INFO ONLY. NOT FOR SALE
1903 A# 30.06 Rifle. Overall Excellent, Bore, Metal and Wood. Stock has a few dings. Barrel Maerked with flaming bomb RA 5/43. Stock has other marks, RRA, P as seen in pictures.
The U.S. Model 1903 Springfield Rifle replaced the Krag-Jorgensen and was the primary U.S. battle rifle until 1936, when it was replaced as the primary U.S. battle rifle by the M1 Garand. In 1942 Remington Arms redesigned the 1903 rifle using some stamped parts and designated it the U.S. Model 1903A3.
There are variations of the 1903 models that were manufactured from the introduction of the 1903 to the development of the 03A3 rifles,
M1903 Rod Bayonet Rifle
WWI 1903 Rifle;
M1903 Mark 1 Rifle
M1903A1 Rifle
Remington M1903 Modified Rifle
Remington M1903A3 Rifle
Smith-Corona M1903A3 Rifle
The 1903A3 was manufactured by both Remington as well as Smith-Corona. The sniper variant based upon the 1903A3 design, the 1903A4, was used during WWII, the Korean War, and in the very early stages of Vietnam.
The US rifle, Model of 1903 was 44 7/8 inches (1.098 m) long and weighed 8 lb 11 oz (3.95 kg). A bayonet could be attached; the M1905 bayonet blade was 16 inches (406 mm) long and weighed 1 lb (0.45 kg). After the 1906 re-fit, the rifle fired the .30-caliber model 1906 cartridge (.30-06 cartridge). There were four standard types of cartridge:
Ball— consisted of a brass case or shell, primer, a charge of smokeless powder, and the bullet. The bullet had a sharp point called a spitzer bullet, and was composed of a lead core and a jacket of cupro nickel, and weighed 150 grains (9.7 g). The bullet of this cartridge, when fired from the rifle, had an initial velocity of 2,700 feet per second (820 m/s).
Blank— contained a paper cup instead of a bullet. It is dangerous up to 33 yards (30 m).
Guard— had a smaller charge of powder than the ball cartridge, and five cannelures encircle the body of the shell at about the middle to distinguish it from ball cartridges. It was intended for use on guard or in riot duty, and it gave good results up to 200 yards (180 m). The range of 100 yards (90 m) required a sight elevation of 450 yards (410 m), and the range of 200 yards (180 m) required an elevation of 645 yards (590 m).
Dummy— this was tin-plated and the shell was provided with six longitudinal corrugations and three circular holes. The primer contains no percussion composition. It was intended for drill purposes to accustom the soldier to the operation of loading the rifle.
The rifle was sighted for 2,500 yd (2,300 m) and had a point-blank range of 500 yards (457 m). The maximum range of the ball cartridge, when elevated at an angle of 45°, was 4,890 yd (4.47 km) .
The rifle was a magazine-fed clip-loader and could fire at a rate of 20 shots per minute. Each stripper clip contained 5 cartridges, and standard issue consisted of 12 clips carried in a cloth bandolier. When full the bandolier weighed about 3 lb 14 oz (1.76 kg). Bandoliers were packed 20 in a box, for a total of 1,200 rounds. The full box weighed 100 pounds (45 kg).
World War I
By the time of U.S. entry into World War I, 843,239 of these rifles had been produced at Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal. The demands of the war, however, spurred the production of an additional 265,620, still not nearly enough to train and arm American troops. This prompted production of 2.5 million of the U.S. Model of 1917 (M1917 Enfield), also in .30-06 caliber, but from British (Enfield) P13 and later P14 rifle designs. Most US soldiers were in fact armed with M1917 rifles during the conflict. Towards the end of the war, Springfield turned out the Model 1903 Mark I. The Mark I has a cut on the left hand side of the receiver meant to act as an ejection port for the Pedersen device, a specialized insert that replaced the bolt and allowed the user to fire .30 caliber pistol cartridges semi-automatically from a detachable magazine. The stock was also slightly cut down on the left side to clear the ejection port. In all other respects, the Mark I is identical to the 1903.
[edit] World War II
World War II saw new production of the Springfield at private manufacturers Remington Arms and Smith-Corona Typewriter. Remington began production of the M1903 in September of 1941, at serial number 3,000,000, using old tooling from the Rock Island Arsenal which had been in storage since 1919. The very early rifles are almost indistinguishable from 1919-made Rock Island rifles. As the already worn tooling began to wear beyond use Remington began seeking Army approval for a continuously increasing number of changes and simplifications to both speed up manufacture and improve performance. The milled parts on the Remington M1903 were gradually replaced with stamped parts until, at about serial number 3,330,000, the Army and Remington recognized that a new model name was appropriate. Other features of the M1903, such as high-grade walnut stocks with finger grooves, were replaced with less expensive but serviceable substitutes. Most parts made by Remington, stamped or milled, were marked with an "R". The M1903 became the M1903/A3. The most noticeable visual difference in the M1903/A3 was the replacement of the barrel-mounted rear sight with a smaller, simpler "peep" rear sight mounted on the rear of the receiver. All stock furniture was stamped metal. In early 1942 Smith/Corona Typewriter Company also began production of the M1903/A3 at its plant in Rochester, NY. Smith/Corona parts are usually identified by the absence of markings (Smith/Corona bolts are sometimes marked with an "X" on top of the bolt handle root). Original production rifles at Remington and Smith/Corona had a dark gray/black finish similar to the Parkerizing of late WW1. Beginning in late 1943 a lighter gray/green Parkerizing finish was used. This later finish was also used on arsenal repaired weapons. It is somewhat unusual to find a WW1 or early WW2 M1903 with its original dated barrel. Much, if not all, WW2 .30-06 ammunition used a corrosive primer which left corrosive salts in the barrel. If not removed by frequent and proper barrel cleaning these residues could cause pitting and excessive wear. In the jungle fighting on various Pacific islands cleaning was sometimes lax and the excessive moisture compounded the corrosive action of the residue.
The M1903 and the M1903A3 rifle were used in combat alongside the M1 Garand by the U.S. military during the Second World War and saw extensive use and action in the hands of U.S. troops in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. The US Marines were initially armed with M1903 rifles in early battles in the Pacific, such as the Battle of Guadalcanal. The US Army Rangers were also a major user of the M1903 and the M1903A3 during World War II with the Springfield being preferred over the M1 Garand for commando missions. By mid-war, however, US combat troops had been re-equipped with the M1 Garand. However, some front-line infantry units in both the US Army and the US Marine Corps still used the M1903 and the M1903A3 despite large quantities of M1 Garands being made available to front-line troops during the later years of World War 2.
It remained in service for snipers (using the M1903A4),grenadiers (using a spigot type rifle grenade launcher) and "scout snipers", a type of infantry scout. Military Police also continued to use M1903s and M1903A3s throughout the war. The M1903A4 sniper variant's magazine could only be loaded one cartridge at a time, due to the scope position directly over the action, which prevented charging the magazine with 5 round stripper clips.
Following August 1943, the Free French were re-equipped by the United States primarily with Springfield M1903 and M1917 Enfield rifles, making the Springfield M1903 rifle one of the primary rifles of French forces until the end of the war.
Springfield M1903 rifles captured by the Germans were designated Gewehr 249(a).
The 1st Brazilian Infantry Division, operating in the 5th Army in Italy was equipped with Springfield M1903 rifles.
Korea
The M1903A4 was slowly phased out during the Korean war by the Army, but saw extensive use in the Marine Corps in the form of the M1941 Sniper rifle. This new rifle was simply equipped with a very long and powerful Unertl 7.8x (as compared to the M73B1 2.5X telescopic sights issued with the army's M1903A4) variant type scope. It was used in situations when the range to the target simply exceeded that of the Marines' M1C and M1D sniper rifles, which were effective to about 500 yards. In some rare cases, kills from up to 1,000 yards were reported by Marines using the M1941 sniper rifles. Marine Corps armorers continued to rebuild some M1903 sniper rifles as late as the early stages of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Perhaps somewhat eccentrically, General Ridgeway, one of the various U.S. Army generals to have overall command in Korea at one point during the war, carried a M1903A3 along with him during the war. During World War II he had carried a M1903.
Post Korean War Service
After the Korean War active service, as opposed to drill, use of the M1903 was rare. Still, some numbers of them remained in USMC sniper use as late as the Vietnam War. The U.S. Navy also continued to carry some stocks of M1903A3s on board ships, for use as anti mine rifles.
