Good morning all!! Happy Tuesday.
I've come into possession of a MINT 1903-A3 Springfield that is remarkable. It is a Remington serial number 4104184 and it couldn't be cleaner, or less complete. It came along with an estate from a recently deceased friend, and I have no interest in it and do not collect WW2 weapons or memorabilia. Can anyone help me figure out it's value such that I can disposition it properly?
Many thanks in advance.Attachment 102483Attachment 102484
I suggest you go to gunbroker auction and do an advanced search, maybe it is called smart search, of completed auctions. You will probably
be able to find a similar rifle that has sold or received a bid. That is a valid way to determine the what it should sell for. Pie in the sky
minimum bids are meaningless.
The value on these is not only condition but originality. So if one has been thru a rebuild it is worth less than one that has original finish, etc.
This one has been thru a rebuild. But almost all of them have been. That is why the original ones sell for much more.
Usually I see the rebuilds sell for between $700 and $800.
Ahh! the good old days... M1903A3 direct from depot after inspection at Raritan Arsenal (RA-P)..U.S. $15.00.. freight collect....
A small observation is the polish and number engraved on the top of the bolt handle. I bought four 1903 and one 1903A3 from CMP in the early 2000's and they all have this. My guess is it's a legit rebuild that was a Greek return via CMP. I paid $450 for mine back then and it's probably worth what Steve Norton has eluded to in thread 3 now.
I hate the term "mint". I'm not a coin collector!
"...the term "mint"..." Yeah. It means unfired and exactly as it came out of the factory. We had some Portuguese K98's still in the grease with the matching bayonet, in the shop, years ago. Those were mint. Not enough pictures of this '03A3 to tell.
The zinc based Parkerizing on the bolt is screaming at me. According to the guys at the CMP forum, the Greek returns were manganese based Parkerized and therefore black in colour. And originals were grey. But only the receivers and barrels.
Anyway, that doesn't help jsanford29. Gunbroker is mostly populated by dealers who think they're going to get rich. It'll give you an idea, but you'd be better to talk to iCollector, Joe Salter or the like. They deal exclusively in high end stuff.
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If the point of this statement is that GunBroker prices are overpriced and Joe Salter et al. represent market price...I must be looking at a different GunBroker and Joe SalterOriginally Posted by Sunray
Well, I don't know who the "guys" are at the CMP forum but my Remington 1903A3 is a RIA, (Rock Island Armory) rebuild and it has the most beautiful zinc Parkerizing just as it left the arsenal before being shipped to Greece. It obviously wasn't used much if at all by the Greeks but that's where it came from. The OP's rifle has the number etched on the top of the bolt handle as i said and I can't remember seeing that anywhere except on Greek returns. ALL of the ones I have have it. I could be wrong of course.
---------- Post added at 05:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------
I don't think the black finished Greek returns are manganese phosphate either. I think they were dip finished somehow in Greek service and it ain't all of them either.
---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------
There's no such thing as unfired either. It's pure, unadulterated mythology.
I see no evidence that the rifle is a CMP Greek rifle. The rifle has been arsenal-overhauled and is valued in the $800-$1000 range if it has a good bore.
Good Luck!
J.B.
For Brian Dick
There are no Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) 030A3's either
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