A strange 1903...

[Len]

An antique dealer friend sent me some pics of a blued Springfield 1903 he recently picked up. He says the rifled barrel is completely unmarked and the rear sight ladder , stacking swivel and buttplate are made from some type of pot metal. The stock has a single through bolt and the only cartouche is the letter "P" struck on the underside of the wrist. Anyone ever see anything like this before??

Len

ODD 1903 4.jpgODD 1903 5.jpgODD 1903 6.jpgODD 1903 7.jpgODD 1903 8.jpg

[the_1st_sgt]

Looks like it might be a Bannerman rifle

[Parashooter]

Wasn't it Sedgley who put together a bunch of these with the die-cast bits? Note the upper band, too. Looks like a Model 1917 part?

[chuckindenver]

sedgly for sure, careful some had a pin installed in the chamber so a live round couldnt be loaded...have seen some with the pin removed, and the holes still in the chamber

[joem]

Get it out of the stock and inspect the barrel and chamber areas.

[the_1st_sgt]

Yep, forgot about Sedgley. Most likely that.

[John Beard]

The rifle is a Sedgley cadet rifle.

Following U.S. entry into WWII, service rifles were in critically short supply. The Army realized that a quantity of serviceable rifles could be quickly realized by replacing service rifles in the hands of military academies and ROTC units. So they contracted with Sedgley to manufacture cadet rifles using low number receivers which had been scrapped during overhaul in the 1930's. Sedgley assembled the rifles using assorted unmarked barrels, surplus M1917 parts, and used zinc die-casting to manufacture other parts.

Interestingly, after WWII when the rifles were turned back in to the Army, they got mixed with M1903 service rifles and were disposed of through various channels as ordinary service rifles.

Hope this helps.

J.B.