Thanks, guys.

I find it interesting that TR's rifle was a .30-03, which was originally loaded with a 220 grain round nosed bullet at about 2,300 fps.

In "African Game Trails" TR said that with his "little Springfield" he " . . . was anxious to test the new sharp-pointed military bullet on some large animal." He used it on everything, including elephant and rhino, but for good reason preferred his Holland & Holland on these and buffalo.

He must have been referring to the 150 grain FMJ spitzer adopted in 1906 when the .30-03 was scrapped in favor of the .30-06.

I know that the factories loaded the .30-03 for a number of years after the '06 was adopted by the army (Frank Barnes in Cartridges of the World says the '03 was loaded until WWI). I don't know if they ever loaded it with the 150 grain spitzer though.

I wonder if TR ever had his rifle rechambered for the '06 round, as nearly all other Springfields were? They would just turn the barrel in two threads and ream a new chamber with the shorter neck.

I also wonder where this rifle ended up? Maybe at Sagamore Hill? I appreciate the reference to Larry Wilson's book on this and will try to find it.

There was a biography on TR on the History Channel about 6 weeks ago. It was called TR-- The American Lion. In the show they stated that the Springfied is at Sagamore Hill and is visable (but not clearly) inthe upstairs closet. It was said that it is still in 30-03 and just as he left it. The show said that the double rifle is the only one missing from the collection at Sagamore Hill. I do not know how accuracte the information from the show is-- maybe if you are in the area it wold be worth a visit?

I used to work for the USNPS, and have always found NPS staff willing to assist anyone with any research. I recommend that you contact Sagamore Hill NHS and ask for the Curator. If it is there, that person will have all the information you want including specifics about the rifle. IN addition, if the rifle was made at the Springfield Armory, Contact Springfield Armory NHS and ask the park historian if there are records relating to the rifles manufacture. Here are web sites for those parks. Good luck in your research and let us know what you find out.

Sagamore Hill:
http://www.nps.gov/sahi/index.htm

Springfield Armory:
http://www.nps.gov/spar/index.htm