SOLD - Rare Springfield 1903 - Warner & Swasey Telescopic Musket Sight

Description

4/14/23 - This is a nice example of a Springfield Model 1903 rifle issued to the US military in 1917. The receiver dates to 1917 - the barrel is SA marked, dated November of 1917, and has a military flaming bomb proof. The left side of the stock has a proper "JFC" inspector's marking, with circle P on the wrist. This particular gun comes with a rare Warner & Swasey Model 1913 Telescopic Musket Sight. 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 top. The rubber eye cap is completely intact. However, there is some slight hardening of the rubber (to be expected). The reticle is clear but there is much debris and dirt in the optic field. The gun itself is all original but the finish is thin throughout. Bore has strong rifling but a little frost in the grooves. The stock has standard dings and bruises and just a minor surface crack near the rear sling swivel.