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Traits of a USMC or Marine Rebuilt M1903 with Pictures.


cplnorton
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I've had many people on this sight ask me about traits of a Marine Rebuilt M1903 rifle. Here are the most common ones with pictures. If anyone has anything to add, go ahead and add it. :)

 

 

 

1. Hatcher Hole on early receivers. By the end of production SA was drilling these at the factory and all Remington made 03's and 03A3's had them factory installed. Also the Army did do this some in their late rebuilds. So this is not a definite sign of USMC use and not every USMC rifle will have them. Only the ones rebuilt from the 1930's and up.

 

P1130547_zps68d9490e.jpg

 

 

 

2. Serial electro penciled on bolt top. Some Greeks marked them on the bolt handle, those are not USMC traits.

 

P1150163.jpg

 

 

 

 

3. Stippled Punch marks on flat style buttplate. They can be round or flat chisel marks.

 

P1130551_zpsf920373a.jpg

 

 

4. Sedgley USMC barrel. My personal opinion was they only used these in 1941-42, and maybe possibly early 43. Many were sold as surplus after the war and bent for scrap. A company bought them and re-straightened them to sell. I would be very suspicious of any 1943 or 44 dated barrels for being straightened. They are so good you about can't tell until you look down the barrel and see the rifling is messed up in a spot. And it's even hard to see that sometimes without a bore scope. Also I believe any true USMC installed Sedgley barrel should have vice marks on the barrel and a hatcher hole in the receiver. But that is my personal opinion. .

 

P1130542_zpsc28c55e2.jpg

 

5. Marine light colored parkerization. Also with this, the bolt and rear sight are usually very contrasting dark finish from many examples I've had. I've seen this finish on Many WWII era rebuilds with 1941 or 1942 dated barrels. The early rebuilds usually have a very dark finish.

 

P1150163.jpg

 

6. Punch mark in front of serial number. This was applied by the Philadelphia repair depot when the rifle was rebuilt. I suspect this was done before the 30's and not during WWII.

 

 

 

marine0344garand009.jpg

 

7. Vice Marks on barrel. These vice looking marks were because the Marines used a barrel vice that dug into the barrel. I have not seen these marks on early Marine rebuilds. But more the later years, 1930's and up.

 

P1150260_zps6e9b1489.jpg

 

8. No rebuild marks on stock. Marines did not stamp rebuild marks on stocks. But also stocks could be changed out post Marine use, so some Marine Rifles might show rebuild marks on stocks. Usually all factory cartouches are sanded off during rebuild as well.

 

9. Enlarged gas hole in Bolt. When you look at the gas escape hole on the bottom side of the bolt, the Marines many times enlarged this hole on early bolts to match the size of the Hatcher hole. Later manufacture bolts already had this hole enlarged.

 

 

 

Other Marine Traits to look for. I've noticed this a lot on the Marine Rifles I have bought over the years.

 

 

- Marines used a lot of low number receivers. The Army got rid of all their low number receivers. The Marines took as many as they could get.

 

- Marines used a lot of Rock Island Arsenals. I don't know why. But many of the higher number RIA's were used by the Marines.

 

- Most 1940 and 1942 SA dated barrels were also signs of a Marine rifle. So if you have a 1940 or 42 dated barrel your rifle probably served in the Marines.

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Garandomatic

My 03, I have always suspected, shows Marine use. It is in the 1.25 million range, Springfield, 1921 barrel, but has that Hatcher Hole, a buttplate stippled with flat chisel marks, and a non-matching serial number electro-penciled on the bolt in that same style (almost cursive, maybe?) as you show. While it would be better if it matched, given the other characteristics, I would imagine the Marines could just have easily mixed up the bolt as anyone considering all of the other Marine traits. One thing I will add, is that the Greek electro-penciling is of a different type of writing, if I remember right. Whole different font/style on those I have seen.

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Garandomatic, did you ever have anyone search the SRS data for your serial? There were a lot of USMC rifles around the 1.25 range. From what you describe, I would be comfortable saying it was most likely a Marine rifle.

 

If you haven't had a search done with the SRS, pm me your serial and I will double check to see if I have a hit on it.

 

I used to think Marine rifles were rare, but I think there were about 40,000 of them in total when the war started. So they are much more common than you would think.

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RustyCanteen

One thing I will add, is that the Greek electro-penciling is of a different type of writing, if I remember right. Whole different font/style on those I have seen.

 

Greek returned M1903s will have the last four digits of the serial number stamped into the right buttstock too. They typically have an unusual deep matte bluing that appears to have been done over a texture indicative of sandblasting. Another trait of ex-Greek usage is the pinned floorplate stamped with a large "B". I believe they also applied inspection markings to the underside of the barrel.

 

RC

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Charlie Flick

Good stuff, cplnorton. Thanks for the post.

 

The guy who, I think, has done more than anyone else to establish the characteristics of the Marine Corps Springfields is John Beard. Although he had a lot of help from other '03 collectors I think Beard did most of the heavy lifting on this subject. We are all indebted to him for his work.

 

Regards,

Charlie

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John Beard is by far the most knowledgeable M1903 expert there is. I wish I could know a percentage of what he knows. I've told him many times to write a book, but of course he always says no. I wish he would. It would be a wealth of knowledge. And I guess I should throw a shout out to Rick Slater too. Rick the Librarian is another great guy in the 1903 field.

 

BTW Charlie, I just saw your message on Jouster. I responded back. I'm bad about checking anything but my personal emai.

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