I visited a JROTC unit today and they had 30+ M1's they used in the past for drill and ceremony. Half of them had plastic replacement stocks on them. All were rusty as all getout. I almost cried. All barrels were plugged, bolt faces welded and reciever welded in the oprod race so you couldn't lock the bolt back.

I saw a bunch of SA's, 5-6 Winchesters, 3-4 HRA's, and one IHC. A couple of the Winchesters had Winchester barrels, bolts, trigger groups, etc. SA's were all mixmasters as were the HRA's and the IHC. I saw an IHC bolt on an SA and HRA barrels on several of the SA's and HRA's. Saw an SA that was SN16XXX (can't remember the rest). Some of the barrels were in pretty good shape at the muzzle, but couldn't tell anything else.

I saw a stock they had removed and set aside that was an WRA stock. Looked like it had two cartouches that overlapped. One was definitely WRA with J and some other letter underneath but I couldn't tell what the other letters were. The light was very poor in the arms room.

It was a sad sight gentlemen. A couple of the rifles had NM oprods too. Saw one gas plug that had a single slot, not the normal phillips head looking slot. I also found another rifle with FJA cartouche on it but didn't see any others on the rest of the rifles. The normal P in a circle, but nothing else.

I wish I could "clean" them up some and replace some parts for them, but...

Truly a sad day for me gentlemen....

Quoted: I visited a JROTC unit today and they had 30+ M1's they used in the past for drill and ceremony. Half of them had plastic replacement stocks on them. All were rusty as all getout. I almost cried. All barrels were plugged, bolt faces welded and reciever welded in the oprod race so you couldn't lock the bolt back.

Sounded like my JROTC unit in highschool. Ofcourse there were about a dozen M1's that were kept in pristine order with the original wood stocks and slings for color guards and special occasions. The remainder of the lot were just as you described. Used mostly for drill team practice and drill and ceremony practice. They were uuuuuuglyyy!! I still have a 1/2 inch scar on my right wrist where I caught the front sight on a bad throw.

I know what you're talking about. I'm in AFJROTC at my school... and one of the top members of the Drill Team. Our M1903's have plastic stocks, the bolt is welded shut, the bores are filled with lead, the front and rear sights are cut off, and every single metal part is covered in rust. The sidearms (1911's) that we have were de-milled the same way too, only they look worse. It looks like they were de-milled by throwing them on cement. I cringe every time I open the gun "cabnet."

I was AFROTC my freshman year of college...

Our practice drill rifles were FAKE M1903 Springfields... Fake as in 'plastic bolt handle & reciever' fake...

They had M1 Garands for color guard use at basketball games, never saw them though (I think the Army det was in charge of the rifles, and AF/Navy borrowed them as needed)... I did carry a sabre for an honor guard once, though...