Smith Corona 1903A1

[Vanmor]

I'm not an avid collector but I do like the military arms. My other gun is a SKS Chinese that my father in law gave me that was in pretty bad shape.


I just inherited a Smith Corona 03-A1. Date on the barrel is June of 1943.

This site and some others have been a great help in learning about this rifle. However, there is a glitch in my research.

The serial number on the gun is C3708823.

My research shows that the "C" means that the serial number is the same as some of the Remington made 1903A1 firearms. Problem is that Remington and Smith Corona never were issued block numbers past 3707999.

Anybody got a clue as to what happened here ?

Information

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[Mike D]

What you have is a 1903A3. A1's are different (1903 with a C-stock).

SC overran its first serial number block into Rems 2nd block, which began with 3708000. To avoid the duplicates, SC's were stamped with C. About 4000 were done (Canfield).

[Vanmor]

Your right Mike. I don't know why I was calling it an A1 when it's an 03-A3.

Thanks for explaining it. I had the wrong conception about the numbering process.

It's a nice gun though. Looks like it's never been used. There's no wear on the bolt or receiver area at all. I can't even find a mark where ammo went into the magazine.

[Mike D]

Vance - If you've got the time, post some pics. Your rifle is not rare, but you don't see them often (4,000 out of 250,000). There's not many variants of the A3, makes yours interesting to some.

[Vanmor]

Will do Mike. I'm sure I'll find signs of use when the gun sees some good light.
I'd like to see how many rifling grooves it has in the barrel.

How do these guns shoot ? The 30-06 Springfield round is plenty powerful. I had a Remington 742 in 30-06 that was a hard hitting gun. I enjoy shooting my SKS 7.62 a lot better. In fact, I sold the 742 years ago. It didn't seem like the kind of gun to just go out and shoot. I used it hunting, but it seems that was all it was good for.

[Calif-Steve]

Your S-C is a nice keeper. Make sure you do not cut it up to turn it into a hunting rifle. That is what Remington 742's are for. If you can post some pictures I am sure you will get more comments.

[Mike D]

Your barrel date is correct for the serial #, and is probably 4-groove. SC barrels are known to be accurate.

I recently shot this group with my Rem. Barrel is 2-groove. I was surprised with how well the rifle shot, and even more surprised 'cause I was the one aiming!

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[emmagee1917]

...to 2-1/2 than 3-1/2 by my eye.
Chris

[Vanmor]

Don't worry guys. I won't cut this one up for a deer rifle. Heck I hunt with my SKS and if I hunted with this gun, I would keep it as is. I doubt if I would hunt with this rifle though. These 1903A3s are heavy jokers ain't they ?

[hammonje]

They're incredibly accurate rifles and that one you have is very nice indeed. With handloads these usually shoot an MOA with a great barrel. Off the bench of course. I believe if the front sight had ears they would be even more accurate. Hard to tell if you cant the rifle without ears. Another wonderful attribute about 03's of all makes is the smoothness of the action. You would have to spend $2000 today to get a rifle with that quality in the action.

Thanks for posting the pics!!!!!

Here is one of my beauties: