Crudely finished buttplate

[11mm]

Here is a photo of an '03 buttplate I picked up somewhere. It matches nothing on vishooter's page. It is somewhat like the later model of Springfield buttplate on that page, but it tapers off smooth around the "heel" and the checkering does not seem to be of high, uniform31065quality. Just wondering what it was used on. Spares?

[John Beard]

You have a smooth buttplate that was checkered during overhaul.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[11mm]

You have a smooth buttplate that was checkered during overhaul.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

Thanks John. i did not know they did that. Did they have a special machine of some sort?

[John Beard]

Thanks John. i did not know they did that. Did they have a special machine of some sort?

No. Just the same buttplate checkering machine.

J.B.

[Rick the Librarian]

Interesting! Never seen one of those before. Was the "rework" common?

[Allen Humphrey]

When manufactured as a checkered buttplate from the start, the checkering was added prior to case hardening. Presuming the smooth buttplates were also hardened, I'd bet the checkering was rough on tooling. The picture would support that thought.

[11mm]

When manufactured as a checkered buttplate from the start, the checkering was added prior to case hardening. Presuming the smooth buttplates were also hardened, I'd bet the checkering was rough on tooling. The picture would support that thought.

Good point. It's rough all right. I imagine this would be appropriate for a WW2 era refurbed 03, right? I have such a rifle with a 12/41 SA barrel. I might put it on that one. Or was this done after WW2?

[John Beard]

Interesting! Never seen one of those before. Was the "rework" common?

Buttplate rework was not real common, but I have seen several. I speculate that it was done during overhaul prior to WWI.

J.B.

[John Beard]

When manufactured as a checkered buttplate from the start, the checkering was added prior to case hardening. Presuming the smooth buttplates were also hardened, I'd bet the checkering was rough on tooling. The picture would support that thought.

SA could simply anneal the buttplate to soften it, checker it, then re-harden it. I'm not saying they did that, but it's very likely.

J.B.

[John Beard]

Good point. It's rough all right. I imagine this would be appropriate for a WW2 era refurbed 03, right? I have such a rifle with a 12/41 SA barrel. I might put it on that one. Or was this done after WW2?

Circumstances indicate that buttplate rework was done during overhaul prior to WWI, i.e., 1910-16.

J.B.

[Allen Humphrey]

SA could simply anneal the buttplate to soften it, checker it, then re-harden it. I'm not saying they did that, but it's very likely.

J.B.

That would do the trick of course. The economics seem dubious, but perhaps that is why it was a short lived process.

The whole buttplate checkering flip flopping is almost comical starting with the initial decision for no checkering at a time when they spared no effort on machining steps. Then adding checkering only to stop again, and then resume....finally ending with cost sensitive stamped buttplates with flat checkering that is effectively useless. Nice to see that management hasn't changed much in the last 110 years:)

[11mm]

Circumstances indicate that buttplate rework was done during overhaul prior to WWI, i.e., 1910-16.

J.B.

Then I guess this will stay in my parts box. Thanks again.