Guns International #: 102820064
Seller's Inventory #: 24070048

Category - Springfield Rifles - 1903 - Military Rifles - US

Category
Springfield Rifles - 1903
Military Rifles - US

Remington Model 1903A3 .30-06 Good Condition Built 1943

Description:
The ’03 Springfield rifle is one of the most famous military rifles in U.S. history, having served in World I, World War II, Korea, and to a lesser extent, Vietnam. The ’03 came to be from a requirement to replace the then standard issue Model 1898 Krag rifle. During the Spanish American War (1898), the Krag rifle in .30-40 Krag was shown to be inferior in many ways to the Spanish Mauser Model 1893. The supreme irony in all this was that the Krag rifle had competed against the Mauser rifle during the U.S. Army trials of 1892 along with designs from Lee, Mannlicher, Schmidt-Rubin, and around 40 other military and civilian designs. The Krag rifle had won the trials despite the obvious superiority of the Mauser design. Now, to replace the Krag, the U.S. Army would adopt the 1903, a Mauser-pattern rifle. The ’03 is effectively a Model 1898 Mauser except for the small receiver ring (1.305-inch or 33.15 mm diameter) which is comparable to the earlier Model 1896 Swedish Mauser (1.3-inch or 33 mm diameter. By comparison, the Model 1898 Mauser has a ring diameter of 1.41 inches (35.8 mm). The ’03 not only replaced the Army’s Krag rifle and its variations, but also the Lee M1895 and M1885 Remington-Lee rifles used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps respectively. It also replaced any remaining single-shot Trapdoor Springfields (many were still in use during the Spanish-American War as there were not enough Krag rifles to go around). In service, the ’03 was prized for its accuracy and reliability though some issues were noted. During World War 1, where a lack of enough Springfields forced the U.S. Army to also issue the excellent Model 1917 Enfield rifle in greater numbers, it was found that the precision rear aperture sight was located too far from the eye for efficient use. This is the first notable difference between an ’03 and the ’03A3 with its rear mounted aperture sight. Both the M1903 and M1903A3 were issued in World War 2 due to a lack of available M1 Garand rifles to issue to the troops. The ‘03A3 became famous as the rifle used by the Marines during the Guadalcanal campaign (7 August 1942 – 9 February 1943). Eventually, as greater numbers of the M1 Garand became available, the ’03 and ‘03A3 were replaced in U.S. service, leaving just the M1903A4 sniper rifle in use during Korea and the early years of Vietnam. 

This particular ‘03A3 is in good condition for its age, although its appearance definitely indicates wartime usage. According to the barrel date and remingtonsociety, the receiver was made in June of 1943 while the barrel was produced a little earlier in April of the same year. There is some curious wear to the barrel with respect to its date markings. The second #4 in “4 – 43” is essentially crossed out. There are a variety of events or reasons as to how or why this could have happened in wartime, and not all of them are intentional in nature. There is one change that was made to the rifle, and which is certainly intentional, but was actually performed out of safety concerns rather than malicious intent. The flaming bomb symbol has been tapped with a small punch leaving an indent in the middle of the bomb itself. This indicates that the rifle was likely used as a sample for a Rockwell Hardness Test. Hardness tests were performed randomly during the production of rifle batches as a means to ensure that the rifles in said batch were heat treated correctly and were therefore safe to issue. The stock and handguard both exhibit a fair amount of wear on much of the surface, all of which is consistent with wartime use. Surprisingly, there is only one crack in the entirety of the wooden furniture, that being on the upper handguard on the righthand side. The is some very light rust in a few places which could be cleaned up easily. Otherwise, the rifle retains most of the original Parkerized finish. The bolt and bolt handle retain their original “blued” finish as well. Mechanically the rifle is fully functional, and bolt movement is very smooth. The bore is in superb shape though there appear to be a couple of miniscule spots about 1 inch from the muzzle. These should affect the accuracy in any noticeable way. Contrary to popular belief, a 2-groove bore provides just as much accuracy as a 4- or 6-groove barrel. The rifle should perform admirably at the range provided the shooter does their part.

Price: $1,095.00

Rifle Caliber: .30-06 Springfield
Manufacturer: Remington Arms Co., Inc.
Model: Model 1903A3
Serial Number: 3753909
Barrel Length: 24.0 inches (610 mm)
Bore Info: 2 grooves, 1:10 inches (1 in 254 mm) RH twist
Ejectors: Ejection via bolt operation
Condition: Used - Good
Barrels: Carbon Steel
Barrel Type: Standard
Action: Bolt-action repeater, internal magazine, controlled-feed M98 action
Triggers: Standard
Stock: Wood
Fore End: Wood
Butt Pad: Metal plate w/trap door
LOP: 12.75 inches (324 mm)
Finish: Parkerized
Weight: 8 lbs. 10.4 oz.
Sights: Aperture rear sight, blade front sight, sight radius 28.25 inches (717.55 mm)
Manufacture Date: April/June 1943