The Bannerman Model 1903 Springfield .303 British Conversion,In the late 19th century and early 20th
The Bannerman Model 1903 Springfield .303 British Conversion,In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Francis Bannerman IV was popular as the largest retailer of military surplus in the United States. Originally born in Scotland, Bannerman still had a love of the old world. So when the United Kingdom went to war with Germany during World War I, Bannerman wanted to do his part to support his former nation. In 1914 he donated 1,000 Model 1903 Springfields to the British Army. Pieced together from surplus parts, the rifles were rechambered and rebored for .303 British, then the standard infantry cartridge of the British Army. A new extractor was also mounted on the bolt to extract empty cartridge casings, as the .303 British is a rimmed cartridge. Included with the rifles were bayonets, ammo pouches, webbing, slings, and other associated accessories. While the donation of 1,000 converted Springfield rifles was certainly a grand patriotic gesture on the part of Bannerman, one must keep in mind that it is the thought that counts. Unfortunately it was found that the conversion was flawed, and that the rimmed .303 cartridge could not feed properly through the magazine. Thus the rifle were marked “DP”, for drill purposes only, and issued City of London Volunteer Training Corps as a drill/training rifle. -- source link
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