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Well, you can be as pedantic as you want. The stock on this rifle is from an earlier rifle, so the conclusion that I draw from it is that the stock and most probably the handguard also, have been changed out. Whether it was built as a spare receiver and then assembled into a rifle remains to be seen. I have an inquiry into SRS and I may know more about it at that time. Also at no point in my original post, or in any subsequent, post did I say that this was a national match rifle, nor did I say that there was anything special about this gun except that the barrel is likely to be original to the receiver and it has an interesting rear sight slide.
While a number of receivers were produced as spares, they were still making a few complete rifles. The wear on the barrel is consistent with the wear on the rest of the metal on the rifle which leads me to conclude that it was put on at the armory when the receiver was produced. There are 49,720 serial numbers recorded as having been produced that year. I would think that there had to be more than a mere handful of NM rifles produced as complete rifles.
Quibbling over minor points aside, I will maintain my belief that the stocks/handguards with the drawing numbers were made for NM rifles, they are commonly thought of in that way and until I were to see any real proof to the contrary, I will continue to think of them that way.
Incidentally, while I don't consider myself to be an "expert", I have collected '03's for a number of years. About fifteen years ago I sold off a dozen of my 1903 Springfields to fund a house purchase. That collection included rifles from an original 1907 rifle through to a 1932 National Match. I have probably handled well more than a hundred '03's and '03-A3's. I have a fairly good eye for spotting rifles that have been restored or faked. As I said, I do not consider myself to be an expert, but a great deal of what I know is from personal experience, not what I have read on the internet.
While a number of receivers were produced as spares, they were still making a few complete rifles. The wear on the barrel is consistent with the wear on the rest of the metal on the rifle which leads me to conclude that it was put on at the armory when the receiver was produced. There are 49,720 serial numbers recorded as having been produced that year. I would think that there had to be more than a mere handful of NM rifles produced as complete rifles.
Quibbling over minor points aside, I will maintain my belief that the stocks/handguards with the drawing numbers were made for NM rifles, they are commonly thought of in that way and until I were to see any real proof to the contrary, I will continue to think of them that way.
Incidentally, while I don't consider myself to be an "expert", I have collected '03's for a number of years. About fifteen years ago I sold off a dozen of my 1903 Springfields to fund a house purchase. That collection included rifles from an original 1907 rifle through to a 1932 National Match. I have probably handled well more than a hundred '03's and '03-A3's. I have a fairly good eye for spotting rifles that have been restored or faked. As I said, I do not consider myself to be an expert, but a great deal of what I know is from personal experience, not what I have read on the internet.
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