1917. Two of the 68 were made at Springfield Armory and had serial numbers in the 950,000 range. Of the remaining 57 receivers 33 were manufactured by Springfield Armory and 24 by Rock Island. Hatcher provided the serial number and the date of failure for all 33 Springfield Armory receivers, and the same data for 22 of the 24 Rock Island receivers (see Hatcher, pp 442-447).
This information was used in the analysis that follows. The overall failure rate by 1929 was 68/1,085, 506 or 6.3 per 100,000 receivers.The purpose of this post is to put the risk of Springfield receiver failures into prospective using simple statistics, thus permitting the interested reader to make his own decision about the safety of the Springfield rifle receiver. A final tidbit is that while the Army suspended issuing low serial number Springfield the Marine Corps heeded General Hatcher advise by adding the “Hatcher” Hole to the left side of the receiver.
There has been no reported failure by a USMC low serial number 1903.Every Gunsmith will advise NEVER shoot a LOW Number Springfield. Regardless of my opinion —- That is the safe answer(just call me for proper disposal of that unsafe firearm LOL)If your “Springfield” is marked 1903A3 or 1903A4 or in a serial number range higher than listed above it is NOT a Low Serial number and should be considered safe after a Competent Gunsmith checks headspace, throat and muzzle erosion. “Bannerman Special Model 1937” Springfield RifleFrancis Bannerman Sons was a famous surplus dealer located in New York, operating from shortly after the Civil War until the 1960s. After decades of accumulating huge quantities of surplus parts and trying many clever improvisations, they managed to make complete rifles to be sold at very low prices to cash strapped buyers at the end of the depression. “Low number” Model 1903 receivers being scrapped as potentially unsafe were fitted with barrels of unknown origin.
Model 1917 bolts, stocks, and trigger guards were modified slightly to fit. Krag rear sights were welded to early M1903 rear sight bases and shimmed on the barrels. Assorted bands and swivels were used. Very ingenious and profitable, these are probably the oddest of all the 1903 rifles.Sporting rifles for NRA members“U.S. Rifle, Model 1903, Sporting type, star gauged.
Fitted with Lyman 48 Receiver sight”High quality Model 1903 rifles with specially selected “star gauged” barrels and the “NRA style” stock were offered for sale to NRA members circa 1924-1938, ostensibly because of a lack of commercial sporting rifles on the market at the time. (The Winchester Model 54 and 70 and the Remington Model 30 were introduced during that period).
5,538 NRA Sporters were made. NRA Sporter rifles were sometimes left in their original configuration, sometimes crudely adapted to the owner’s preferences, and sometimes used as the basis for beautiful custom rifles. This is an example built into a classic 1930s style rifle with a Griffen & Howe mount and Lyman Alaskan scope.
It was made for a left handed shooter, so it has the cheekpiece on the “wrong” side of the stock! Although not “original” it shows how the NRA Sporter rifles met the needs of their owners,Star gauged barrels will be marked as suchThis information is via 1903. Between 1921 and 1957 The Arsenal produced Several Match and Target variations for issue/sale.
( note that shooters participating in the National Matches or International matches could and often did buy from the Gov’t aka DCM- Director Of Civilian Marksmanship these rifles before, during, and after the matches)Model 1921 International – 101921 International Rifle Team’s competition in Lyons, France, included a 24″ heavy barrel set into modified straight and pistol grip sporting stocks using a Lyman 48 receiver sight. That successful experience led to an improved long-range rifle designated Rifle, U.S. Caliber.30, Model 1922.Model 1922 caliber 30 Heavy Barrel – 133This model included a 24″ heavy barrel set into modified straight and pistol grip sporting stocks using a Lyman 48 receiver sight.Modifications to the stock included a palm rest attachment. The first modified with these heavy barrels were used at the 1919 National Matches held in Caldwell, New Jersey that led to the development of the Model 1921/22/23 and all following International versions From 1921 to 1931 each year the arsenal produced 40 rifles each year for International use. Those numbers are not captured in in this listing these numbers for total production will total approx 390 produced from 1921 to 1931. All of the International version shared a common theme the introduction was supported by Congress and the Industry as well. The reason that rear sights are Lyman 48 is that Frank Lyman offered to install a special sight free of charge on every international version.
The modified Lyman 48 was not divided in half MOA but rather thirds, and oversized target knobs was installed.Model 1903 National Match – 22,938Model 1903 National Match with P.G. Stock – 245AKA Model 1903 National Match Style “NB” Identified with the acceptance stamp of P.G. On the left side of the stock.1925 -1001926 -951927 -50Model 1903A1 National Match – 10,644Model 1903 Star Gauged – 1,265Model 1903 Special Target Rifle – 2,595Model 1903 National Match Style “B” – 150Model 1903 International – 40Aka the Model 1923 International these 30″ heavy barrels had twist ranging from 10, 12, 14 Twist.Barrel selected for this rifle varied from Winchester, H. Pope, or Remington. Pope barrels was left hand twist with progressive aka gain twist at 1-14″. Winchester “Globe” front sight, and Rinkuna double-set trigger, as well as the Lyman 48 rear sight.
Another feature was John Garand’s “Super Speed Firing Mechanism” that greatly reduced the “lock time.”Model 1903 International (Martini Action) – 40Twenty-five of 40 produced Model of 1927.30″ caliber International Match Rifles produced by Springfield Armory were similar to the Model of 1924 except for a 28″ barrel, altered palm rest attachment, and Woody double-set trigger.Model 1903 National Match Style “T” – 100Model 1903A3 National Match – 140In 1951 with the suspension of the National Matches since 1941 DCM had found that WWII had depleted the available the M1903A1. Thus another run of available match rifles was needed. Numbers was set to be higher (200 for evaluation) but was stopped at 140 because the view was that it was a useless design. What caused the main flaw while the rifle retained a vast majority of the issue 1903A3 parts triggers and sears was reverted to the 1903A1, was the removal of the issue rear sight and installation of a Redfield Olympic rear sight attached to the left side of the receiver. This arrangement caused interference with operation of clip feeding. And in the other alternate postion it interfered with the bolt handle operation. This was overlooked once noted production stopped at 140 and scrapped, never issued for match use and related to sit in various warehouse finally was disposed via DCM sales.
This is the rarest of the National Matches I do not know or have the numbers.Just this sort condensed list totals about 38,000 Target versions produced by the arsenal for public sale to promote Marksmanship a lesson learned in WWI. This rifle stayed on the lines until the 1960s competing against the M1Garand and the M14 oddly the M14 sealed the fate for the 1903 only to be ousted by the M16 at a later date.If any further details are needed I would suggest LTC Brophy’s book “The Springfield 1903 Rifles” be sought out. Several times I am asked what should I look for in a 1903.Hmmm that is real tough question that begs the counter question, What do you want out of it?Do you desire a non collector grade “shooter” that is safe to fire?That is probably the easier one to answer find the Stock that fits you well be that a C, modified C, S, or after market although I have no basis for advising against it other than I just don’t think they will stand the long jar I would stay away from the Navy issued drill stock that are a resin. Just a preference I treat them as a barrelled action only with parts, because the stock will be thrown away.Research the parts that are undesirable such as Low Carbon bolts ( go here folks this site does a wonderful job breaking it down )Check the sights for function make sure the stock fits the action fire it does it shoot to suit you?Do you want a “correct” grade?This is often the hardest two world wars, a conflict in Korea, Land Lease program Rifles, another conflict in Vietnam yes the 1903 was used there, and a aggressive rebuilt program of all those wars destroyed many a collector dream. This is discounting all the “Bubba” Bannerman’s and the WESOG (Wiley E.
Coyote School of Gunsmithing with A.C.M.E gun parts as the supplier ) gunsmiths, R.F. Sedley’s looking for a quick buck. I would venture to say that a vast majority of the “correct” grade rifle have been retrofitted back to what was commonly on the bench during the original built based on serial number. As during a Arsenal or depot rebuild, rifles are stripped down all parts checked for serviceability thrown in a bin and randomly installed on a different rifle. This same statement is true of EVERY service rifle used since the 1800.
This explains why correct grades fetch so much money as many actually seek out the correct stocks, sights, barrel bands, bolts. Because of this I am more leery of a “correct” grade than a arsenal re-built and will not own one personally. This is based on the willingness of people to “get over” many times the bolts are just swapped without headspacing onto a unserviceable barrels solely based on the fact that the barrel date is correct.
These rifle usually sit in the owners safe taken out fondled showed off and put back Never firing a shot. As such a unsafe rifle is never found only when somebody chambers the round and fires it does it become evident, then the remark is “Hey a low or high serial number Springfield blew up, do you think the heat treat was bad”???
Proof Testing and Proof MarkingBefore leaving the Arsenal/manufacturer, M1903’s and M1903A3’s were proof tested for safety. Proof testing was done by firing several cartridges loaded to produce a pressure substantially greater than that produced by the standard issue military cartridges that would be used in the rifle. If the rifle survived this test of its strength the letter P enclosed in a circle was stamped on the stock just behind the triggerguard, and the rifle was ready for acceptance by the military.The earliest proof marks used on Model 1903’s were a script letter P which was later changed to a block letter P.U.S. Model 1903’s and 1903A3’s will sometimes be found with two letter P’s stamped behind the triggerguard. The second letter P is believed to have been used when a rifle when through a complete rebuild.
Because of the extent of the work it was likely proofed a second time. If a stock is stamped with two letter P’s there is a good possibility that it will also have other marks indicating an arsenal rebuild. The other interesting fact is that Springfield Arsenal was so confident that the Experimental model of 1901 used to prototype the 1903.
That they actually “jumped the gun” so to speak and occasionally a 1903 is found with a 1901 receiver, Barrel ( two versions 24 and 30″) due to the fact that the original cartridge was based on.30 Caliber Government model 1903 used to replace the.30 U.S. Army (aka 30-40 Krag) both used the 220 grain round nosed thus requiring 1-10″ when the 30-03 cartridge was revamped shortly after introduction because of German and other nations advancement (side bar 7.5 x 55 Swiss) a Spitzer design was developed (1905) then adopted (1906) this round was found to be more accurate with a 1-12 twist based on the new bullet length. Because the arsenals had been producing the 1-10 twist for three years a study was done with the new cartridge while not as accurate as the 1-12 it was within “acceptable” limits this is why the norm is 1-10 no other reason than cost of re-tooling. This twist error was later correct with the introduction of the M-14 being a Right hand 1-14 4 groove twist. Some good information, Sgt. Mike, on the M1903. However, some of the information on stock markings is now obsolete or incorrect.
Most of it appears to have been from William Brophy’s book on the M1903, written over 30 years ago.1) RLB and FJA are identified correctly, but neither man was an inspector. They were (at various times) commanders of the Rochester Ordnance District, which contained Remington, Smith-Corona and other arms manufacturers. They did not personally inspect completed rifles or firearms.2) The END stamp has been considered to be not used.3) There were a few RIA M1903s stamped with WJS (identitiy is not known) who normally worked at Springfield. To my knowledge, no “JES” was used.4) Frank Krack (RIA/FK) was the chief arms inspector at Rock Island from 1941-46, not during the 1920s (see C.S. Ferris’ book on the Rock Island Arsenal for details)5) RIA/EB (also from Rock Island) was Elmer Bjerke, who held a similar position as Krack from 1946 to 1958.