I've Got Two Holes in My Butt

[bigskybound]

Now that I have your attention. The 1918 03 I purchased this weekend has two holes drilled in its replacement C stock under the buttplate. One is for the cleaning rod trapdoor. What's the other for? Probably a rookie question, but...............

[jgaynor]

weight

[bigskybound]

weight

Another newbie question. Is that to reduce weight or a place to add weights? I have seen lead weighted shotgun butts.

[Kurt]

Too reduce weight, that along with various lighting cuts on the trigger guard, the rear sight sleeve and a couple other parts. Ounces added up when all taken together.

[chuckindenver]

repro C stocks have an extra hole..this hole was likely used during the cutting..and has nothing to do with the stock itself

[George in NH]

Is it safe to say that no (GI) C stocks were drilled for the spare parts kit??
George in NH

[Rick the Librarian]

Correct - although they were drilled for the oiler/cleaning kit.

[jgaynor]

http://www.nicolausassociates.com/images/Color-Poster-M1903A1-Reduced-Sample.jpg

The lower hole is shown in the above captioned illustration as a "lightening cut". Spare parts kits were issued to alternate rifles manufactured between 1911 and 1917 after which it was determined that the heavy issue of spares was not really required however every one needed the oiler and thong.

Forgot to mention. The sear "hook" of the firing pin extension protruded past the edge of the spare parts container. So rifles of that vintage necessarily needed a notch along the side of the hole to accommodate the sear hook. The other point of course is you had no easy access to the lower hole unless you dismounted the buttplate.

The M1 had two holes covered by an oblong trap. One hole was for the cleaning kit and the other for the combination tool.

[Kurt]

My SA post WW1 C stock has two holes, the lower a little larger than the upper cleaning kit hole. My contract made American Bowling and Billiards stock also has two holes, same size.

Kurt

[bigskybound]

repro C stocks have an extra hole..this hole was likely used during the cutting..and has nothing to do with the stock itself

Hmmm? Both holes are of uniform size and similar depth, which does not seem to be what I would expect for a milling hole. I do not believe it is a repro stock for a couple of reasons. The gun was "dirty" when I bought it. Meaning lots of storage debris, dust, etc. along wood to metal areas. The two holes had some tiny bits of oily string and other small debris inside. Of course, I really do not have enough hands-on experience with these critters to know for sure, but having handled lots of antique and vintage rifles ......I think the lightning cut described by jgaynor is what I have.

[chuckindenver]

pictures are worth a thousand words

[bigskybound]

Here are two.

[Fred]

Every 03 stock that I've owned has had both of those holes in the butt. Looks legit to me.

[Rick the Librarian]

Me, too.

[bigskybound]

Now I have to find a way to fix and stabilize that crack without overly buggering the finish.

[chuckindenver]

standard C stock ...holes you have shown are normal..not a repro

[glindes]

It has to be the funniest line I've ever seen! Geoff in DE