The Civilian Marksmanship Program offers vintage military rifles and pistols for sale from time to time for a purchase to the general public. In their latest site update, CMP warns against the use of certain types of .30-06 Springfield ammunition inside specific rifles [Read More…]
A few weeks ago, a Redditor named Mark happened across a Remington M1903 “03-A3” sniper rifle at a yard sale. He snatched it up without being sure of what he had, but it turns out his gut was right. Mark provided more photos of his new-to-him Remington [Read More…]
There is a lot of internet chatter about whether or not it is safe to shoot a “low number” Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifle. When I say “a lot,” I mean a whole lot: a Google search of the phrase “1903 safe to shoot” brings back 20.2 million hits, [Read More…]
What’s the best way to pass a line between massive naval vessels in rolling seas with the deck pitching? Firing it from a rifle of course! The US Coast Guard continue to use specially adapted Springfield M1903s, in service since the 1930s, for the job. The [Read More…]
During the interwar years, Springfield Armory shrunk drastically. To the extreme point of going from five thousand full-time employees to two hundred. One of the ways that Springfield Armory dealt with this was to commit to producing rifles for the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. At first the [Read More…]
What usually happens to numerically significant firearms is that they get put in a museum and carefully guarded. Not the first Springfield M1903, Serial Number One though! Crazy enough, this particular rifle actually rolled right off the production line and into Army service when it was produced [Read More…]
Initial production runs of small arms are always objects of great interest and fascination. They represent the tangible beginning, the first of many, a historical landmark. Especially if they are of designs that go on to influence small arms history. Usually when they [Read More…]
Exhibition rifle drill is a relatively new sport, starting to becoming popular in the 1970s and 1980s among JROTC and ROTC drill competitions. Today it occupies a vast amount of programs across the United States and continues to expand every year from the High School to the collegiate and even [Read More…]
If you’re not following both C&Rsenal and Forgotten Weapons you are missing out on some of the best gun history videos around. With C&Rsenal’s current World War One focus, systematically working their way through the weapons of the Great War, and [Read More…]
Here is another photo sent in by Miles. These Marines were cutting a cake celebrating 100 year anniversary of the 6th Marine Regiment with a bayonet mounted Springfield M1903.
The gear of the US infantryman during World War I was some of the best in the period, from the ammunition pouches, to the uniform, and the rifles. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons has taken a reproduction uniform and an original M1917 rifle and M1911 handgun out to the [Read More…]
(This is Part 2 of the TFB Rifle Weight Omnibus. You can read Part 1 here.) In October, I traveled out to see my co-writer Alex C. to collect data on the weights of different long guns and some of their components. Over that weekend, I weighed 58 rifles and submachine [Read More…]
In the previous previous installment, we looked at how to assemble our eligibility package for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. In this installment, we will look at how to actually order a rifle from the Program. Ordering is not a particularly difficult process, so [Read More…]
Ever since the news broke that the CMP would be able to sell M1911 handguns to the shooting public, thanks to a provision in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, I have received a lot of emails and comments asking me “how do I qualify for the CMP?” [Read More…]
Pedersen designed a device to caliber convert a Springfield M1903 from a 5 round bolt action rifle into a semi auto 40 rd 30cal rifle. Jerry Miculek took a look at one at the Institute of Military Technology. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons has a video of a [Read More…]
Different gun, same story. The owner of this gun was shooting “factory reloads” (remanufactured ammunition) and did not stop shooting to clear a squib. Kappy at WeaponsCache.com wrote … This happened at my range a few weeks ago. The owner of a [Read More…]
[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by David Gomez (aka. redmanlaw). The photo was by his 7th grade son Joaquin. ] The term “Black Rifle” has become synonymous with the AR-15. My Black Rifle is a 1942 Remington M1903A3. The rifle came into the family [Read More…]