1903 Mark 1 help - what do we have?

C

carlhwv

Inactive
My cousin passed away and we are working on his estate. He has quite a number of firearms, but I find this to be the most interesting.

I've read some other threads and think theses pics provide a good view of the marks I was able to find on the rifle. Can anyone help us understand what we have here and it possibility value?
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Thanks!
 
You do indeed have a Springfield Mark 1. As you probably already know, most of those were stripped down and their special triggers, sears, cut off switches and spindles were replaced with regular 1903 parts. The original stocks also had a notched area below the ejection cut out on the left side. Those stocks were reused and dispersed to be used as replacements. There were a number and still are a number of Mark 1's that escaped the strip down, some were sent as is to be used in legion posts for burial detail etc. Later sold through various government programs.
Once returned to service, they were subject to rebuild just like any 1903. Yours has gone through a rebuild. The barrel and rear sight sleeve are 1942, the gun made around the end of Dec. 1919, maybe Jan 1920.
The bolt appears to be a Smith Corona 1903A3, possibly a Rem of the same model. The stock is a Springfield C stock and although very unlikely it was put on at rebuild, anything is possible. More likely it was replaced by a civilian as the handguard is not quite right for an original. The cut off switch notch on the left side has been hogged out, again, not what you typically see from the military. The front sling swivel is on backwards, the U stamped on the side should face the front of the rifle and the screw head on the right side.

As to value, there are a lot of things that add and subtract. The stock has value but is somewhat degraded by the hack job around the cut off and is not an original Mark 1 stock, still....
The bolt is not original nor are any of the parts such as the cut off switch and spindle. I can't see trigger or sear but assume they are not original. The bottom metal, trigger guard is milled as it should be but details may or may not help.
The barrel, condition is everything on a rifle like this, it would be a shooter and needs to be in good condition. Head space needs to check ok too.
Bottom line, it's a rebuilt and somewhat messed with Mark 1 and it's basic value would be as a shooter example. Kind of a nice one with the C stock I might add. Assuming everything checks ok, then $400 to $500.
 
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Thanks for you detailed review. It seems like the pics are good enough to show what it is, minus the inspections, so up on gunbroker to the highest bidder she goes. Thanks again for taking a look.
 
Your welcome and good luck. You may want to take some pictures of the trigger guard area and any stamps on the stock ahead of and behind it.
 
I can attest Supercub99 knows his 1903s!

Now if I could just get him to answer my last email about barrel cleaning! (grin)
 
I remember reading the article in "Hatcher's Notebook" about the Mark I and the Pedersen device - an almost super-weapon. The idea was abandoned for among other reasons: the sound of the bullet did not cause recipients to duck and they discovered that when changing over to the Pedersen device most soldiers lost the original bolts for their rifles.
 
The Mark 1 never saw any action. The intent was to have enough built and ready to go in the spring offensive. They were abandoned because the war ended prematurely in November. later the M1 beat out the Mark 1 and was put into service around 1937. The Mark 1's were held in storage till the 30's if I recall before being put back in general service. The Pederson devices were burned in a bonfire to keep them from being used. Some of those were salvaged and not all were burned up and melted.
 
For those involved, war ending prematurely was just fine! (grin)

(well a few die hard Germans aside)
 
I remember reading the article in "Hatcher's Notebook" about the Mark I and the Pedersen device - an almost super-weapon. The idea was abandoned for among other reasons: the sound of the bullet did not cause recipients to duck and they discovered that when changing over to the Pedersen device most soldiers lost the original bolts for their rifles.
Click to expand...

me thinks you need to re-read Hatcher. The library probably has it.
 
it seems what you have is a 1903 MK1...


... oh you wanted specifics. well it's a springfield, it's safe to fire(based on the serial number range), it was designed to accept a device that was intended to turn it into a semi automatic but was never deployed(google petersen device). the stock and barrel are both way newer than the rifle, meaning it was either reworked during WWII around the 1942 time frame(based on the dates on the barrel) or in somebodie's basement postwar. given the cartouches on the stock I'd say you have a gun that served in at least 1 world war and possibly 2 and was reworked at least once in its life. should make a nice shooter, or probably $500 if you plan on selling it. it is a pretty rifle though, I would much rather have one of those than most other military surplus bolt actions.
 
An all original Mark 1 would have considerable value. Yours is a rifle built around a Mark 1 receiver. I cannot see enough to determine if it is a military rebuild or something cobbled together by someone like me.

The barrel is WW2, the stock is probably a keystone......

As long as the bolt headspaces it should be safe to shoot with modern loads.
 
Did some further looking, based on the feedback here. The stock has an S stamp in the cutout. The bolt has only an R stamp on it, and the trigger/sear have the dimple that on line pictures show to be Springfield. I can't find any other markings.
 
My condolences on your loss.
"...You do indeed have a Springfield Mark 1..." Yep, but it appears to have been refinished to me too. Still assuming headspace(usually not an issue with '03's) and the barrel's decent you have a shooter, but not a collector piece.
"...the sound of the bullet did not cause..." The sound of the wee .32 calibre pistol bullet would not cause anything to be abandoned. The War ending would though.
 
I sporterized mine so now I have a very good accurate 30-06 .That fine cartridge is good for hunting just about anything ! I don' think mine has anymore value as a MarkI but I made it as accurate as I could .So from woodchuck to moose I've got a winner ! :p :D
 
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