SRS Check

[CptEnglehorn]

Any hits on # 1232541, thanks in advance. Here are the pictures, they areant best of quality, but will have to do for now.

[m1903rifle]

No hit, but that number is in amongst a lot of NM rifles. Does it have any NM characteristics such as polished rails/follower and star gauged barrel?

[CptEnglehorn]

It is a friends rifle, It has a 1921 Star gauged barrel, GG stock, high hump handguard, bolt is straight handle with no markings, he said his grandfather purchased it and that it came with a polished NS bolt. The old man didnt like it so he got rid of it. I believe the rails and follower are polished as well, I will contact him and get more details. Thanks for the check.

[Rick the Librarian]

If his grandfather purchased it as a member of the military, that might explain not being in the SRS records.

[CptEnglehorn]

Receiver rails and follower are polished, I asked him to take pictures, and will also inquire about his grandfather further.

[Cosine26]

I would have thought that 1921 was a bit early for a NS Springfield bolt though I know that RI was using them then . I shot with Jack Moore for many years. Jack was an old Camp Perry shooter who shot the Nationals in the 20's, 30', 40's and after WWII ( when I knew him) . He told me that when the NS rifles with the NS bolts came out, the shooters found them to be "sticky" so in many cases replaced them with DHT or SHT bolts. There was a warning ifrom the DCM in an early AR to shooters to bring an extra bolt to Perry in case of a cracked bolt. There is an article in a post WarII AR about building a M903 sporter . The article ientitled "Blond Magic" describes how the builder sought out a SHT NM bolt and used that to make the action smoother.
FWIW

[Rick the Librarian]

I also agree a NS-marked bolt sounds suspicious. According to JB's bolt table on Vishooter, NS bolts weren't used until several years later.

[CptEnglehorn]

Thats what I mentioned as well, the old man isnt around anymore unfortunately, he assumed the bolt was NS, he didnt actually see it, all the old man said is that he didnt like it, that it had some drag and wasnt as smooth.

[CptEnglehorn]

Pictures added, 14 total, cartouche is W.E.S.

[John Beard]

Your friend has a 1922 National Match rifle. The rifle appears to be correct and original except for having a replacement bolt body. The rifle should correctly have a polished WL/3 bolt that was NOT serialized to the rifle. The rifle appears to be in well-used condition.

The rifle does not appear in the SRS records and is not listed as a DCM sales rifle. The rifle was probably issued to a military shooting team.

Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing!

J.B.