I thought I saw a nice stock under all that varnish and set to work with Jasco, a semi-paste paint stripper, which has served me well in the past. After about an hour or two of work, I got the result below. One thing I like about Jasco is it is very gentle - the stain and virtually all of the finish remained.



The above photo was taken before I started working in BLO in thin coats.

I found the metal was in excellent condition. As 1,293,257, it had probably been overhauled at some point, but it still had the dark black, but smooth finish. The serial number is about 1200 numbers off my RIA, so they were probably serialized very close to each other. What was interesting, is that the finish on both the metal and stock are almost identical. The stock on 1,294,444 is almost totally free of dings (possibly protected by the varnish). I decided to start referring to them as "The Gold Dust Twins". There are some differences - 1,293,257 has a high hump handguard and a pre-WWI bolt. 1,294,444 has a 1930s handguard (D28179 stamped on top) and a J6 bolt. 1,294,444 has a 3-29 SA barrel, 1,293,257 has a 12-28 barrel.



The above picture was taken after I removed the varnish from 1,294,444 (bottom) and before the BLO treatment. They look even more similar now after several treatments.



Here are the stock markings on 1,294,444. It started out as a 1918-1920 and carries a late 1930s overhaul mark from Springfield. The stock was probably "borrowed" from another rifle during overhaul. 1,293,257's stock lacks almost any markings.



Here's a closeup of the two receivers. Note the different manufacturers. My sources tell me that both receivers started out as Rock Island blanks. The bottom receiver (on 1,293,257) had "Rock Island Arsenal" stamped on the metal but not serial number; the receiver of 1,294,444 was probably a "blank" finished receiver.

I am into these rifles for about $1100, total. (lest you think I have Bill Gates' fortune - I had to send two other M1903s "down the road") They look alike as peas in a pod (except for the couple of differences I pointed out). I keep these two together and now refer to them as my "Gold Dust Twins"!!