Unsafe?

Johnny Peppers · 09-03-2001, 11:27 AM

Marvin,

In Hatcher's Notebook he has a serial number list of the 1903 Rifles that failed. Several people were injured severely, and several lost the eyesight in one eye. The records of failure were compiled for just a few years, and no one knows how many rifles failed during WWI in the trenches or how many failed after the records were no longer kept. Virtually all of the records of failure were compiled from cases in the US. In the case of the 1903 rifles, the problem was in the heat treatment and ordnance knew there was a problem. The military could hardly scrap every 1903 rifle so they recommended that as the rifles came in for rebuild that the receivers known to be in the improper heat treatment range be scrapped. This was done for many years, but when WWII broke out the early brittle receivers were rebuilt for service. The military stopped obtaining new 1903 rifles in 1927, and almost all receivers made after this time were used either for replacements for the brittle receivers or as civilian sales rifles.

09-03-2001, 11:27 AM	#5
Johnny Peppers User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Calion, Arkansas Posts: 1,042 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Unsafe? Marvin, In Hatcher's Notebook he has a serial number list of the 1903 Rifles that failed. Several people were injured severely, and several lost the eyesight in one eye. The records of failure were compiled for just a few years, and no one knows how many rifles failed during WWI in the trenches or how many failed after the records were no longer kept. Virtually all of the records of failure were compiled from cases in the US. In the case of the 1903 rifles, the problem was in the heat treatment and ordnance knew there was a problem. The military could hardly scrap every 1903 rifle so they recommended that as the rifles came in for rebuild that the receivers known to be in the improper heat treatment range be scrapped. This was done for many years, but when WWII broke out the early brittle receivers were rebuilt for service. The military stopped obtaining new 1903 rifles in 1927, and almost all receivers made after this time were used either for replacements for the brittle receivers or as civilian sales rifles.