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The rifle was the basic weapon for most of the U.S. Army of World War Two. Indeed, the term “Rifleman” was virtually synonymous with “Infantryman” during the war.

The U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903

Known to several generations of soldiers as the “Springfield 03” or more simply as the “03” this is one of the most famous U.S. military rifles of all time. It was adopted just after the turn of the century in response to problems with the Spanish-American War issue .30-40 Krag-Jorgenson rifle. This was the standard U.S. issue from 1903 until its replacement by the M-1 Garand in 1936.

As originally issued, the M1903 had an unusual integral sliding rod bayonet instead of the normal knife-bayonet. It was also chambered for the Model of 1903 cartridge (the .30-03) which had a round nosed bullet. After a short period of service, it was noted that both the rod bayonet and the M1903 cartridge had several deficiencies. In 1905, the rod bayonet was replaced by the Model of 1905 Knife-Bayonet. In 1906, the original M1903 cartridge was replaced by the improved Model of 1906, featuring a pointed (spitzer) bullet. This became the famous .30-06 cartridge and was the standard cartridge of U.S. military rifles and machine guns for the next fifty years.

The M1903 was built at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts with the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois gearing up for production shortly thereafter. Between 1903 and 1936, total production was 1,900,000 with a further 1,415,593 being built between 1940-1045.

Besides its wide-spread use in World War One, most people are not aware of the role that the Springfield played in World War Two. Most of the USMC’s early campaigns were fought with the M1903. The Army used the M1903 throughout the Philippines campaign prior to its surrender. The Springfield was also used during the North African and Sicily campaigns as well as in Italy and France. During World War Two, the ‘03 was generally utilized due to a shortage of the M-1. Even when other weapons were available, the ‘03 remained the weapon of choice for many troops due to its reliability and greater inherent accuracy. Not only did the ‘03 serve in frontline fighting on all fronts, it was widely used as a training rifle.

A large number of M-1903 rifles were fitted with grenade launchers and remained in the hands of frontline troops long after other ‘03s were replaced by M-1s (due to the issues with the development of a grenade launcher for the M-1).

The M-1903 rifle and its numerous variants were declared as Limited Standard in November of 1944. This meant that the weapons currently in service would remain for use as needed, but no new procurement would be undertaken.

The original M-1903 remained in production from 1903 to 1914 and resumed in 1917 to 1936.. With the outbreak of World War Two, the decision was made to resume mass production of the ‘03. Machine tooling from the Rock Island Arsenal were transported to the Remington plant and production resumed in 1940. This was the Remington M-1903 Rifle.

As the demand for rifles increased, Remington began to run into problems with the worn-out equipment provided by Rock Island Arsenal. Remington engineers working with the Ordnance Department proposed several time-cutting changes, modifications to the stock and eliminating non-essential parts. This rifle entered production in 1941 and was designated the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M-1903 (Modified).

While the changed to the modified ‘03 did result in faster production, further changes were needed, mainly this was the replacement of the M1905 rear sight with a simple stamped metal adjustable rear sight that would attach to the rifle’s receiver, rather than the rear of the barrel. This sight saved production time and was actually a better battle sight than the original. In May of 1942, this became the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903A3. In addition to the replacement of the rear sight, a longer hand guard (covering the former rear sight, the M1903A3 introduced many stamped metal components. The fit and finish of these war production rifles were a far cry from the high standards of the pre-WWII ‘03s, but they were still serviceable, with strong actions. The M-1903A3 was also built by the L.C. Smith & Corona Typewriter Company in February of 1942.

Early in WWII, the Army was faced with a serious shortage of sniper rifles. While the development of a sniper version of the M-1 was underway, the Ordnance Department directed Remington to design a variant of the M1903A3 into a sniper rifle configuration. With slight modifications to the receive, the U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M-1903A4 (Sniper’s) was born. This was a M1903A3 with no front or rear sights and fitted with a Weaver 330C telescope (later designed by the Army as the M73B1) and a Redfield “Junior” scope mount. The Redfield sight was attached to the receiver ring and the existing rear sight base and the bolt handle was modified to clear the sight.

The M-1903A4 proved to be somewhat of a disappointment as a sniping rifle. The primary cause was the use of commercial components not designed for the rigors of combat. The Weaver telescope was found to be too delicate for service use and the lack of iron sights prevented the rifle from being used as a normal rifle if the telescope was damaged. Some 28,365 were produced Nevertheless, the M-1903A4 served throughout the war.

Two additional versions of the M1903A4 were produced especially for use by the USMC, they differed only in the type of scope fitted. The M-1903A5 was fitted with a Winchester A5 scope and dated from the First World War. They were considered to be serviceable sniping rifles. The M-1903A1 fitted with the Unertl Sniper Scope entered service in WWII, replacing the M1903A5 and serving the USMC well after the Korean War. Neither version saw any service with the Army (although you can see the M1903A1/Unertl scope in “Saving Private Ryan”).