SmokeEaterPilot
Active Member
- Jun 3, 2011
- 525
Had this rifle out yesterday.
It's a 1903 that was used in an Winchester Ammo Test either end of WWI or at the beginning of 1919. Just says by March 1919, the test had been completed. No information of when it begin.
I got it because it was an SRS hit.
661258 032619 INSP OF ORDNANCE WRA CO
A lot of older collectors thought that between this citation and a lot of these citations being in the 600k serial number range, that these were likely A5 snipers sent back to Winchester after WWI to be cleaned and repaired. As you can see this is not the case.
Winchester was dealing with a huge ammo problem during WWI and immediately after. It was so bad that the Marines said they will no longer use any ammunition by Winchester in 1919.
The rifle has a few RIA replacement parts on it: bolt, barrel and front sight.
To make the pictures look a little better. I tried to piece together some WWI era Ordnance material. So I got some books that were manufactured by the Government printing office for ordnance personnel. The blue 1903 book had an ordnance Lieutenant's name written in it. He was assigned to RIA during WWI and immediately after to work on 1903s. There are a lot of handwritten notes in his book and a couple of period related documents tucked inside. Found a local dealer who had an 2nd Lieutenant Officer tunic and cover.
Hoped that these items helped compliment the rifle and the associated paperwork.
Fun to play around with photography with the bitter cold and all this snow outside.
It's a 1903 that was used in an Winchester Ammo Test either end of WWI or at the beginning of 1919. Just says by March 1919, the test had been completed. No information of when it begin.
I got it because it was an SRS hit.
661258 032619 INSP OF ORDNANCE WRA CO
A lot of older collectors thought that between this citation and a lot of these citations being in the 600k serial number range, that these were likely A5 snipers sent back to Winchester after WWI to be cleaned and repaired. As you can see this is not the case.
Winchester was dealing with a huge ammo problem during WWI and immediately after. It was so bad that the Marines said they will no longer use any ammunition by Winchester in 1919.
The rifle has a few RIA replacement parts on it: bolt, barrel and front sight.
To make the pictures look a little better. I tried to piece together some WWI era Ordnance material. So I got some books that were manufactured by the Government printing office for ordnance personnel. The blue 1903 book had an ordnance Lieutenant's name written in it. He was assigned to RIA during WWI and immediately after to work on 1903s. There are a lot of handwritten notes in his book and a couple of period related documents tucked inside. Found a local dealer who had an 2nd Lieutenant Officer tunic and cover.
Hoped that these items helped compliment the rifle and the associated paperwork.
Fun to play around with photography with the bitter cold and all this snow outside.
