I've waited so long for this for so long from CMP and yesterday she finally arrived on my doorstep. She is an original WW1 era Springfield 1903, the standard issue American battle rifle for all soldiers and Marines from WW1 all the way through WW2 when it was finally replaced by the M1 Garand. Her serial number is from 1916 and by the condition of the wood, you can tell her age and that she has definitely been through a lot.

 

I opened up the box and she was wrapped in this silver bag, I pulled her out of the bag and she was flat out filthy and disgusting, she had 2 inches of thick cosmoline preservative all over her, even all the internal parts of the bolt, inside the barrel, etc. had cosmoline - it was flat out nasty, I had to wear rubber gloves just to handle her.

 

I went to Home Depot and bought 1 gallon of Boiled Linseed Oil and 1 gallon of mineral spirits. When I got home I took apart the entire rifle down to the last roll pin and began hand picking off all the excess cosmoline as best I could, i then took the mineral spirits and gave everything a bath, let it air dry, then took a heat gun to melt out any remaining cosmoline, needless to say there was a lot left. After that I refinished the stock and made a 50/50 mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil and mineral spirits and hand rubbed the entire stock and handgrips to give her a beautiful finish (they used BLO on the original stocks when they made them, so it looks great).

 

I cleaned all the metal parts and then let them soak in CLP (specially formulated gun cleaner/lubricant) for an hour or so, then I put the rifle back together and she looked spectacular. This whole thing took about 8 hours to do and was a major pain in the ass, but the end result was well worth it.

 

Say all you want about how much you hate guns, but this right here is a piece of American history and when you hold this rifle you can't help but feel a sense of reverence.

 

And without further ado, the pictures:

That is actually pretty cool.

 

But dude, you gotta get a Garand.

That is actually pretty cool.

 

But dude, you gotta get a Garand.

 

I already have one :thumbup .

Nice.

So hold on......this gun was on the battlefields in WWI?

 

That's f***ing cool. I'm not into guns but if I had such a gun I'd be damn proud of it. Great piece of American history.

Pretty cool.... So it arrived at your doorstep.. how much was Shipping on that bad boy?

Pretty cool.... So it arrived at your doorstep.. how much was Shipping on that bad boy?

 

It was purchased through the Civilian Marksmanship Program which is an organization that was was created by the government to distribute all of the old battle rifles that have been in storage for 50+ years in the US' arsenal back to the people who will collect them and put them to good use. CMP is the only place where you can buy a 1903 Springfield or an M1 Garand and be guaranteed that it is 100% authentic, the best part is you can request one with a serial number from a certain year, for example when I bought my M1 Garand I specifically requested one from 1943. The only downside is that it takes on average 6 months from the time you actually buy it to actually receive it, it takes a LONG time for your order to process, the background check, verifying everything in your order packet, etc.

 

But back to your original question, firearms cannot be shipped directly to regular citizens unless you already own it and the firearm is being returned from a manufacturer for warranty service or something along those lines, but you cannot buy a firearm and have it shipped directly to you, it must be shipped to an FFL (federally licensed dealer) who will then transfer it to you. CMP is one of the rare exceptions to this law and everything from them ships directly to your doorstep, shipping was only $22.

Great work on refurbishing a piece of American history!

That is really awesome man.

 

Do you know how you are going to display it?

i normally f*** around with your gun purchases but even ill admit thats pretty cool.

I don't intend on ever owning a gun, but this is something I would put money into being a history buff myself. Thats pretty damn cool.

That is really awesome man.

 

Do you know how you are going to display it?

 

 

I can't put it in a display case or anything because despite being an awesome piece of history, it's still a fully functional rifle that can't be left laying around on a shelf. It's going to stay in my climate controlled safe and I plan to shoot it about once a month or so.

 

i normally f*** around with your gun purchases but even ill admit thats pretty cool.

 

 

I've made several other purchases that I specifically decided not to post on here because I know some of you wouldn't approve of them :thumbup .

Congrats, thats a pretty nice piece of american fire power. Ive actually held an 1903 and the M1, pretty heavy compared to the more modern weopons. I never got to shoot either but Im sure they have a pretty nice kick to them.

You should get a BAR.

 

If I had $20,000 laying around as well as a Class III license, I certainly would :thumbup .

 

I love curio and relics. Here are some pictures of my Mosin Nagant which was the standard issue Russian battle rifle of WW2... I can only imagine how many dead Nazi's that the bayonet has to it's name :thumbup .

 

 

 

 

 

This rifle is a monster, it shoots a 3 foot fireball out of the muzzle, night shoots at Markham Park with this are nothing short of spectacular. Believe it or not, this rifle is actually illegal in California because it has a bayonet permanent affixed to it... yeah there are so many drive by bayonettings with 70 year old rifles, thankfully California has laws in place to protect us from such bayonettings :lol .

You should get a BAR.

 

If I had $20,000 laying around as well as a Class III license, I certainly would :thumbup .

I've heard of people renting them at private ranges around here. I guess I never knew they were that expensive.

 

NFA weapons are ridiculously expensive, a standard run of the mill full auto Colt M16A3 that is transferable is upwards of $15,000+ and then all of the paperwork, licenses, etc. you have to go through is endless. The only people who own them are rich collectors or high end ranges that have them to rent like what you mentioned.

tahts cool. what are you going to do with it? shoot people?

tahts cool. what are you going to do with it? shoot people?

 

No, paper :thumbup .

Where's the bayonette for this new rifle? WW1 rifles are all about guaging.

 

And can we get a shot of you with your new rifle wearing your new teal marlins hat and american flag shirt?

Where's the bayonette for this new rifle? WW1 rifles are all about guaging.

 

And can we get a shot of you with your new rifle wearing your new teal marlins hat and american flag shirt?

 

 

I don't have one.

 

MAbye :thumbup

That Springfield looks a lot like the rifles that the Nazis used in WWII.

 

I personally like the Mosin-Nagant better. It would look cool with a scope, Enemy-at-the-Gates style.

That Springfield looks a lot like the rifles that the Nazis used in WWII.

 

I personally like the Mosin-Nagant better. It would look cool with a scope, Enemy-at-the-Gates style.

 

Aside from both of them being bolt action, the 1903 is nothing like the German Mauser. And the Mosin-Nagant is an inferior rifle compared to the M1 Garand which is the greatest rifle ever conceived, but it's fun as hell to shoot :thumbup .

That thing is suhweeet.

In my ROTC program we have a ton of de-militarized springfields, very similar to yours as a matter of fact, thats what caught my eye. We just use them for drills and ceremony stuff. Gotta be great to actually shoot with though...