Like many sporterized M1903s, the rifle shown here has been fitted with a two-position aftermarket safety compatible with scopes.īecause the action lacked a trigger when I got it, I installed a Timney, and I carefully bedded the action into my roughed-out stock blank using Brownells AcraGlas. A large wing-type, three-position safety locked the bolt and blocked the firing pin when engaged in the middle position, it blocked the firing pin but allowed the bolt to be opened to clear the chamber and in the right-side position, it allowed the rifle to fire. Loading was accomplished by opening the bolt and inserting rounds one at a time or en masse from a stripper clip. These home-project rifles became known as “sporterized” Springfields.Īt its heart the M1903 is a turnbolt design featuring dual, opposing locking lugs a massive Mauser-type controlled-feed rotating claw extractor a fixed steel ejector and a five-round box-type magazine. Some had the stepped military barrel lathe-turned to a smooth taper. Many simply used the as-issued original barrel. The original configurations were considered too heavy for packing around in the woods, and hunters typically cut down the original military stock or replaced it with an aftermarket stock built along conventional sporting-rifle lines. This, coupled with greater long-range ability than any previous centerfire rifle, endeared it to American riflemen, who returned home from the wars looking for a way to own and use such a rifle in the hunting fields.īefore long, surplus M1903s began trickling into the civilian market.

Springfield’s M1903 provided unprecedented accuracy, emphatic authority, and unstoppable reliability. Just over 100 years ago, the M1903 revolutionized the way American hunters viewed rifles, converting an entire nation of single-shot and lever-action men to bolt actions.

1903 springfield sporter stock