Remington 1903 Serial Number Database?

[Johnny P]

The rifles for conversion to NM specs were randomly chosen from those with suitable four groove barrels, and with only a handful ever issued as a match rifle almost all the remaining rifles were sold to some lucky recipient as a standard 03-A3 rifle. I have not heard of anyone compiling a serial number list.

In the Springfield Research books I have not come across any rifle in the assumed serial number range listed as a NM.

[lyman]

How did the "RedStar" guns gun into and out of Britain without ever being export marked by the Brits?

the Brits did not export mark them,

the marks are proof's,
each gun that entered the country or was sold out of service, was supposed to be proofed,

Century, Interarms etc would contract the proof houses in London, or mostly Birmingham, to proof, and sometimes import mark (pre 68 would be marked England)

or the importer here would put the import marks on them,


who and how they were sold would determine any markings

[Johnny P]

Since the beginning of time any firearm sold commercially in England that was manufactured in a country that did not have a reciprocal gun proof agreement with England had to be proofed before being sold commercially, and the U.S. had no gun proof law. Since the rifles in question were going to the British military they did not have to be proofed when entering the country; only prior to being sold commercially.

It is thought that there were some shenaigans by a USAAF officer in getting the rifles out of England without the required proofing.

[Kragrifle]

There are several excellent articles on the AF LTC associated with the ?Red Star Remington 1903s. From what I have read the Brits were anxious to get all firearms out of the country following the war?s end. A number of individuals were allowed to send rifles back to the US which is why there are more non Red Star rifles than those sold through the Red Star gun shop (which is the origin of the moniker).
What I found most revealing from a historical standpoint was how afraid the British government was to be faced with an armed citizenry. Let that be a warning to all Americans!

[Johnny P]

The British didn't start selling off the Lend-Lease Model 1911A1 pistols until 1952, and this went on for several years. Most bear the post 1955 British proofs.

An unknown number of the 1515 Model 1911A1 pistols that were Lend-Leased to Canada were brought to England, where they were commercially proofed and some brought back to the United States. This one with the Canadian Broad Arrow C property marks appears to have been British proofed proofed in 1960.

[John Beard]

To answer the original question, Larry Byrd and Bill Burrows amassed a very, very large data base of Remington and Smith-Corona serial numbers, barrel dates, and rifling grooves. I have that data base.

Articles by William Hansen on the Red Star Remingtons are filled with inaccuracies. It was for that reason a definitive article was composed and published iin Man at Arms magazine.

J.B.

[Kragrifle]

Hello Mr. Beard. Looking forward to the Birmingham show and hope to meet with you again. Any chance all that data will ever be published to the benefit of us collectors ?

[Rick the Librarian]

Over the years, I've managed to collect 157 out of the 200 "Red Star" rifles' serial numbers, most barrel dates and other information.

Will Levin told his nephew that he was told he could have imported 10,000 of them as easy as the 200 he did get. Keep in mind, he got these rifles from the British MoD.

[JimF]

Rick . . . .I thought you destroyed that avatar!

[Rick the Librarian]

Not yet!!! LOL!!

[Kragrifle]

I?d there any idea how many other rifles were returned to the US after service in England? I have read somewhere that there were others who were able to return some of these rifles. I own an early 1903 Remington with British markings on the left side of the rifle and a few bits of red paint on the rear band. It appears as an original early 1903 Remington with boxed RLB and ordnance wheel stamps on the left side of the stock. The serial number is 3053154.

[Kragrifle]

Some of the features;
DAFAF591-83EB-4F69-9D66-94708A2FDB34.jpg5CF7445A-9414-4430-80DF-7AE79CBF4C56.jpg481A6E3B-06A5-48E9-ABAA-52701DCDE8DD.jpg862823AB-ECA5-480F-A84F-CF7665D4F3A2.jpg

[John Beard]

I?d there any idea how many other rifles were returned to the US after service in England? I have read somewhere that there were others who were able to return some of these rifles. I own an early 1903 Remington with British markings on the left side of the rifle and a few bits of red paint on the rear band. It appears as an original early 1903 Remington with boxed RLB and ordnance wheel stamps on the left side of the stock. The serial number is 3053154.

In the 1960's, Interarms of Alexandria, VA, under their "Hunters Lodge" logo, sold hundreds if not thousands of British Remingtons which they bought and re-imported from Britain. The rifles exhibit British export proof markings (which the Red Star Remingtons do not exhibit). You very likely have one of those.

J.B.

- - - Updated - - -

Hello Mr. Beard. Looking forward to the Birmingham show and hope to meet with you again. Any chance all that data will ever be published to the benefit of us collectors ?

I plan to be there for a few hours on Saturday with Herschel Garner. I am not aware of any plans to publish the Larry Byrd/Bill Burrows data base.

J.B.

[Kragrifle]

Well, a little time has passed, two articles were carefully read and I was fortunate to have just taken delivery of SN 3049391. I was wrong about the time to delivery which was almost 10 years after WW2 ended. My modest Remington 1903 collection is complete!

[Ironlip]

Over the years, I've managed to collect 157 out of the 200 "Red Star" rifles' serial numbers, most barrel dates and other information.

Hi Rick,

Do you have mine? SN 3035185 Bbl Date 1-42. The stock has grasping grooves and there are no lightening cuts on the rear sight base.
Please let me know if you need additional information.
And thank you for the excellent photography in the Man at Arms article.

Rick