1903, serial numbers, and heat treats.. again

K

Kaylee

New member
Sorry to bring up an old topic, but I wanted to doublecheck. Now, I know the low-numbered Rock Islands aren't safe to play with, but now I've got a feller telling me that Springfield Armory serial #'s ABOVE the 1,200,000 mark also aren't safe.. that they stopped doing that double heat treat for budget reasons or somthing like that.

So.. is he right? or just telling me a story?
More precisely.. what 1903 rifle serial #s ARE safe to fire?

Thanks!
 
They stopped the double heat treatment because they adopted the far superior nickle alloy steel formulation that Rock Island had used. 1200xxx+ springfields are among the best, especially the between the wars production in the early 1930's.
 
Good morning Kaylee. My memory is not up to snuff but I seem to recall reading in Hatchers Notebook { M.G. Julian Hatcher former head of Army Ordnance} that all of the less than 100 suspect recievers were destroyed by the Army in the 1920's. Those were lean years for military budgets and nothing that was useful would be lightly discarded. Most 03,s were rebarreled over the years and in WWII many units still were issued these rifles. In short although a source of contention odds are that if a 03 is in sound condition it is safe to shoot. Many will disagree but thats life.
 
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