Roy Dunlap worked for the Ordnance Dept, in the field, during WWII where the low number 1903 was still in service.
“Ordnance Went Up Front” by Roy F. Dunlap Samworth 1948 (speaking of low-number rifles) “I saw hundreds of these in the war, used with all types of issue ammunition including armor piercers with a rather high chamber pressures. These low number actions are safe with practically all government and commercial ammunition in .30-06 caliber, with the possible exception of very high-pressured target loads or heavy-bullet hunting cartridges.”
And by 1978 he was saying "Not all low number Springfield's are unsafe. Most are not. Some are unsafe and there is no way to tell which are safe and which are not, so the whole lot was condemned."
He must have thought about.
