Serialization Date Chart Last Update - 03/10/2009 Springfield Armory was on a Jul 1 - Jun 30 fiscal year and reported numbers of rifles completed for each year but not the dates of serial numbers struck. From 1907, the Armory reported the first serial number of the year. Since no effort was made to use the receivers in numerical order, considerable variance exists between the number of rifles built and the number of serial numbers struck. Therefore, rifle completion dates can not be precisely determined. 1903 Jul 1 - 1 M1903 production begins with Rod Bayonet rifle (RB assembly: December 1903 - January, 1905) 1904 Jan 1 - ? 1905 Jan 1 - 91792 Calculated SN (Beard & Ferris) Last Rod Bayonet rifle completed (74408 RB's made) Distinctive Rod Bayonet parts production ceased Jan 11,1905. Generic parts production continues. M1903 rear sight production ends April 17, 1905 M1905 Bayonet approved May 5, 1905 M1905 rear sight approved and rear handguard swell added after beginning of fiscal year 1906 Rifle assembly resumes with 1905 modification rifle (knife bayonet) November, 1905 Split shank swivel appears in fiscal year 1906 1906 Jan 1 - 208192 Calculated SN (Beard & Ferris) M1906 cartridge approved Oct 15, 1906 (Rifle assembly delayed - component production continues) 1907 Jan 1 - 269451 Armory starts reporting first serial number of the calendar year Rifle assembly resumes Feb, 1907 Existing Rod Bayonet rifles altered for M1906 cartridge Rear fixed sight base cutout eliminated Oct, 1907 1908 Jan 1 - 337862 Rear stock bolt approved Feb 20, 1908 1909 Jan 1 - 358085 Handguard sight line clearance cut authorized August 10, 1909 1910 Jan 1 - 398276 Circa 1910 changes: Buttplate checkering added Spare parts container groove added to upper stock recess in butt Rear sight windage knob diameter changed from .45" to .575" Spring clips added to handguard Stock wood lowered and tapered on both sides of front receiver ring Serifed lettering on the safety eliminated 1911 Jan 1 - 456376 Trigger thickened and serrated 1912 Jan 1 - 502046 1913 Jan 1 - 531521 1914 Jan 1 - 570561 Serifed lettering on cutoff eliminated 1915 Jan 1 - 595601 1916 Jan 1 - 620121 1917 Jan 1 - 632826 Front reinforcing bolt added April, 1917 Buttplate checkering temporarily eliminated Pyrometers used in forging from Dec 1917 at SN 750001 to prevent burned metal 1918 Jan 1 - 761758 DHT phased in by Feb 20, 1918 at SN 800000 (plus a little) Solid shank swivel replaces split shank swivel 2850 yard volley notch eliminated Bent bolt Handle starts ~1000000 Mark I production begins with SN 1034502 Parkerizing phased in starting late 1918. Never used by armory on all parts. Trigger serrations temporarily eliminated 1919 Jan 1 - 1055092 1920 Jan 1 - 1162501 Mark I production ends SN 1197834 (Brophy) Buttplate checkering returns Trigger serrations return 1921 Jan 1 - 1211300 1922 Jan 1 - 1239641 1923 Jan 1 - 1252387 1924 Jan 1 - 1261487 1925 Jan 1 - 1267101 Buttplate fine to coarse checkering change 1926 Jan 1 - 1270301 1927 Jan 1 - 1274765 Supply of carbon billets exhausted - a short period of mixed CS and NS receiver production follows RIA NS billets used from April 1, 1927 with SN 1275767 RIA parts, bolts, stocks, barrels used at SA 1928 Jan 1 - 1285266 Type C stock standardized on March 15, 1928 SA produces NS receivers from SN 1301000 (Hatcher - actual number higher) 1929 Jan 1 - 1305901 1930 Jan 1 - 1338406 1931 Jan 1 - 1369761 1932 Jan 1 - 1404026 1933 Jan 1 - 1425934 1934 Jan 1 - 1441812 1935 Jan 1 - 1491532 4859 receivers manufactured between July 1, 1935 & July 1, 1936 1936 Jan 1 - ? Hatcher Hole Starts 1936 on rebuilds 1937 Jan 1 - ? Reported SN (1496023 - Philip Sharpe) too low for reported production numbers (Minimum 1496391) 1937 Jul 1 - 1497412 1938 Jan 1 - 1510387 1938 Jul 1 - 1516549 1939 Jul 1 - 1525594 SA halts barrel production 1940 Jun 30 - 1536285 Last known serial number struck - substantially higher numbers are mis-strikes (Beard) High probability that 1536285 - 1536325 is the range of last serial number struck (Beard) SA makes run of M1903 barrels dated 9-40 for USMC 1941 SA commences production of replacement barrels 1942 Mar - Lightening cuts eliminated on newly made fixed sight bases (Beard)