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Hi Rick. Yes, mine is fairly late. Serial number is 591088 with a 10-18 dated barrel.
When the staff writer from The NRA was researching for an article on Alvin York he was writing for The Rifleman magazine several years ago, he visited the museum at York’s place in Tennessee. When talking to the son or grandson there he was astonished to find out that Sergeant York used a Model 1903. While York’s unit was indeed issued the 1917 he procured a 1903 because he preferred it. I seem to remember that he liked the sights better.
Frank Randall said
When the staff writer from The NRA was researching for an article on Alvin York he was writing for The Rifleman magazine several years ago, he visited the museum at York’s place in Tennessee. When talking to the son or grandson there he was astonished to find out that Sergeant York used a Model 1903. While York’s unit was indeed issued the 1917 he procured a 1903 because he preferred it. I seem to remember that he liked the sights better.
I think it likely that many soldiers would have preferred a lighter ’03 over a M1917, but I’d be surprised if the ’03’s antiquated rear sight (a slightly modified M1884 Buffington used on Trapdoor Springfields) was the reason; the one outstanding feature of the M1917 was its simple, easy to use, rear sight.
Bruce Canfield wrote a piece on the M1917 in the July, 1996, Rifleman, but he made a major point of correcting Hollywood’s error of depicting Sgt. York as armed with an ’03, rather than a M1917. However, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t told the contrary by some member of York’s family. As the experts on Antiques Roadshow say so often, “family stories” are usually highly unreliable sources of provenance. I visited York’s former home about 30 yrs ago, & remember seeing a service rifle (which, I can’t remember for sure) on display, but who knows how it got there. Whatever rifle he was issued while in the service remained US property when he was discharged.
The most memorable part of my visit of several days to Pall Mall, York’s hometown, wasn’t visiting his house & the very modest “museum” set up inside it, but attending a muzzle-loader “chunk shoot” held in a nearby field & meeting one of York’s sons.
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clarence said
As the experts on Antiques Roadshow say so often, “family stories” are usually highly unreliable sources of provenance.
That may be one of the few honest statements they ever made.
Chuck said
clarence said
As the experts on Antiques Roadshow say so often, “family stories” are usually highly unreliable sources of provenance.
That may be one of the few honest statements they ever made.
I didn’t have to wait for them to tell me, because while I was still in high school I was talking to anybody I could find who pretended to know something about old guns or old cars, & hearing stories I knew from my own reading were badly mistaken, or distorted, & sometimes pure BS.
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