# Question on Drilled Hole in Remington 1903A3 Barrel



## Bounty Hunter (Sep 11, 2011)

So,  I just picked this sporterized version of a Remington 1903A3 up on a trade lately, and I'm just curious about the hole in the barrel/receiver ? ....  as shown in the pics.

Is this just a tooling hole of some sort, does it serve any purpose? The previous owner said it was used to hunt mule deer and was very accurate and safe to fire.

............ The rifle is stamped Remington 1903A3 and serial number indicates it was made in 1942 ... well over the 800,000 low sn concerning heat treatment problems. It is a 30-06 caliber.
 Thanks in advance for any info anyone might provide.


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## Bounty Hunter (Sep 11, 2011)

Question on Drilled Hole in Remington 1903A3 Barrel
So, I just picked this sporterized version of a Remington 1903A3 up on a trade lately, and I'm just curious about the hole in the barrel/receiver ? .... as shown in the pics.

Is this just a tooling hole of some sort, does it serve any purpose? The previous owner said it was used to hunt mule deer and was very accurate and safe to fire.

............ The rifle is stamped Remington 1903A3 and serial number indicates it was made in 1942 ... well over the 800,000 low sn concerning heat treatment problems. It is a 30-06 caliber.
Thanks in advance for any info anyone might provide.


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## LRanger007 (Sep 11, 2011)

I believe the hole is to vent gases from a ruptured case.


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## Bernard goldsmith (Sep 11, 2011)

In case of a blown shell, the pressure will be relived through the hole. I think!!


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## GAR (Sep 11, 2011)

That is exactly what it is, a vent hole. Designed that way.

Tom


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## Bounty Hunter (Sep 12, 2011)

Great thanks guys .......... that sounds logical, and I guess should have been obvious ... but did want to make sure before pulling the trigger.  
I found this comment (subject was about "hunting" with a military rifle) on another forum concerning the design of various rifles, --- according to this comment ........ I "assume" the Winchester 70 uses the mauser design ..... so where would the gases go in the same blown shell situation, on the Winchester 70? ...... maybe better metal processing to withstand more pressure ???? Just curious


Originally Posted by red tail  
In would not think twice about it. Every rifle used was or is based off a service rifle. 

Exactly. If anyone gives you flak about your M1A being a "Military Weapon", remind them that their precious bolt rifle is based off either the Mauser (Ruger 77) or '03 Springfield (Winchester 70) or Enfield (Remington 700).


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 12, 2011)

Bounty Hunter said:


> Exactly. If anyone gives you flak about your M1A being a "Military Weapon", remind them that their precious bolt rifle is based off either the Mauser (Ruger 77) or '03 Springfield (Winchester 70) or Enfield (Remington 700).



The '03 Springfield is a Mauser design.  The U.S. gov't ended up having to pay damages to the Mauser company for patent infringement.

My Model 70 has a very noticeable vent hole on the  right hand side of the receiver.  Don't know where the  commentator's is.


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## Bounty Hunter (Sep 13, 2011)

Found the answer here ......... interesting reading. I pasted a short comment from this site below....... bottom line, it is a vent hole.  Thanks for the input 

http://www.jouster.com/forums/showthread.php?3738-Hatcher-Hole.......Wondering-Why-the-Other-Hole....

The Marine Corps was the largest driller of "Hatcher Holes" because they had the largest number of suspect low serial number rifles. The Marines drilled "Hatcher Holes" in all the rifles that came into their shops, both low and high number. In fact a "Hatcher Hole," while not absolute provenance of USMC issue is one of the characteristics looked for in trying to determine if an M1903 rifle was at one time used by the Corps.

When Remington began production of 1903 rifles right before World War II they dispensed with the small vent hole on the right side of the reciever and drilled only the larger "Hatcher" type vent hole in their M1903 & M1903A3 rifles.


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## Richard P (Sep 14, 2011)

The issue of heat treating of recievers applies only to the 1903. The 1903a3 is not at issue. The reference to ''Hatcher'' is to Maj Gen Julian S Hatcher, a noted authority and author of ''Hatcher's Notebook''.


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