The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

After spending some time at the range yesterday with Titanium Hammer and my 1916 PTG, another fiend and myself decided to head up to the Monroe gunshow to see whether I could find an M91 cleaning rod. I didn’t wind up finding the cleaning rod but I did wind up picking up another new rifle.
I found a 1918 Springfield m1903 Mark I for a reasonable price and for whatever reason it was calling out my name. I had looked over a couple of German mausers and another Springfield but this particular one really wanted to come home with me. I’m still learning about the 1903’s, so hopefully I didn’t do too bad with this one. It’s not a 100% Mark I but I wasn’t looking for a full on collector grade rifle either, I want one that can be a good shooter and I think this one will fit that bill.

This particular rifle appears to be one of the Greek rifles that came back around a decade ago. This is based on three key features. The first is the last four digits of the serial number being etched on the flat of the bolt handle.

The second “Greek” feature is the “B” stamp on the floor plate and the fact that the floor plate is apparently pinned shut. I frustrated myself for longer than I should have trying to open it before I did the research that told me it wouldn’t happen.

The final “Greek” feature is the fact that the last four digits of the serial number are stamped into the stock.

As you can tell from the stock, it is not the original stock that the 1903 Mark I would have been found in when it was first manufactured. It’s currently wearing a 1903A3 “scant” stock and some of the internals also appear to be Remington replacements.


The stock has an “S” stamped on under the magazine cutoff switch. There is also a “C” and the number “1” on the underside of the stock.

The rear sight appears to be an m1905 Type 2 drift sight. It’s going to take a little bit to get used to this one after having spent the past year really only shooting the Mosins. I did reasonably well with it at the range today, both at 50 and 100 yards.

The 1903 Mark I was manufactured between 1918 and 1920 specifically for use with the Pederson device. As you can see in the photo below, there was a cutout in the receiver to allow the spent casings to be ejected. Now if only I could find one of those Pederson devices!

The first Mark I started with serial number 1,034,503. So that would make mine #6080 off the production line, assuming sequential numbers.


Took a little bit to get her sighted in and she does shoot high even using the lowest possible setting with the peep. I was able to get a couple of decent groupings out at 100 yards though. Of course my friend kept popping my target with his AR as well..


I think I'm going to be real happy with this one. Has a lot of potential and once my Greek ammo arrives from the CMP, i'll be able to spend some more time with her.

Looks really nice to me, great find The 1903 Springfield is my all time favorite milsurp rifle, I really love these, again nice find

Great looking 1903 Springfield Lotema, nice shooting too! Wow, between your PTG & this, I'm not sure which one I like better. Shooting your PTG yesterday I was very impressed with its accuracy but this one takes the cake. Can't wait for your CMP delivery to arrive so I can have a few shots with her.

Nice get, Lotema.

Nice. Just saw one of these at a cabelas

Thanks guys! I'm pretty happy with it so far, I can see why these things won so many rifle competitions. I could have gotten a different Springfield at the show for a hundred less but this one had a much nicer bore and better condition stock. It didn't hurt that it was also the Mark I. That also loosely ties it back to the Mosins since some of the American M91's were also fitted with the Pederson, at least for trials. Yeah, it's a loose connection I know.

This is the rifle that will probably make me get into reloading. With the Russian as cheap as it has been, I just haven't been tempted to get into it yet. But 30-06 is a different story. Even the Greek stuff through the CMP is basically .65 per round! Yikes! Time to do the research on the presses.

Very nice , who wouldn't want one of those ?

It seems that everyone is pleased with their '03. I am not at all knowledgeable about them but I do have a question/issue I could use some help on. My VFW post has 8 US Army surplus (Springfield Arsenal) '03 rifles we use for Memorial Day ceremonies and our problem is that the blank rounds do not feed into the chamber properly from the magazines. They usually jam. The ammunition we have is surplus 30-06 blanks, army issue (in the original packages and really old). We also have blank .30 M1enbloc clips that I guess were to be stripped for use in the '03s. Is it possible to find actual "03 blank ammo? Is there some trick we are missing out on to keep the blanks from jamming? Trying to teach guys with little firearm experience to load each round by hand is like watching the Three Stooges do a firearm demonstration. Oldarmyguy

Nice '03 MkI ! I've seen them at gun shows, (always when I have no money...), I worked on one at the shop a few years ago, but none of them looked as nice as that one. No wonder you snapped it up!

oldarmyguy65 wrote:It seems that everyone is pleased with their '03. I am not at all knowledgeable about them but I do have a question/issue I could use some help on. My VFW post has 8 US Army surplus (Springfield Arsenal) '03 rifles we use for Memorial Day ceremonies and our problem is that the blank rounds do not feed into the chamber properly from the magazines. They usually jam. The ammunition we have is surplus 30-06 blanks, army issue (in the original packages and really old). We also have blank .30 M1enbloc clips that I guess were to be stripped for use in the '03s. Is it possible to find actual "03 blank ammo? Is there some trick we are missing out on to keep the blanks from jamming? Trying to teach guys with little firearm experience to load each round by hand is like watching the Three Stooges do a firearm demonstration. Oldarmyguy

M1 and 1903 both fire the EXACT same ammo.

I recommend thorough cleaning and then lubrication of those 1903s. I also recommend getting some 30-06 snap cap rounds and have your honor guard practice, practice, practice.

It really does sound like cleaning and no lubrication, as well as poor loading into the magazine is what is causing your jams.

Are the weapons being properly cleaned? I have seen some spectacularly filthy VFW weapons in recent years, it does not help that some posts still have corrosive blank rounds in use. These are exactly the same blank rounds used in all the armys war games during the M1903 era, they made them work, but everyone I knew who would know how they did it is now dead. Try single feeding the rounds.

Oldarmyguy. Thanks for the suggestions. We do clean them thoroughly before and after use. In fact, if I could, I'd buy one. Some years ago I was able to find a 30-06 blank round in our stash that had a cardboard slug. This chambered easy. Have not been able to locate any since anywhere. From what I can see, the blank rounds without a slug do not guide into the chamber, but hang up on the sidewall. I will need to "bite the bullet" and try to teach how to load cartridges singly, with some degree of co-ordination and speed as each rifleman has to fire in volley and has to fire three rounds each. I will also suggest the use of 30-06 snap caps.