M1903 Springfield

Description

The American M1903 was the standard issue service rifle of U.S. forces throughout World War 1 and was also used in large numbers in World War 2. With it’s sniper variant seeing prolonged service in Korea and Vietnam.

Introduced in 1903 after the dismal performance of the previously issued Springfield Model 1892, in the U.S. 1898 war with Spain.

Almost a million M1903’s were in service at the outbreak of World War 1, all of which were produced by either the Springfield Armory (original designers) and the Rock Island Arsenal. However at the start of World War 2, Remington Arms (using tooling from the now closed Rock Island Arsenal), took up full scale production of their own M1903’s. Which, to speed up supply and cut production costs, had a number of modifications, such as a less expensive stock (no longer walnut) and a number of machined parts were now stamped.

With the slow rollout of the new M1 Garand, the M1903 would see service in all the main wartime theatres of operation, especially with rear echelon/non frontline troops.