My father just passed down a Remington 1903 Mark I, he had this rifle altered a little. He removed the rear sight sleeve and modified the bolt for a scope, other than that there are no changes except for restocking.
This rifle has the following stamped on the barrel:
SA, A flaming bomb, and 11-18.
The serial number is 104116X
It is also slotted for the Pederson devise as indicated by the Mark I designation. and is in as new condition or I would grade it at 99+% other than the modifications.
Can you tell me if this rifle has any significance. I have seen reference to the "Flamming Bomb", however not stamped on the barrel.
Thanks for any assistance,
Remington 1903 Mark I Springfield
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Darreld Walton
US Model 1903 Mark I...
The rifle you describe was never manufactured by Remington. All production of the US Model 1903 Mark I rifles occured at Springfield Armory between 1918-1920.
Mr. Pederson, of Remington Arms (heavily involved in the production of the US Model 1917 rifle at the time), developed and proposed the modifications to the standard M1903 rifle which included the ejection port milled into the left receiver rail, and modified trigger/sear assembly, cutoff assembly, special installation and maintenance tools, magazines, and ammunition for the "Pederson device". Remington DID, under contract, produce the 'devices' and ammunition, but the Mark I rifles were manufactured in the Government Armory exclusively.
Remington initiated production of the US Model 1903 rifle in late 1941, a near copy of the last incarnation of the '03 produced at Rock Island Arsenal, which stands to reason, as the Gov't let Remington use their machinery, models, and gauges to manufacture them. The equipment was quite worn, and within a few days of production, Remington was approaching the Ordnance Board with proposed modifications, which ultimately, over the course of about 12 months production, became the US Model 1903A3.
As a matter of note, Remington was assigned serial number blocks starting at 3,000,000, with some blocks assigned to Smith Corona (SC serial numbers start at 3,604,000) interspersed into the 3-4 million range.
Remington manufactured the 1903 model, with the barrel mounted sight from around late October/November 1941, until December of 1942. A3 production continued into early 1944, as well as 1903A4 Sniper production.
Mr. Pederson, of Remington Arms (heavily involved in the production of the US Model 1917 rifle at the time), developed and proposed the modifications to the standard M1903 rifle which included the ejection port milled into the left receiver rail, and modified trigger/sear assembly, cutoff assembly, special installation and maintenance tools, magazines, and ammunition for the "Pederson device". Remington DID, under contract, produce the 'devices' and ammunition, but the Mark I rifles were manufactured in the Government Armory exclusively.
Remington initiated production of the US Model 1903 rifle in late 1941, a near copy of the last incarnation of the '03 produced at Rock Island Arsenal, which stands to reason, as the Gov't let Remington use their machinery, models, and gauges to manufacture them. The equipment was quite worn, and within a few days of production, Remington was approaching the Ordnance Board with proposed modifications, which ultimately, over the course of about 12 months production, became the US Model 1903A3.
As a matter of note, Remington was assigned serial number blocks starting at 3,000,000, with some blocks assigned to Smith Corona (SC serial numbers start at 3,604,000) interspersed into the 3-4 million range.
Remington manufactured the 1903 model, with the barrel mounted sight from around late October/November 1941, until December of 1942. A3 production continued into early 1944, as well as 1903A4 Sniper production.
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usriflecal30
Re: Remington 1903 Mark I Springfield
Maybe you've gotten you info since you posted this a while back? Anyway, all the M1903, A3, and M1917 barrels have the Ordnance bomb mark on them. My Mark 1 has a 9-44 SA replacement barrel, and it has the ordnance stamp also. The rifle really doesn't have much signifigance being sporterized. Mine doesn't either having a replacement barrel. But I can tell you it shoots awesome at military bolt gun matches (which is why I picked the one with the "new" barrel) and they are still fairly "rare" occurences of the Model 1903.dvkey wrote:Can you tell me if this rifle has any significance. I have seen reference to the "Flamming Bomb", however not stamped on the barrel.
Thanks for any assistance,
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dvkey
My Mark 1 has a NRA Sales receipt with it stating that it is an unfired NRA match rifle. The receipt is dated Feb. ? 1957. I can't find anything that would be proof as far as markings, I thought maybe the flaming bomb was the indicator. Now I don't know what to look for.
My father shot less than a box of shells through this rifle. He said it was to heavy and didn't pattern well. I have fired about 200 rounds through it and after replacing the V8 Weaver scope with a Leopold Vari X II it patterns at less than 1inch MOA with hand loads, I think with some work it will do even better. It is heavy at about 9.5 lbs. with ammo.
Thanks for your reply,
Dale
My father shot less than a box of shells through this rifle. He said it was to heavy and didn't pattern well. I have fired about 200 rounds through it and after replacing the V8 Weaver scope with a Leopold Vari X II it patterns at less than 1inch MOA with hand loads, I think with some work it will do even better. It is heavy at about 9.5 lbs. with ammo.
Thanks for your reply,
Dale