New to me: Remington M1903-A3
I got my first Garand a few months ago. I picked up this Remington 03-A3 (1942 or '43) while on a vacation road trip a couple of weeks ago. Now I just need an M1917 to complete my 30-06 American milsurp family. (I know, I should get a regular M1903, too, but for now the 03-A3 will have to represent.)
My wife and I went on a cross-country driving trip from Louisiana to Oregon to visit some of her family and friends. I took advantage of the situation by looking up and calling gun and pawn shops located in the towns we were passing through. My wife would make the calls sometimes when I was driving and she got good at the terminology (M1903, 03-A3, M1917 “non-sporterized”, etc.)
We hit a lot of dry holes on the way. Any milsurp rifles they had in stock were sporterized to the point of being unrecognizable. There were a couple of exceptions. In a Cabela’s “Gun Library” they had a few that they were way too proud of. Another gun shop had a very large selection of milsurp guns. When I told him that I was looking for a reasonably priced shooter, he pointed me toward his “beater” guns (his term). Except for a couple of parts guns, they were all over $1,000, so I thanked him for his time and left.
Long story short, I found a Remington 03-A3 in a town near Portland for what was a little toward the high end of what I was thinking of as a reasonable price. But, the fact that Oregon doesn’t charge any sales tax was a bonus!
There was a nail place next door to the gun shop, so my wife was happy getting her nails done while I negotiated and waited on the background check.
Pictures
Comments or insights as to what I have are welcome, especially regarding the stamps and markings.
- Serial# 3922XXX.
- --Oldguns.net puts that as 1942 manufacture
- --Vishooter.net puts it at August, 1943.
- Barrel date: 6-43
- Lots of cute little Rs on everything.
- The barrel has “IRM” stamped on it and a lot of other marks that I don’t know what they mean (such as a little heart and what may or may not be a tomahawk).
- Lots of stamps on the side of and underneath the receiver.
- The firing pin rod has a “1” stamped on the side opposite the “R” stamp.
- What appear to be the ordinance wheel and FJA cartouches on the stock are faint.
- It has the circle-P with a “2” underneath
- Four other marks on the stock in front of the magazine.
- Note that the sling wasn't part of the deal. I picked that up for a couple of bucks at a flea market on our drive back. The gun shop did throw in a used soft case for the rifle.
Before I shot it, I took it apart, cleaned, greased it, and documented the parts. At the range, my 50-yard groupings were much larger than my M-1 groups. I blame the fact that I had trouble seeing the front sight against the black “splatterburst” targets that I was using. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) I’m going to try painting the back of the sight blade white and try again.
