Sgt York 03 rear sight??......

[Brad]

I was watching the great movie again over the week end and made a strange observation, I think?
In the movie where Pvt York is having target practice and surprising everyone with his marksmanship, take special notice of the rear sight on his 03'??
It looks more like a Mauser rear sight in that it is not straight or flat, but humped, rounded??
Not like the WWI German Mauser but less, like the K98??
I could be imagining it, but I dont think. If you get an opportunity take a look and see what ya think??
Also, at Memorial Day services at our local little American Legion, only abot 8 vets in attendance, and using 03's I noticed two of the three rifles had nice old original looking "high hump" handgaurds. Also when firing their salute only two of the three rifles would feed the rounds.
I think I will offer them to go over all their rifles and clean them up, make sure they are working and safe. They probably never clean them.
See what ya think of the York rear sight??
Take care

[chuckindenver]

Sedgley made many rifles for Hollywood..

[Rick the Librarian]

The Sedgely rifles were made up of Krag and M1917, as well as M1903 parts. Here's a closeup of a M1903 Robert Taylor was using in the 1943 movie "Bataan":

http://www.fototime.com/AC837A063CB5075/standard.jpg

Here's the whole picture:

http://www.fototime.com/09BEA0AA18D1042/standard.jpg

And another, of Desi Arnez, who was also in "Bataan", about 8 years before his "Hey Loosi" days, also carrying a Sedgely M1903: :D

http://www.fototime.com/BB46182D1CB66CC/standard.jpg

[mhb]

The rifle you noticed was likely one of the Bannerman-assembled surplus 1903 rifles sold by that concern in the years before WW2. They were made up from miscellaneous parts, some bought at government auction as surplus or condemned, and then sold to the public.

Similar rifles were also made and sold by Sedgley

The distinctive rear sight was probably the model 1903 - the original rear sight for the 1903 rod-bayonet rifle, which was made obsolete by the more familiar model 1905. It could also have been one of the similar Krag rear sights of 1898 or 1902.

mhb - Mike


I was watching the great movie again over the week end and made a strange observation, I think?
In the movie where Pvt York is having target practice and surprising everyone with his marksmanship, take special notice of the rear sight on his 03'??
It looks more like a Mauser rear sight in that it is not straight or flat, but humped, rounded??
Not like the WWI German Mauser but less, like the K98??
I could be imagining it, but I dont think. If you get an opportunity take a look and see what ya think??
Also, at Memorial Day services at our local little American Legion, only abot 8 vets in attendance, and using 03's I noticed two of the three rifles had nice old original looking "high hump" handgaurds. Also when firing their salute only two of the three rifles would feed the rounds.
I think I will offer them to go over all their rifles and clean them up, make sure they are working and safe. They probably never clean them.
See what ya think of the York rear sight??
Take care

[Griff Murphey]

A lot of whether an 03 feeds blanks or not is a two part deal. It helps to stack the three blanks NOT fully to the rear as you would do live rounds, sort of position the stack about 1/4" or a bit forward from the rear of the mag well. The main cause of jamming is the stack tipping forward, which happens easily without a real bullet on the end.The other part is the shooter has to "feel" the gun. This is the hard part. If too much sudden force is used on the bolt, the impact will strike and tip the stack of blanks into a nosedive and your jam is a done deal.

If possible try to do your function tests with fired blank rounds (ordinary fired live round cases do not work well). Obviously going through the guns and checking to make sure you have the right followers etc. and proper lubrication is a good idea. Also try to talk the vets into arriving at graveside early and PRACTICE with the fired cases.

Usually in a given firing party of 03's at least 25 percent will not get off all of their rounds.

A smooth, even bolt manipulation technique, not just trying to slam the bolt forward, will help. This has to be learned.