I have a 1903 SPRINGFIELD from the rock island arsenal. It is serial number 285566. Is this an early rifle?

Answer 1

They are great old guns... in side by side camparisons to the springfields the things I've noticed is that Rock Island was unfortunately slightly lower quality. Nothing to do with the major working of the gun, especially after they started the advanced heat treat process. But the sling clips on my Rock Island rifle are stamped flat steel, and I've seen several that were broken on other rifles. Springfield used a heavier round clip for their sling mount, and from what I understand most servicement that were issued Rock Island rifles eventually swapped out the sub-par parts with Springfield hardware.

Bound's hubby is dead right about the safety issue. I have a pre-double heat treat Rock Island that I've never fired because of this issue. It still makes a great conversation piece, it has some innitials and a date carved into the stock... I'm sure if that old gun could talk it would have some stories to tell.

Answer 2

Bound's hubby here:

You are asking a very good question, by asking whether or not your Rock Island Springfield is safe. According to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) rule 6.4.2, the highest number of "low numbered" Rock Island Springfields is 285506. The accepted practice is that Rock Island Springfields numbered 285507 and higher have been properly (double) heat treated and do not have brittle receivers. On the low number Springfields, even though they may have been re-heat treated, receivers in this serial number range are considered suspect since there is no guarantee that all receivers in this serial number range were re-treated.

Starting with number 285507 Rock Island utilized a different heat treating process that hardened the entire receiver, not just the outer "skin" of the receiver as had the earlier process.

Good luck and thanks for a great question!

Answer 3

Rock Island Arsenal has an interesting history. It always produced components for the military with actual rifle production not starting until 1904 with the model 1903 Springfield rifle. These rifles were made until 1913, with approximately 234,000 made and another 114,000 rifles made (whole or in parts) during WWI.

Looks like they produced less than a million 1903 Springfield rifles. According to your serial number of 285566, yours is part of the second batch produced during World War I, so this would not be an 'early' rifle, but one made during their second and last run of 1903 Springfields. It still sounds like a good rifle with an interesting history.

Best.

H

Answer 4

Early yes but for a springfeild no not sure how you phrased the question