Shortly thereafter Remington began updating its tooling and equipment to accommodate the changes required for production of the new rifle. The Model 1903A4 was the first issued sniper rifle to all U.S. military services during World War II. The M1903 was manufactured by Springfield Armory at varying levels of production from 1903 until the late 1930s and at Rock Island Arsenal from 1903 until 1913 and again from 1917 until just after World War I. Two-groove barrels resulted in reduced manufacturing time and cost which further boosted the 03A3s production rate. gd3 gd3 gdO. in the bolt action rifle's history, the introduction of the Pederson The only substantive difference between Remington and Smith-Corona bolts was that the Remington bolts were marked R at the root of the handle while the Smith-Corona bolts were usually marked with an X on top of the bolt handle, although some unmarked examples can be found. There were also some serial numbers used for M1903A4 sniper rifle production from this final block as well. Even with this increase in M1 rifle output, the anticipated supply of service rifles would be insufficient to meet the demand. inspection report data used for monthly invoicing for services rendered under contract.
Remington 1903A3 03-A3 .30-06 WWII Bolt Action Rifle MFD 1943 C&R In October 1942, Remington was given permission to produce two-groove barrels for the M1903A3 as prior testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground revealed that satisfactory accuracy could be obtained with them. Total production was 1,056,276 rifles, which included about 345,000 M1903 and M1903 (modified), about 711,276 M1903A3, and just 26,653 M1903A4 (short of the 28,365 ordered)
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5 6 7 j k S T U y a e f hO. To this end, the Smith-Corona Typewriter Company was granted a contract for production of M1903A3s. Barrel Date: July, 1943 Caliber: .30-06 Springfield Action Type: Bolt Action, Internal Magazine Markings: The top of the receiver is marked "U.S. / SMITH-CORONA / MODEL 03-A3 / 4743824". | g g g g $ SPRINGFIELD ARMORY US MODEL 1903 RIFLE SERIAL NUMBER RANGES
(Including Rock Island Arsenal, Remington, and Smith-Corona production)
SPRINGFIELD ARMORY PRODUCTION OF MODEL 1903
[Dated by calendar year: January December]
1903116000
19041600167000
190567001119000
1906119001269450
1907269451337861
1908337862358084
1909358085398275
1910398276456375
1911456376502045
1912502046531520
1913531521570560
1914570561595600
1915595601620120
1916620121632825
1917632826761757
19187617581055091
191910550921162500
192011625011211299
192112113001239640
192212396411252386
192312523871261486
192412614871267100
192512671011270300
192612703011274764
192712747651285265
192812852661305900
192913059011338405
193013384061369760
193113697611404025
193214040261425933
193314259341441811
193414418121491531
193514915321496022
1936PRODUCTION TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED
193714960231510387
1938193915103881532878
Total: 1340000. Although nearly identical in configuration, there are several rather subtle differences between the Smith-Corona and Remington stocks. CJ( = * = P c v
Remington Fed Ord 1903-A4 03A3 Sniper .30-06 Bolt Action Rifle 1943 C&R Remington began production of the M1903 in September 1941, at serial number 3,000,000, using old tooling from the Rock Island Arsenal which had been in storage since 1919. The number of six-groove barrels used in Smith-Corona 03A3 production is estimated to be about 5,000. US Model 1903 Springfield Rifle Serial Number Ranges - Muzzle First. Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. Hammer Women Of Distinction Award, Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship, National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program, "V" Is For Victory: The Smith & Wesson Victory Model Revolver, Rifleman Q&A: Why So Light With The M1 Carbine? Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. In June 1943, the Ordnance Department ordered an additional 8,365 '03A4 rifles from. This early example (top) has a straight stock and grasping grooves in the fore-end. prototype of the 1903, but it had not been adopted by the military until Some of these changes were not readily apparent while others were quite noticeablesuch as the elimination of the lightening cuts on both sides of the rear sight base, the elimination of the small gas escape hole on the right side of the receiver and the drilling of the rear guard screw hole completely through the receiver tang. The last of the M1903 "Modified" rifles was completed the following March 1943. The U.S. Model 1903A4 Sniper rifle was based on the 03A3 as developed by Remington to save production costs in 03 rifle manufacture. 4, Mark I bayonet and modifying the grip of the stock to mimic the hook type pistol-grip found on the Lee-Enfield. The barrels were marked SC and the month/year of barrel production. The use of some stamped components to replace costly and time-consuming milled parts was also instituted. One component that remained more or less unchanged from the earlier M1903 rifles was the Model 1905 rear sight. Remington agreed to pay for the stock blanks by manufacturing cartridges for the U.S. government under future contracts. usually with a weaver mount and scope. Enter your search keyword . 1903 due to politics and the use of a new standard issue rifle only 9 However, M1903A3 rifle production extended into this block of numbers and the M1903A4 rifles in this range had a Z prefix to the serial number in order to prevent duplicate numbers. The M1903 Modified (center) was a transitionary variant between the 1903 and the 03A3 and 03A4. does not have any markings on the rifle, as many were produced in haste to In any event, the M1903 Modified designation has come into widespread use today to differentiate the Remingtons that incorporated the manufacturing modifications from the original, finely crafted 03 rifles that were turned out during the first few months of production and will be used in this article to identify this variant from the earlier and later variants. A total of 120,000 SNs were reassigned from M1903 Modified and M1903A3 SN allocation as follows: M1903A3 production phasing out the M1903 Modified began in December 1942 with the first 1909 rifles included in the factory invoice to the Ordnance Dept. CMP also does not recommend firing any Springfield rifle, regardless of serial number, with a single heat-treated low number bolt. Remington ceased production of the M1903A3 in February 1944 and continued with M1903A4 production until June of the same year. The first pilot batch of 20 Smith-Corona M1903A3 rifles was completed in October 1942, and mass production began in November, a month ahead of Remingtons initial delivery of 03A3 rifles.
Remington began deliveries of the new variant in December 1942. Remington was initially assigned the serial number block of 3,407,088-3,427,087 for 03A4 production. f x Some extractors found on original Smith-Corona bolts were marked S on the bottom. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. As the M1903A4 was recently the subject of an article in these pages (Making The Most of G.I. Model 03A3s, either Remington or Smith-Corona, found with all-Parkerized furniture can be safely assumed to have been overhauled. M1903A3 production phasing out the M1903 "Modified" began in December 1942 with the first 1909 rifles included in the factory invoice to the Ordnance Dept. Both 03A3 and 03A4 Remington rifle barrels were marked with RA, a flaming bomb and the month and year of manufacture. Rifle, Cal. SN calculations reflect the reality gaps as well as duplicates within the serial numbering process. This huge increase in demand coupled with production problems stemming from use of the nearly worn-out Rock Island machinery resulted in something of a dilemma for Remington if the ambitious production schedules were to be met. The Remington component has a straight profile whereas the Smith-Corona part has a semi-circular indention. The handguard (now termed barrel guard) was lengthened to cover the gap between the receiver and the upper band of the rifle. The new rifle was marked U.S./Remington/Model 03-A3/Serial No. on the receiver ring. Remington only used a relatively few serial numbers from the final block, stopping at the very low 4,200,000 serial number range. On 20 June 1943 an additional 8,365 M1909A4 rifles were ordered. >* CJ( Great deals on Remington 03a3 In Rifle Parts. Serial Numbers by date (factory record book), About optics were not evolved enough, with only low magnification and was prone From its establishment in 1794 up to 1968, the Springfield Armory was the primary R&D and manufacturing facility for the small arms used by the armed forces of the United States. Last edited by mrgarandman; 07-26-2010, 01:37 PM . Stamped metal components were used wherever possible, such as on the trigger guard (l.). The recess on the Smith-Corona stocks had a rounded profile while the Remington stocks had a square profile. j h3 h3 During WWII, however, the urgent need for rifles resulted in the rebuilding and reissuing of many low-number as well as high-number Springfields. Barrel Date: September, 1943. Numerous World War II vintage photos depict 03A3 rifles employed in overseas combat zones. Ten trial production M1903 rifles were produced soon after the contract was granted, and the first 1,273 production rifles were delivered in November 1941. The early Remington M1903 and M1903 Modified rifles (r.) were inspected by Col. Roy L. Bowlin, RLB, chief of the Rochester Ordnance District. Springfield Models 1903A3 & 1903A4. M1903 - changed several times In addition to the changes made in the rear sight, there was also more extensive use of stamped parts. The first Remington M1903A3 rifles were delivered in December 1942. 9 U.S. Army troops did not have a standardized sniper rifle in inventory at the time of the declaration of war, and there was increasing demand from overseas for sniper rifles. In June 1943, the Ordnance Department ordered an additional 8,365 03A4 rifles from Remington. The markings on the stocks were identical to those of M1903A3s of the same vintage, and the only real difference was the inletting for the concave bolt handle.
Remington 1903A3 Serial numbers, barrel date - milsurps.com Remington made all 29,964 Model 1903A4 rifles. Eventually that problem was resolved and sufficient quantities of the sights were procured, and increasing numbers of 03A3s began to flow from the Syracuse plant. fulfill the war demand. Initially, the new Remington 03s were very similar to the rifles made at Rock Island Arsenal in the late World War I period. A simplified receiver-mounted rear sight would reduce production time and have the added bonus of being a better combat sight. While these changes were marginally helpful, further modifications of the basic design were deemed necessary. It was built with an ever increasing number of stamped parts until sometime in 1942 by Remington. during this time that the finger grooved walnut stock was replaced by | An Official Journal Of The NRA, Throwback Thursday: "The Desert Fox" | NRA Family, Throwback Thursday: What's a Sten Gun? By definition, a SN, For purposes of this Table, all M1903 Modified and M1903A3 receivers serially stamped before January 10, 1943 were believed to be assembled into and counted as complete rifles with little problem with SN, After January 10, 1943, Remington was directed to cease monitoring SN disorders since the Ordnance Department was no longer concerned about this problem. RLB represented Col. Roy L. Bowlin, Chief of the Rochester Ordnance District. using cheaper parts for speedy production, M1904 - The sniper version, Remington Arms : Year: 1st Serial: Last Serial: Model: 1942: . It was suggested that the old M1903 production tooling in storage at Rock Island Arsenal be used to produce rifles for the British. From your pictures it looks like your stock has the M1903A3 handguard ring cut, you have a Remington '03A3 trigger guard, the bolt looks to be a replacement as well. Some of the bolt sleeves were marked G. Like the Remington 03A3s, original Smith-Corona bolts were blued. Make: Remington. It proved impossible to determine, without destructive testing, which receivers and bolts were so affected and therefore potentially dangerous. A gas escape hole was drilled into the left side of the receiver as had been done at Springfield Armory since 1936. By early 1942 the company had made some 649 changes in 03 manufacture to speed production and reduce costs. Look up a Remington serial number by using Remington Serial Number Lookup. Visually they can be distinguished easily by the smaller aperture rear sight instead of the barrel mounted sight like previous rifles. x Mint condition grey parkerized finish and new made Criterion barrels make this rifle true to the original, collector grade, and ready for competition! The factory shop-assembly process resulted in final rifle production in no particular SN order or sequence, therefore rifles with higher SNs than the number of rifles produced may exist for any given month.
U.S. World War II Remington Model 03A3 Bolt Action Rifle M1903A3 rifles are among the most common variant of the 03 available to collectors, and examples can usually be found without too much difficulty, although prices for pristine examples are steadily rising. (Smith-Corona manufactured an additional 233,998 03A3s). Accordingly, in May 1942 Smith-Coronas contract was modified to substitute the M1903A3 for the M1903 rifle. produced by either The Springfield Armory (when it was federally owned) or The .38 Smith & Wesson Special, designed in 1898, rocked the handgun realm with its ballistic performance making it a cartridge for the history books. The Smith-Corona 03A3s were essentially identical to their Remington counterparts except for markings. All low number bolts have the bolt handle bent straight down, perpendicular to the axis of the bolt body. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({ Some of the earlier M1903 Modified rifles will have few stamped parts and later production will exhibit more stamped components. The last of the M1903 Modified rifles were turned out in May 1943. Such was the situation at the beginning of World War II. Made from premium-grade, vegetable-tanned leather, the Burdette Custom Holsters Detective SA-35 holster is a custom outside-the-waistband (OWB) model for the Springfield Armory SA-35 semi-automatic pistol.
DOC Springfield Armory Us Model 1903 Rifle Serial Number Ranges Many were subsequently sold via the auspices of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) and given away to allied nations under various military aid programs. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Most 03A4s had full pistol grip (Type C) stocks but, as stated, some were also delivered with the scant grip stock. Reportedly, very early in production, High Standard (the maker of the barrels) acquired some unfinished barrel blanks from Savage Arms Co. Check the serial numbers located on the left side of the barrel on your Remington shotgun. or Best Offer. to moisture gathering in the scope. h3 >* CJ( hO. Is this what you were referring to? Remington (and Smith-Corona) turned out ever-increasing numbers of M1903A3s, and they provided valuable use for our rapidly expanding armed forces. As had been the case with Remington, some problems with procurement of rear sights from subcontractors resulted in the delay of initial deliveries. $ 9-43 and 12-43 were VERY popular months for Barrels. Even after adoption of the M1, however, the 03 remained the primary American service rifle until production of the Garand could meet the demand. Rifleman Q&A: CMP M1903A3 Sling Modifications? The Smith Corona M1903 rifle usually permanent magazine with 25 round capacity, M1903 Mark I - A variation to Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903A3 was standardized. Existing Model 1903 Springfield rifles in the governments inventory, along with substantial numbers of obsolescent but serviceable Model 1917 rifles, were taken from storage and reconditioned as necessary for issue. distinguished easily by the smaller aperture rear sight instead of the No such comparable statistics are known to exist beyond February 1943.
Remington Serial/Barrel Number Lookup - Rem870.com The Remington M1903 Rifles | An Official Journal Of The NRA Korean War in favor of the
PDF Production and Serial Numbers Table M1903 - Remington Society Trick out or upgrade your firearm with the largest gun parts selection at eBay.com. contracted with the Remington Arms Co. for new production of the Model 1903 bolt-action rifle using machinery and some raw materials (mainly stock blanks) in storage at Rock Island Arsenal since manufacture of the 03 rifle ceased at that entity in the early 1920s. Smith & Corona Typewriter Co. of Syracuse, N.Y. which it won resulting in the payment of $3,000,000 to Mauser from the US. The M1903 was valued as a tool to the soldier because if its sheer power, The rebuilt examples can be identified by the arsenal rebuild stamps on the stock, the presence of parts with mixed contractor codes and Parkerized furniture (including bolts). These changes were significant enough to warrant a new model designation and, on May 21, 1942, the U.S. High Standard was interested in the contract, but it was already operating at near peak capacity with existing contracts and would be unable to serve as prime contractor on the new project. google_ad_client: "ca-pub-5708522835464660", Barrel Date: September 1943. Rock Island Arsenal and about 850,000 were produced up until that point. Checked for working condition 2. Now you can dress up your office desk or man cave with a 1:3-scale replica of the best battle implement ever devised.. Many of the rifles were utilized for training purposes stateside, but a number were shipped overseas for issue as supplemental service rifles. Changes were made to speed production without compromising the accuracy strength and efficiency of the rifle. This series of rifles was originally issued to the many proud and selfless Americans that answered freedoms call during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. They can be decoded to find out when your shotgun or rifle was manufactured. On the eve of Americas active involvement in World War II, it was apparent that there would be a serious shortage of service rifles for its rapidly expanding armed forces. The Ordnance Dept. There are myriad examples of this industrial versatility, not the least of which was the service rifle made by a typewriter company. (known for their typewriters). By this time, the 03A3 was about to go into production, so the specifications were changed to develop a sniping version of this variant instead. This series of rifles was originally issued to the many proud and selfless Americans that answered freedom's call during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Description: This is an excellent example of a WWII production rifle as manufactured by the Remington Arms Company. And while it has produced everything .
U.S. Springfield Model 1903 Production - National Park Service The left side of the stock was stamped FJA (for Col. Frank J. Atwood), RA (Remington Arms) and the crossed cannons Ordnance Department escutcheon. U.S. MILITARY DATES OF MANUFACTURE U.S. Military M1903, & M1903A3 Rifle: Remington: Covering numbers: 3000001 - 5784000. All end-of-month SNs are calculated approximations only. Original, excellent condition with correct "R" markings and no rebuild or import marks. Many are not aware of the rifles of this type turned out by Remington during World War II. If you need assistance accessing any of our content or would like it in an alternative format you can contact us via our contact form, click here. Markings: The left side of the receiver is . M1 Rifles but is still used by For Remington 03A3: Is it correct to have all of the parts parkerized, or should some be blued? c You can also locate the serial number on the rifle's receiver and request an age approximation by emailing Remington support. The M1903A3s stock was similar to the straight grip stock previously utilized with the M1903 Modified but was inletted to accept the barrel guard ring necessitated by the longer handguard. 6/26/18 - This is a1943 WWII US Remington 1903A3 Springfield Rifle in 30-06 caliber.
Gun Review: M1903A3 Rifle - The Truth About Guns Remington 03-A3 - 1943 | Legacy Collectibles Serial numbering began with SN 3,000,000 and numerically remained continuous to end of production except as shown below. The U.S. War Department agreed to lease Remington the somewhat worn Rock Island 03 manufacturing equipment and provided some 600,000 walnut rifle stock blanks also in storage.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. During World War II additional manufacturers were added While Remington was struggling with increasing its production rate, the Ordnance Dept. Several avenues were explored, including discussions with Remington Arms Company for the production of rifles under British contract. Smith-Corona was eventually assigned two blocks of serial numbers. g g g ! Mauser rifle, the US military decided it needed a higher power rifle for This so-called last SN is an approximated end-number only. Remingtons started production in 1941 with serial number 3,000,000, it was However, the Remington rifles were every bit as valuable and serviceable as the 03s that were made by the government-owned and -operated entities of Springfield Armory or Rock Island Arsenal.