SOLD - Springfield M1903 - With Warner & Swasey Telescopic Musket Sight

Description

12/6/22 - This is a very nice example of a Springfield Model 1903 rifle issued to the US military in 1918. The receiver dates to 1918 - the barrel is SA marked, dated August of 1918, and has a military flaming bomb proof. The left side of the stock has a "BAWL" marking, indicating it was reworked at the Benecia Arsenal at some point. This particular gun comes with a rare Warner & Swasey Model 1913 Telescopic Musket Sight with an original leather shoulder case. When the United States entered World War One, there was no formal sniper school or training in place. However, the US Army had adopted a sniper optic for the M1903 Springfield rifle. It was the M1908 Warner & Swasey Musket Sight, a prismatic, 6x magnification scope. It was shortly updated to the M1913 configuration, and several thousand of each type were mounted to M1903 rifles, as well as M1909 Benet-Mercie light machine guns. These optics were not particularly good by modern standards, as they were heavy and suffered from fogging and condensation (they were not sealed designs). However, they were the equipment available to the Army at the time, and were put to use. This one is in very nice condition, retaining most of its original black enamel finish. There is minor high edge wear and some light chipping in the finish on the right side. The rubber eye cap is completely intact. However, there is some slight hardening of the rubber (to be expected). The optics are only slightly cloudy, but there are tiny black dots throughout the view finder. The leather case is in very nice condition. The gun itself has retained about 93-94% of its finish. Most of the wear is on the front barrel band and to the left of the rear sight. Some light brown patina in the same areas. The stock is very nice but appears to have been lightly sanded. Small wood repair toward the right side of the receiver. Excellent bore with strong rifling.