Springfield 1903 The Springfield 1903 is an American service rifle , created in 1903 using the 30 . 06 caliber , the Springfield 03 was used in the First World War , WWII , Korea , and Vietnam as a sniper ' s rifle Description . The story of the " US Rifle , . 30 caliber , M1903 " , otherwise known as a Springfield M1903 , began late in XIX century , when US troops , engaged in the Spanish - American war found their bolt - action , . 30 caliber Krags and . 45 caliber single - shot Springfield " trap - doors " far inferior to the bolt - action Mausers , used by Mexican troops . It was soon discovered that more powerful and fast - firing rifle is required . The Krag rifles were too weak for ammunition desired by US Army authorities , and lacked some vital features , such as clip - loading , so in 1900 the state - owned Springfield armory was set up to build a new rifle , based on the battle - proven Mauser design . Springfield entered into negotiations with Mauser company and finally acquired the rights for Mauser bolt action for amount of US $ 200 000 . At the same time , new ammunition was designed for the new rifle . It was a powerful , rimless cartridge that fired round - nosed jacketed bullet of 220 grains ( 14 . 2 g ) at muzzle velocity of approximately 2300 fps ( 670 m / s ) - about 300 fps ( 100 m / s ) faster , than older . 30 - 40 ( Krag ) cartridge did , resulting in 13 % increase in muzzle energy . Both new cartridge and a new rifle were initially adopted in 1903 , as a " US Rifle , . 30 caliber , M1903 " , and a " cartridge , ball , . 30 caliber , M1903 " , or . 30 - ' 03 . Initial design featured a spike bayonet , but it was disliked by the president Theodore Roosevelt personally , so rifle was sent back to factory for redesign . With this design , Americans also adopted an idea of the common " short " rifle , originally invented by British wit their SMLE in 1904 . This " short " rifle was equally suitable for both infantry and mounted troops . In the meantime , Germans introduced their " spitzer " bullet design - a relatively light bullet with point - shaped nose and better long - range ballistics , so , following the trend , US designers redesigned their newest . 30 - ' 03 cartridge to accept new bullet , weighting 150 grains ( 9 . 7 g ) with the muzzle velocity of approx . 2900 fps ( 880 m / s ) . This round was adopted as a " cartridge , ball , . 30 caliber , Model of 1906 " , or , simply , a " . 30 - 06 " . New rifle was re - fitted with sights regraduated for new cartridge , and was issued to US troops , but with the outbreak of the First World war it was soon discovered that US has insufficient numbers of M1903s to arm their expeditionary corps in Europe . US Army quickly adopted a Model 1917 rifle - Enfield pattern 1914 rifle redesigned from . 303 British to . 30 - 06 , but this is another story . The M1903 rifles were manufactured by the state - owned Springfield armory and a Rock Island armory . Some early made ( prior to ca . 1918 ) M1903 rifles were known by fragile receivers due to improper heat treatment , but the problem was soon cured by the introduction of the new steel treatment process . During the interwar period , there was little development in M1903 . In 1929 , US adopted a modified pattern M1903A1 , which was no more than the basic design with different type of stock , with semi - pistol grip instead of the straight , English - style grip . Few M1903A1 were made , however . With the outbreak of the Second World War US army again found itself short of rifles , and while the standard US rifle was already a semi - automatic Garand M1 , it was decided that it must be supplemented by simpler and cheaper bolt - action rifle . The Remington Arms company was set up to create a simplified for wartime production variant of the M1903 . Adopted in 1942 , the M1903A3 rifles featured a number of parts made by stamping instead of machining , receiver - mounted peep - hole sights instead of the leaf - type tangent sights , and , on some rifles , A1 type stocks with semi - pistol grips ( so called C - stocks ) . Some M1903A3 rifles were also fitted with 2 groove barrels instead of the more common 4 groove barrels . M1903A3 rifles were manufactured by the Remington Arms and a Smith - Corona Typewriters . The M1903A4 sniper rifles , manufactured by the Remington Arms co , were no more than factory ' accurized ' M1903A3s with open iron sights replaced by telescope optical sights . This was probably the longest living version of the M1903 , being used by the US troops until 1960s as a sniper rifles . There were also two more offsprings of the M1903 family . First was the M1903 Mark 1 rifle , developed during the Word War One by US engineer and designer Pedersen . This was not less than a conversion of the manually - operated rifle into the magazine - fed , semi - automatic rifle . Standard M1903s were altered to accept a so - called Pedersen device , officially know as a " US pistol , semi - automatic , . 30 caliber , M1918 " . This device was inserted into the modified M1903 action instead of the standard bolt , and featured a semi - automatic action with box magazine , that fired a specially - designed . 30 caliber ( 7 . 62mm ) straight - wall cartridges of relatively low power , allowing to every soldier equipped with modified M1903 to fire rapidly from the hip while advancing onto the enemy positions . The device was fed from 40 rounds magazines , and required an ejection port to be cut in the left wall of the receiver . The Pedersen device was later found ineffective and with numerous drawbacks , and in 1920s almost all " M1918 pistols " were scrapped and Mark 1 rifles converted to the standard pattern . Second variation was the M1903A2 , which was , basically , not a rifle , but a barreled action with mountings , intended to be inserted into and fired from the gun barrels for low - cost , short - range training . Initially intended for 3 " ( 76mm ) coast guns , this device was later adopted for numerous other large guns . The M1903 rifle is a manually operated , rotating bolt . magazine fed rifle . The action of the M1903 represents the modified Mauser action , with dual front lugs , that locked into the receiver , and an additional lug at the rear of the bolt , but unlike the Mauser design , on M1903 the rear lug was located horizontally on the bolt when bolt was closed , or in straight up position when bolt was unlocked . This required a split - bridge at the rear part of the receiver . The bolt handle was bent down and located at the rear of the bolt . The Mauser - type non - rotating extractor was used . On the left side of the receiver there was a magazine cut - off in the form of the bolt stop switch . This switch , when engaged , limited the bolt travel so the spent case still could be extracted but the new cartridge cannot be feed from the magazine , thus converting the rifle to the single shots . The safety was also of Mauser type , located at the rear of the bolt . The M1903 was a striker fired design , with cocking on the bolt open , and a firing pin knob protruding behind the bolt , so the action state could be easily checked manually or visually if it is cocked or not . The box magazine was integral to the action and held 5 rounds in the staggered order . Magazine could be filled with single rounds or by using the 5 - rounds stripper clips , which were inserted into the clip slots , machined into the receiver bridge . The iron sights of the M1903 consisted of the blade front sight and a barrel - mounted tangent - type leaf rear sights . On the M1903A3 the rear sights were replaced by the peep - hole ( diopter ) sights , mounted on the receiver bridge , and M1903A4 sniper rifles had no open sights at all , instead these rifles were equipped with M73B1 2 . 5X telescopic sights ( commercially known as a Weaver model 330 ) . The wooden one - piece stock with upper handguard has a distinctive shape . Most of the M1903 and some of the M1903A3 and M1903A4 rifles featured stocks with straight grips , while M1903A1 and some M1903A3 and M1903A4 were equipped with C - stocks with semi - pistol grips .