I have a Remington 1903A3 action from a Santa Barbara 1942 sharpshooter. It has a mauser style bolt release on the left side of the action along with the on/off lever. The military 03's I've seen don't have that mauser bolt release, instead they have a the on/off lever only. Why the difference?

excellent question! In the standard '03 design, the magazine cutoff also operates as the bolt release, and I see no advsantage to retaining the '03-type mag. cutoff if a Mauser-style bolt release was fitted to one. IMO, the mag cutoff on the U.S. Krag and the '03 Springfield are useless devices. (Who wants to cut off the magazine in a combat situation???)

I once owned a nice Norwegian Krag, and it did not have a mag. cutoff! This is an American idea, and a poor one at that!

If you had to supply the ammunition for these rifles in a war where mules and carts were the primary source of transportation you might have a different opinion about the magazine cut-off.

Believe it or not that was a primary concern in the time these rifles were produced. You are literally talking about tons of ammunition to keep a rifles company supplied each day.

Infantrymen were trained to load one round at a time unless the shit was hitting the fan. By using the cut-off they would always have a full load "waiting' if it was needed.

The full-auto capability of the M16's contributed greatly to the ridiculous amount of ammunition used in the Vietnam war...and many will argue that it also contributed to the decline in marksmanship ability among our troops. The only difference is that getting that ammunition to the troops in Vietnam was a hell of allot easier with helicopters than our forefathers had it with donkey-carts.

Not all... but most features on military weapons were put there for very good reasons to address specific needs at the time.

Rick

rick,



They were also taught to shoot with long range target sights and to use aimed fire only. How quickly these tactics were changed when the "shit hit the fan"!



The single shot mentality was a throw back from the muzzle loading and trap door days! It proved to be VERY obsolete thinking. It seems the US Army was one of the last entities to figure this out (even the American Indians understood the benefits of sustained mass fire decades before the US Army, don't believe me ask Custer).



I do not doubt for a minute that the Army brass had "good" reason for the cut-off device. "Good" is a subjective thing though, and one must always remember that. The Army brass thought the Krag a "good" rifle until they met the Spanish mauser.



ASS_CLOWN

Heck, lots of American troops in Cuba were armed with .45-70 trapdoor Springfields against those Spanish Mausers. (Of course, the Spaniards had plenty of the old ".43 Spanish" rifles, too.)



BTW, the subject of this thread (the bolt action Springfield) was largely copied from the M93 Mauser as a result of that Spanish-American War experience. Would've been nice if they'd looked at some M98s first.

I refuse to answer anything to AC directly, but in general, to all who wish to read...

Dispite what numb-nuts said, it is very difficult to have "sustained firepower" if one is out of ammunition.

Unlike our resident pain in the ass (pun intended) I have fought in a war and anyone who discounts the value of "aimed fire" has never been on a battlefield. That's why they put sights on rifles in the first place!

One learns early on in combat to distinguish between lethal fire and "noise"...and I have never known of anyone being killed or wounded by noise...not even Custer!

Supplying rifle companies with thousands of pounds of rifle ammunition each day was not an easy task back then and trained riflemen could get off 20 or 30 rounds a minute loading single cartridges in a Springfield.

A company of 120 guys each firing 20 or 30 rounds per minute (and hitting what they were shooting at) is far more deadly than 120 guys blowing off round after round as fast as they can work the bolt and reload and hitting nothing. Ask the Germans (armed with those marvelous Mausers) who faced the US Marines (armed with those crappy Springfields) at Belleau Woods.

When the Marines first got to the front they "amused" themselves by picking off German soldiers walking around in the open at over 800 yards (using single shots and those "lousy" target sights.) No one had been shooting at them prior to the Marines showing up because the distance was "too far" for rifles!

As Bill Jordan said in his book: "Speed is great...but accuracy is deadly!"

Rick

Rick,



Not really sure what your problem with me is or do I even care, but you are certainly full of it! No one and I mean No one is going to stand there and make a target out of themselves! You do not seem to have the slightest idea of how a fire team even works, so I will not wait my time trying to explain suppressive fire and it's associated movings and workings.



By the way, IF you have been in combat, then YOU know just HOW HARD it is to AIM a rifle with bullets whizzing by your head!!! There are VERY VERY few humans that are THAT COOL under pressure!!!! The sound you hear as a bullet whistles by is one YOU WILL NEVER EVER forget, neither is that feeling you get in the gut once you realize what it is you just heard!!!!! Hey, maybe you just THOUGHT your were "aiming"?



Please DO NOT reply to me, I would hate for your to "cook off" again.



By the way, the M1903A3 does not the "target" sights. The US military (that would include the Marines) realized just how worthless they were in a combat scenario and dropped them. There was also a cost incentive to the adoptation of the simpler sight. Works just as well though if the man behind the trigger knows his job.



ASS_CLOWN

Rick, you are right, from a logistician's point of view!! My viewpoint is that of the grunt, who is actually engaging the enemy! Easing the plight of the bean-counter is not worth the life of the trooper!!



I doubt that the magazine cutoff feature was even a particularly good idea in the day of the Krag or the M1903. If it were, why do NO EUROPEAN military rifle designs of that era have them?

eldeguello,

Evidentlly, the Europeans had far better mule trains and/or horses than we did.

ASS_CLOWN

I'm not arguing for or against a mag cut-off all I am stating is that the device had a purpose at that time in history...and that purpose was to provide a way for troops to load single rounds easily when they chose to do so. It's not like they had "cut-off" police roaming the trenches to Court Marshall grunts who chose not to employ the device for that purpose.

I was only answering your statement that the device was useless. In todays world you are probably correct but Krags and Springfields (the weapons in question) are not made today.

That device (useful or not) does not in any way negatively effect the function or operation of those rifles on or off the battlefield.

Perhaps all of my history books are in error but I could have sworn that Germany lost both WWI and WWII in spite of their supposedly superior weapons.

Unlike our idiotic resident "clown" (who has never even been in the military, let alone in combat) I will stand by my statement that aimed, accurate fire is deadly on a battlefield. Which particular weapon delivers that aimed, accurate fire makes no real difference to the target.

Rick

So...please enlighten all of us as to your military service and experience in fire fights with bullets "whistling by your head" Mr. Clown!

Video games, paint ball games, and dreams don't count!

Rick

Rick,

Calm down, you are just like a cousin of mine. He was in Vietnam too, logistics was his thing. He spent his entire tour in the relatively safe rear areas. He never saw combat, though speaking with him you would NEVER know it! He is a regular John Rambo!

I do not need to post any PROOF to you. ANYONE that has BEEN SHOT AT knows what I am talking about. It ain't even remotely easy TO AIM anything with bullets whizzing by!

Now please please, for the sake of all that is right and holy, STOP speaking to the ASS_CLOWN!

ASS_CLOWN

I would be more than happy to send you a copies of my USMC retirement papers (medically retired due to wounds from Vietnam), DD-214 (showing my MOS as 0311, infantry), Life Membership in the Veteran's of Foreign Wars, and my VA permanent disability rating for multiple wounds received in Vietnam...will you send me similar documents of yours?

My MOS was 0311 (infantry, not supply) and you will not hear me telling "war stories" or presenting myself as "Rambo" to anyone on here or anywhere else for that matter. You, on the other hand, keep speaking about having "bullets whistle by your ears" while in fire fights that you were NEVER in.

I saw the picture you proudly posted of yourself on here sitting in a chair in a bathroom holding a rifle (with finger on the trigger) with an open bottle of Jack Daniels sitting beside you... and that pretty much tells it all.

It is better to be "thought" a fool than to speak and remove all doubt, and every time you open your mouth on here concerning military matters you show yourself for the pathetic little know-nothing fool that you are.

You sure that's your "cousin" and not your brother or father...or are they all pretty much the same in your family?

I guess Father's day around your house does get pretty confusing, huh?

Rick

Rick,



When did I say you did not see combat? I merely stated you get all defensive and belligerent when someone disagrees with you.



I apologize wholeheartedly to you, it was not my intention to get into a pissing match with you about markmanship capability under fire. Obviously with military training ever soldier is able to shoot as well under fire as they do when shooting at paper targets.



I have never had the honor to serve my country in the armed forces.



I take it you do not approve of my drinking, you are in good company, neither does my mother. I find that it helps me deal with my loneliness better than nothing at all.



This is me doing what I do best (drinking JD)





ASS_CLOWN

Rick,

It has finally dawned on me why you have a problem with me! You are jealous of that rifle I am holding in the picture, the mighty 500 Jeffery! That is sad man, truly sad.

I really do not recall ever bringing your military credentials into question. Why are you so defensive about them anyway? How many years did you serve actively in the USMC?

ASS_CLOWN

Did you or did you not write this...Ass Wipe?

"Rick,

Calm down, you are just like a cousin of mine. He was in Vietnam too, logistics was his thing. He spent his entire tour in the relatively safe rear areas. He never saw combat, though speaking with him you would NEVER know it! He is a regular John Rambo!"

If that isn't a round about, chicken-shit way of questioning my military and combat service then I am not quite sure what it would be. You stated very clearly that you considered me like your cousin who was in the rear areas,never saw combat, and tells war stories.

Stick to topics you know something about...like drinking Jack Daniels and borrowing other peoples rifles so you can take pictures of yourself holding them.

You still haven't answered my question about your supposed "combat experience" where you had all those bullets "whistling" by your ears that you "will never forget."

You sure that didn't happen in your bathroom photo-studio with one too many Jack Daniels under your belt?

Get a life and stop trying to vicariously live one through other people.

Rick

Another great thread illustrating Turd Boy's lack of intelligence and abundance of stupidity. It should be required reading for all those new to this forum. You know, sorta like the cautionary statements that seem to proliferate everything these days. Keep up the good work Turd Boy, it's so beneficial to your negative credibilty rating.

Craigster,

He found a couple of "buddies" to defend him on another thread so he is in bliss for the moment.

Perhaps the bullet he head whistling by his ear was from the gun of a father chasing him away from the play ground and the little kids!

Rick

Rick,



Your question has been asked and answered. By the way, we all have nothing but your "word" on your military service, you DO tell war stories, shall I post quotes from you from this very site to prove it! You are braggart, know-it-all who is VERY OBVIOUSLY hurting for attention. You do sound a LOT like my loser cousing too. Sorry but Jack Daniels has FAR better manners than you!



It has been fun pulling your strings, but it now grows tiresome. My work is MORE than done here! Take your "friend" craigster there and go have fun with yourselves. You better clear that action before that round of yours cooks-off!



Oh no, here I go again! I need to stop with this JD before I shoot a hole in something important!







ASS_CLOWN

Rick,



Just thought I would post another picture of me and one of my guns! This is me and my M94 30-30 Winchester.







Enjoy!



ASS_CLOWN

AC: If you are trying to impress anyone on this forum, me thinks you are taking the wrong approach.

1) You have never served in the military, much less in combat.
2) You post a picture of yourself with a bottle of booze next to you and a rifle in your hand, and you think this is positive!

time to grow up, Son...

olarmy,

I tried to enlist in the military, but I could not pass the physical. The military did not like my hearing or my weight (I weighed a lot more back then). Do I get any credit for trying?

ASS_CLOWN

Rick,
Turb Boy isn't even qualified to burn shitters. The intelligence possessed by a severely retarded rock ape far exceeds Turd Boy's, even on his best day.

I'm mostly into bolt guns, but I've never seen a 94 with a forend like that before.
gunmaker

thefinegunmaker,

It is one of those special 24" barrel, crescent buttplated M94s from a few years back. That is why it has that fancy forend.

You guys are SO paranoid! Geez.

ASS_CLOWN

Rick & craigster,

Regarding my knowledge of military tactics. I have learned them from years of playing Twilight 2000. A very realistic roleplaying game! When playing Twilight 2000 your tactics determine whether you live or die, my character "Rick O'Shea" has survived over 100 missions, NO SMALL FEAT I might say. I have also played several combat simulator vidoe games, which the Army and Marines both now use to train soldiers.

So there, I do know of what I speak!

ASS_CLOWN

You all are getting trolled in a big way.

JLHeard,

Do you really think!

ASS_CLOWN

ODDBALL,

Did ask that question and since this thread got hijacked into a worthless discussion about the merits (or lack thereof) of magazine cut-offs, he started another thread on this subject!

I direct you to "03A3 Again". I believe you will find the information there you were seeking here!

I took it upon myself to keep the "hijackers" busy. As it turned out it was GREAT fun!

I actually don't know squat about "Twilight 2000". I just found it on a Google Search of roleplaying wargames. The last SEVERAL posts have all been about fishing for trolls.

Have a good day, and try not to take to ol' ASS_CLOWN too seriously (I sure as heck don't)!

ASS_CLOWN