Early Remington M1903

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  • tinydata

    Active Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    206
    Potomac
    My 1903 Springfield addiction continues to spiral out of control.

    The latest addition is an early Remington M1903 (#3256) likely built in November, 1941.

    The previous owner (Rick the Librarian of CMP fame) bought it as a rifle that was untampered with except for a butchered New Zealand Lend-Lease stock. Somehow, he managed to track down a correct, unsanded stock with a sharp RLB cartouche and NZ stamps.

    I added a 1942 Schlegel Mfg. Co. M1923 sling to finish the rifle's transition to how it looked during the early days of the Pacific War.

    You can see that Remington built the rifles to a very high standard that was quickly relaxed with the outbreak of the war. Even 10,000 rifles into production, you see that the parts are less finely polished. The parkerizing on the receiver is very smooth and looks like bluing under certain lighting.














    Yes, that is a pre-Pearl Harbor barrel


    One of roughly 25,000 RLB cartouched finger groove stocks produced. Quite rare, especially unsanded.

     

    Red1917

    Active Member
    Apr 13, 2017
    665
    Anne Arundel County
    Beautiful rifle, I have yet to add a 1903 to my collection but have nice 4 digit Winchester 1917 with 6-17 barrel. I love the early production rifles like these. Definitely need to learn more about the 1903 before I pick one up
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Nice clean rifle. Have you had it apart or can you tell if its been machined for the bolt stop? Sometimes you can see in from the magazine opening without disassembling anything with a bright light. It would be interesting to know about what number they stopped. I can see from the pictures that it hasn't been drilled completely through for the rear guard screw.
     

    38super

    Active Member
    Jan 8, 2016
    149
    Montgomery County
    Very nice. The early Remington 1903's and the late Rock Island 1903's are the best built and finished rifles. Very hard to find a early 1903 Remington that has any bore left at all. Most were sent over sea's and used.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    That's a beautiful example. Good job tracking down the stock, that must have been quite the effort and probably not inexpensive. But surely worth the work. Has to make you smile every time it comes out of the safe. Thanks so much for sharing!
     

    tinydata

    Active Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    206
    Potomac
    Nice clean rifle. Have you had it apart or can you tell if its been machined for the bolt stop? Sometimes you can see in from the magazine opening without disassembling anything with a bright light. It would be interesting to know about what number they stopped. I can see from the pictures that it hasn't been drilled completely through for the rear guard screw.

    It still has the bolt stop inside. The rifle is early enough to lack the Hatcher hole on the left side of the receiver
     

    Winchester

    Active Member
    Jan 28, 2013
    113
    Lutherville
    I picked up a sporterized, 1942 Remington M1903 at a gun show this year (serial no. 3169xxx). I finally found the correct RLB stock (no finger grooves) in Arizona and it's in the mail as of today. Mine won't be as rare as yours but I can't wait to restore mine to it's proper glory on Monday when it arrives! Great Remington M1903 stocks are nasty hard to find. Congrats on yours!
     

    ken792

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 2, 2011
    4,482
    Fairfax, VA
    I picked up a sporterized, 1942 Remington M1903 at a gun show this year (serial no. 3169xxx). I finally found the correct RLB stock (no finger grooves) in Arizona and it's in the mail as of today. Mine won't be as rare as yours but I can't wait to restore mine to it's proper glory on Monday when it arrives! Great Remington M1903 stocks are nasty hard to find. Congrats on yours!

    I actually bought my no groove RLB stock by accident for $75 shipped when I was looking for any random S stock to replace my beat scant stock. The seller said it was an 03A3 stock with no markings, so that's what I bought it as. When I cleaned and oiled it, the markings became more apparent, but I assumed they were just regular 03A3 markings like an RA or something. I didn't bother to look up what RLB meant until I stuck it on my 03 and noticed that it had no 03A3 ring cutout.
     

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