Ironlip
11-24-2013, 12:24
Last night I picked up two new, to me, '03's. One of them is a very nice, seemingly original, rifle from the earliest days of our involvement in WWI; serial number 658821, Bbl date 5-17. The only thing I wonder about is the stock, which has two screws in it. It's never been clear to me when those screws first started to appear. I've done a little research and come up with limited data from the published experts:
Brophy - Added "during WWI." References first appearance of second screw in "Rules for the Management" dated May 26, 1918. Brophy - pg. 51, The Springfield 1903 Rifles, 1985.
Campbell - "In 1918 a front stock bolt was added, and the bolt handle given a slight rearward sweep." Campbell - pg. 15, The '03 Springfields, 1978.
Canfield - "This occurred by 1918 and was reportedly done to reduce stock damage caused by the severe recoil when firing the V-B grenage launcher" - Canfield - pg. 56, An Illustrated Guide to the Springfield '03 Service Rifle, 2004.
No source I can find provides a hard date on which the order to incorporate the second screw was issued or a date after which all manufactured rifles had the second screw. Several photos in the Canfield book appear to show '03's with the second screw installed during WWI, but none are dated. See, Canfield pp. 49 (upper), 69 (upper) and 70.
I will say that the screws on my rifle appear to be identical, both having a slight loss of finish in the center of the head on the left side, perhaps having something to do with the installation process. The same is true of the rear screw on my circa 1910 rifle but not the front one, which was probably installed during one of it's two trips through Benecia Arsenal. Still, I'm not sure that proves anything. The two screws in the 1917 rifle are staked in place on the right side where they are screwed into the stock escutcheons that hold them. On the 1910 rifle, the rear screw is staked and the front screw is not. The 1917 rifle has no rebuild marks. Of course, adding a second screw to the stock would hardly constitute a significant rebuild. Maybe both screws were there from the begining and maybe not. A couple of pictures are provided below.
Do any of you have original rifles produced before 1918 in your collections with both screws, or photos of originals in your data bases of rifles produced before 1918 with both screws? Are any of you aware of documentary evidence of when the second screws were first incorporated into the manufacture of the '03?
Brophy - Added "during WWI." References first appearance of second screw in "Rules for the Management" dated May 26, 1918. Brophy - pg. 51, The Springfield 1903 Rifles, 1985.
Campbell - "In 1918 a front stock bolt was added, and the bolt handle given a slight rearward sweep." Campbell - pg. 15, The '03 Springfields, 1978.
Canfield - "This occurred by 1918 and was reportedly done to reduce stock damage caused by the severe recoil when firing the V-B grenage launcher" - Canfield - pg. 56, An Illustrated Guide to the Springfield '03 Service Rifle, 2004.
No source I can find provides a hard date on which the order to incorporate the second screw was issued or a date after which all manufactured rifles had the second screw. Several photos in the Canfield book appear to show '03's with the second screw installed during WWI, but none are dated. See, Canfield pp. 49 (upper), 69 (upper) and 70.
I will say that the screws on my rifle appear to be identical, both having a slight loss of finish in the center of the head on the left side, perhaps having something to do with the installation process. The same is true of the rear screw on my circa 1910 rifle but not the front one, which was probably installed during one of it's two trips through Benecia Arsenal. Still, I'm not sure that proves anything. The two screws in the 1917 rifle are staked in place on the right side where they are screwed into the stock escutcheons that hold them. On the 1910 rifle, the rear screw is staked and the front screw is not. The 1917 rifle has no rebuild marks. Of course, adding a second screw to the stock would hardly constitute a significant rebuild. Maybe both screws were there from the begining and maybe not. A couple of pictures are provided below.
Do any of you have original rifles produced before 1918 in your collections with both screws, or photos of originals in your data bases of rifles produced before 1918 with both screws? Are any of you aware of documentary evidence of when the second screws were first incorporated into the manufacture of the '03?