Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles 03 National Match springfield

Hello All: I inherited a 03 national match springfield from my dad. I'd like to learn a bit more detail about the rifle from you Springfield men. My wife took pictures and have them on post images website. There are 7 pictures of the rifle on image gallery. thanks all.

Dan https://postimages.org/

I can’t see any pics…

Go to the CMP web site and then onto the forums. Look for the bolt action forum and give them your serial number to confirm it is a national match.

https://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=79

kwg

eric: there are several pictures on the postimage section of the forum under "springfield" thanks

I looked at the pics, and some things don't add up. First, the Redfield sight was never used on pre-war NM rifles. (That's not to say it couldn't have been changed out at a later date, but why would anyone swap out a Lyman 48, the Cadillac of receiver sights at the time, for the Redfield?) NM rifles weren't routinely fitted with Lyman 48 receiver sights, or any receiver sights, although the Armory would do so on request after being paid the extra money for the drilled/tapped holes and the sight - and here's the kicker, the stock was inletted for the Lyman 48 when installed at the Armory and this stock isn't cut out for that sight. Second, assuming the electro penciled number on the bolt matches the receiver, it doesn't score a hit in the Springfield Research Service records. Not completely definitive, for sure, as the records aren't complete. Third, the barrel is 12 years newer than when the gun was built (1938 vs. 1926). Does the barrel have the Star Gauge mark on the crown, and the Drawing Number on the bottom of the barrel under the wood? All NM rifles were fitted with Star Gauge barrels, if this one isn't a SG barrel, it was fitted later either by a civilian or possibly when it was relegated to regular service after becoming worn out during match shooting.

With all things Springfield, never say never, and it's certainly possible (but not probable) that a receiver laid around gathering dust for 12 years before they barreled it and stocked it. That's why I said the 1938 dated barrel raised some questions in my mind.

My gut feeling is that it could've been employed for match work by a competitor(s), and maybe even employed at Camp Perry as a competitor's personal match rifle, but too many questions dog its provenance to be able to categorically state it is a U.S.Rifle, M1903, National Match.

It does have the reversed safety ('ready" position on the right instead of on the left on a Service rifle) and headless cocking piece, both traits of Match rifles but also available for sale to anyone who wanted them not to mention the post-war surplus market.

mr. gnoahh: thank you much for your info. excellent details. Yes, it does have the star gauged barrel. we actually took a picture of that because I know that is one of the aspects of the NM rifles, but we weren't able to load any more pictures on the image thing. And another thing, although I don't know if this is NM related: the back end of the follower is not tapered, so after the last round has been fired and the bolt pulled back, you can't push the bolt forward again without manually pushing the follower down. Probably all 03s have that but again, I'm not a springfield guy. thanks again.

Trying to make sense of rifles like this usually creates more questions than answers. All the parts do look correct on the surface - except for that sight. The headless cocking piece would have been right on a 1926 rifle, but they were actually discontinued after the 1929 National Matches due to an excessive number of pierced primers. They were no longer available from Springfield after that. The Type "C" stock would not be appropriate for a 1926 rifle, but it would have been changed out IF Springfield had rebarreled the rifle in 1938. However, if Springfield had done all that, why didn't they change out the cocking piece, since it was no longer used on SA-prepared NM rifles?

Like gnoahhh, I'm inclined to think that it was probably a privately-owned NM rifle that had upgraded parts added over time. OTOH, and absence of any documentation, it could be a complete parts rifle.

That's a trait of all M1903 Springfields. That system whereby the follower stopped the forward movement of the bolt was intended to alert the shooter that his magazine had gone dry. Mausers were like that too. The switch on the LH rear of the receiver can be engaged to prevent the bolt from traveling so far to the rear that it is impeded by the follower, a handy feature when loading/firing single shot. (In reality it's called the cutoff switch and was intended to allow the shooter to keep a full magazine in reserve while firing slowly in single shot mode - a military philosophy at the time whereby the troops engaged in slow methodical fire at a distant enemy and waited for the command to switch to rapid fire from a superior. High volume "shock and awe" fire was a foreign concept back then.)

Cool that it has a correct Star Gauge barrel. I wonder now if it had started out as a regular NM rifle in 1926 (without the optional Lyman receiver sight, and with a straight-grip stock as the pistol grip type-C stocks weren't adopted/available until some years later) but never was sold out of service, remaining in the hands of a service marksman or assigned to a service competition team (and hence not likely to be recorded in the Archives and included in the Springfield Research Service report). Then when it finally needed a new barrel in the late pre-war era it went in for overhaul where it was given a new barrel and fitted with a new type-C stock, and then at some point down the road sold into the civilian world as surplus. At that point it would've been likely that the Redfield sight was attached by a civilian.

Interesting that when the Marine Corps embarked on a sniper rifle program right before we entered the war they did it with NM and refurbished NM rifles in their inventory. Perhaps it was destined for that use and given a fresh barrel, but never made it the whole way. (Please tell me it doesn't have two holes drilled in the top of the receiver ring and out on the barrel ahead of the rear sight!) To me the fun is in speculating on the history of these neat rifles.

It's impossible to know for sure one way or the other. All the people who shot, worked on and recorded its journey are long gone, and said records if they exist are buried in some dusty old gov't warehouse reminiscent of the final scene in "Raiders of the Lost Arc". Any way you cut it, you have a real gem to be treasured - and shot!

guys, I really appreciate you taking the time to provide your knowledge on my question! Just what I was looking for. It was many years ago when my dad was given the rifle. An interesting story. He was good friends with a man who he shot small bore with. That fellow was a real good small bore shooter: he shot a Rem. 37 and when my dad decided to get into small bore seriously, he bought a Win. 52C target which I have and is in immaculate condition. It seems to me that dad's friend either competed at Perry, or perhaps bought the springfield from a man who had: I can't remember which. He loaned the Springfield to my dad to hunt deer with !! of all things. I was with my dad when he shot a nice buck and he loved hunting with it, even after he obtained a scoped rifle. So that is all I remember re: its history. And Gnoahhh, no it has NO extra holes in the receiver ring or anywhere else. That bolt sure works slick, just like a NM Springfield should. I plan on giving it to one of my sons, both of whom will care for it and keep it. thanks again guys.

Dan

Great story, Dan. Enjoyed learning a bit about NM Springfields as well.