M1903 Air Service???
- Thread starter machman
- Start date
About the "Air Service" magazine:
"The 25-round extension magazine prototype was manufactured by the National Blank Book Company. The magazine assembly replaced the standard rifle floorplate and was not intended to be detachable".
"The 25-round extension magazine prototype was manufactured by the National Blank Book Company. The magazine assembly replaced the standard rifle floorplate and was not intended to be detachable".
Forgotten Weapons just recently did an episode about the "Air Service" M1903.
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/m1903-springfield-stripped-for-air-service/
"One of the more interesting and unusual – and rare – variations of the M1903 Springfield is the version that was “Stripped for Air Service”. Contrary to common belief, these were not used as in-flight aircraft armament before the use of machine guns, or as antiaircraft armament for observation balloon crews. Instead, they were developed by Springfield Armory in early 1918 as a pilot’s survival rifle – armament to be used in case one crash landed in enemy territory.
The modifications made include cutting down the stock and hand guard to reduce weight, adding a fixed 25-round box magazine, elimination of the sling swivels, and simplification of the rear sight to a 100-yard notch. The large fixed magazine was chosen because a pilot would not be carrying extra ammunition in a cartridge belt, as would a normal infantryman. All the ammunition he would have if he needed to use the survival rifle would be what was stored in the rifle itself.
A total of 910 of these modified rifles were made, and 908 of them shipped to France in late June, 1918. They were never put into service though, and 680 were still in a French depot at the end of the war. The remainder may have been distributed to some airfields, but they were never actually used. With the end of the war, the rifles were put into storage in the US along with the mass of other war materiel. In the mid 1920s, much of this stock was scrapped, and the surviving Air Service 1903s were either destroyed or converted to standard infantry pattern rifles. Very few survived this process, making them extremely rare today. This particular one came from the collection of Bruce Canfield."
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/m1903-springfield-stripped-for-air-service/
"One of the more interesting and unusual – and rare – variations of the M1903 Springfield is the version that was “Stripped for Air Service”. Contrary to common belief, these were not used as in-flight aircraft armament before the use of machine guns, or as antiaircraft armament for observation balloon crews. Instead, they were developed by Springfield Armory in early 1918 as a pilot’s survival rifle – armament to be used in case one crash landed in enemy territory.
The modifications made include cutting down the stock and hand guard to reduce weight, adding a fixed 25-round box magazine, elimination of the sling swivels, and simplification of the rear sight to a 100-yard notch. The large fixed magazine was chosen because a pilot would not be carrying extra ammunition in a cartridge belt, as would a normal infantryman. All the ammunition he would have if he needed to use the survival rifle would be what was stored in the rifle itself.
A total of 910 of these modified rifles were made, and 908 of them shipped to France in late June, 1918. They were never put into service though, and 680 were still in a French depot at the end of the war. The remainder may have been distributed to some airfields, but they were never actually used. With the end of the war, the rifles were put into storage in the US along with the mass of other war materiel. In the mid 1920s, much of this stock was scrapped, and the surviving Air Service 1903s were either destroyed or converted to standard infantry pattern rifles. Very few survived this process, making them extremely rare today. This particular one came from the collection of Bruce Canfield."
Which "they" do you mean?
By the time this "Air Service" rifle came out in 1918, there were MG's available for aircraft.
It doesn't seem plausible that this rifle was designed for one aircraft's crew to shoot at another aircraft. More like a survival rifle.
German aircraft flying African routes were equipped with double rifles during WW2... I think I'd have preferred the M1903 Air Service rifle all things considered.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Bruce Canfield is a collector whose information should be taken as solid, versus a wikipedia article or a Youtube narrator. I have a wiki account and get corrected all the time!
sgt_hebert
Member
- Location
- Trois-Rivières, Québec
The information don't come from wikipedia but from cable transcript. Ian and Othais released a video to clear up the misunderstanding (full30.com/video/27d5da9b6258453888a90f5379cfda8b)
Yes, there are 3 definitive books on the Springfield by Canfield, Brophy and Campbell. I'd recommend them to any serious Springfield enthusiast.
Our understanding of history shifts over time as new information emerges. That's not a knock against Canfield - his material is excellent, well researched and thought out, but new documents are still emerging from government archives about WWI (and massive amounts of documents are still covered under official secrets acts relating to WWII). As those documents emerge, it will fill in gaps in Canfield's research, and undoubtedly overturn some of his information. The M1903 Air Service is a prime example of this.
