BryanJ Posted December 4, 2020 Share #1 Posted December 4, 2020 If there are any Remington 1903 collectors on the forum, you’ve probably read about a group of two hundred Remington 1903’s that have commonly been referred to as “Red Stars”. Out of CV-19 boredom, I thought I’d post a picture of the one I picked up several years ago. The “Red Stars” were a group of 200 British Lend Lease rifles that were returned to the US by a WWII B-24 navigator (LTC Willard Levin) in 1954. They acquired the name “Red Stars” because LTC Levin sold 60 of the rifles through the Red Star Military Museum in California. After the rifles returned in crates in 1954, they remained crated until some of the rifles were sold at the museum in 1998, while others were uncrated in 1998, while my rifle was in a group uncrated in 2012. I’m fortunate to have photos of my rifle as it was uncrated in 2012, bottom rifle in photo. The unique characteristic about the Red Stars, is that they are among the few remaining WWII Remington 1903’s still in their original configuration. These rifles were featured in the NRA’s Man at Arms magazine in 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsparks Posted December 4, 2020 Share #2 Posted December 4, 2020 Neat piece. Thanks for sharing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverplate Posted December 4, 2020 Share #3 Posted December 4, 2020 Was the red band on the stock a surplus marking, or lend-lease marking? Never seen that before. Nice weapon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted December 4, 2020 Put on upon arrival in England so the Brits would realize the weapon was in 30.06 and not .303. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsparks Posted December 4, 2020 Share #5 Posted December 4, 2020 Put on upon arrival in England so the Brits would realize the weapon was in 30.06 and not .303.Also done in Canada. Also not restricted to 1903’s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted December 4, 2020 Share #6 Posted December 4, 2020 If I remember correctly, the red band signified 30-06 ammo as compared to the .303 standard British ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottz63 Posted December 4, 2020 Share #7 Posted December 4, 2020 Very cool. I have seen these before but had not seen them in the crate. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsparks Posted December 4, 2020 Share #8 Posted December 4, 2020 If I remember correctly, the red band signified 30-06 ammo as compared to the .303 standard British ammo.That’s correct. I have a 1917 marked with a band and “30-06”Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spagg Posted December 4, 2020 Share #9 Posted December 4, 2020 10 hours ago, BryanJ said: Put on upon arrival in England so the Brits would realize the weapon was in 30.06 and not .303. I read somewhere about the red painted band, but the first for me seeing one. Very interesting and congrats on a fine 1903.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverplate Posted December 6, 2020 Share #10 Posted December 6, 2020 First I've heard about the red band. Thanks for the clarification. I've never seen a rifle marked that way until now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottz63 Posted December 6, 2020 Share #11 Posted December 6, 2020 I have seen quite a few England and Canadian rifles with the red band marking. Anything that is not their standard caliber, mostly foreign to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share #12 Posted December 6, 2020 Here’s one of the best articles I’ve seen about these rifles. https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=15358 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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