For those who like neither Griffin & Howe side mounts, nor Griffin & Howe rifles, I am offering two Sedgley Springfield Sporters for sale in the Classified section.

Like Griffin & Howe, Sedgley like to obliterate all markings on the receiver ring, including the serial number. Unlike Griffin & Howe, instead of putting a new number on the barrel, he numbered the receivers in an obscure spot, in the striker raceway in the tang of the action.

Sedgley offered Springfield sporters in two versions: the Sporter De Luxe Model and the Springfield Sporter.

This rifle is an example of the De Luxe model.

Sedgley's 1936 catalog describes it as follows:

Circassian walnut stock with cheek piece and finely checkered pistol grip and fore-end, Buffalo horn tip, engraved trap butt plate and engraved steel pistol grip cap. Fine line engraving on trigger guard and floor plate with hunting scene, checked bolt knob and chromium plated bolt.

Springfield action and special barrel to Springfield Contour. Has Lyman No. 48 micrometer windgauge receiver sight, gold of ivory bead front sight mounted on matted ramp, with guard.

Stock specifications:
Length 13 1/2 inches
Drop 2 3/4 inches
Pitch 3 inches
Pistol grip 3 1/2 inches
Weight 8 lbs.
Comb to just miss bolt
Cheek piece

This particular model lacks the engraving described above and has a plain steel buttplate, like that on a pre-War Model 70, with widow's peak, and a plain steel pistol grip cap.
Because of this, I am asking only $1450 for this rifle.





The Springfield Sporter is described as follows:

24 inch barrel, 5 shot magazine. Handsomely checkered on fore-end and on pistol grip, sling swivels, steel checkered butt plate and pistol grip cap.

Springfield action and special barrel to Springfield Contour. Has Lyman No. 48 micrometer windgauge receiver sight, gold of ivory bead front sight mounted on matted ramp, with guard.

The stock specifications are identical with the De Luxe model.

Both rifles are offered with a Featherweight barrel for $10.00 extra.

This rifle does have the featherweight barrel contour, like that of the Featherweight Model 70.

Because of the unusual Featherweight barrel, I am asking $1250 for this rifle.

Do either of them have the Enfield bolt? I sold an action recently that did, the reason I ask.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Do either of them have the Enfield bolt? I sold an action recently that did, the reason I ask.

I'm glad you brought that subject up, because it needs some clarification. Sedgley got a bad name as a result of creating some prop/drill rifles out of a collection of Springfield, Enfield and Krag parts. None of that had anything to do with the Sedgley sporters.

To quote Michael Petrov, from his book Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century, "The Sedgley sporting Springfield has always been a bargain, as much today as when it was new. Sometimes referred to as the "Working Man's G&H", when first introduced at $65 they had a wide following and it was not until I started putting numbers together that I realized they were only made for about twelve years.

I have owned and shot several Sedgley Springfields over the years and never found one with headspace problems or anything else seriously wrong with it. I have not found a report of a single failure of an unmodified Sedgley Springfield. In the American Rifleman June 1947 there is a picture and report of a Sedgley Springfield with a penny size chunk blown out of the top of the receiver.

Investigation revealed that the gun had been rebarreled, four holes drilled all the way through the receiver ring to mount a scope and the pressure of the fired cartridge was in excess of 100,000 pounds."

Brophy writes in his book The Springfield 1903 Rifles, "Although the R.F. Sedgley Company was capable of making some fine custom sporters and converting the 1903 rifle into excellent sporters, they did assemble and sell some ersatz rifles assembled of questionable '03 parts which had crudely made stocks and some aluminum die cast parts."

Neither of these rifles falls into the latter category.