03-A3 Smith-Corona.................

I bought an 03-A3 Smith-Corona today. Here's what I've found so far.

S/N: 4756667
Barrel date: SC 7-43
Stock: Unsanded with FJA in box and ordnance cartouche beside it.
In front of trigger housing: 8 in triangle, 9 in circle, 6 in square, 1 in diamond
All of these markings are crisp and like new.
Bolt: 8 and 0 on underside of handle. Looks like a light dot between them.
P on underside of barrel and another P in circle with a v above it behind trigger guard.
Wood has a beautiful finish on it and is untouched as far as I can tell. Barrel and receiver are parked, bolt and other metal is blued.
Paid $300 for it. How did I do?

For $300.00 you stole it. You should send it to me.
Nice find.

no kidding, you buy it out of the back of a truck or something??? nice score!

Two years ago a friend of mine moved out of his house and into an apartment. He asked if he could leave his guns at my house since he was afraid they would be stolen. I told him I didn't have any space for them except in my attic and he could leave then up there but not for too long since they would rust. He left them all this time and most had surface rust. I checked them the other day, found some were rusting, took them down and cleaned and oiled them and told him to come and get them.

He got them over the weekend and took them home. He asked if I would be interested in buying any and I first said no and then said I'd like to have either the M1 or the 03-A3. He came by today with the S-C and said $300 and I paid him. I didn't bother to tell him it was worth more because I thought he owed me for storing and cleaning them since it was close to 30 guns total that I cleaned up. The S-C was one of the few that didn't have all kinds of rust on them.

He's a good guy and we've been friends for 30 years but it takes a real fool to put all those guns in an attic and just leave them.

Bob I know about storing things for friends. They seem to just forget about them and when you tell them they say, oh yea I remember now. Can you just hang on to it a little longer? Never any guns but still. For taking care of them (30 guns) he should have given the SC to you.

nice score, but i also agree, if he had you take care of them, and he agreed to store them in such a way that he knew they would rust, he should have givin the SC to you.
if he truly wants to sell some of the other guns, have him contact me with a list, price, and how much rust has grown on them lol.
i might be a buyer...

Sadly one of the worst rusted guns was a Ruger Mini-14 that I sold him about 6 years ago. There wasn't a mark on it when he got it from me and now there is crusted rust on the barrel and receiver. I wouldn't give $200 for it now.

i like a challange..and dont have any personal projects right now..id be a buyer on the Mini 14:}

Lucky Devil. Was going to ask you how you sleep nights but after hearing the story He should have given the gun to you! How about some pics??:super: