New guy here with new to me 03a3

Hey guys new guy here on the forums been lurking for awhile now reading up. But i just picked up a Remington 1903a3 S/N 42059xx, a RA barrel 8-44, 2 groove. The barrel looks clean and shiny. I measured muzzle wear with a live round(prvi 150gr) and have about 1/16" of copper showing, what does that translate to in terms of wear, 3.5-4? I know its not the proper way to measure it, just want it to be a safe shooter. Anything i should look for or be aware of before shooting it? It appears to be a Greek lend/lease? Vibropeend last 4 #'s of the s/n on bolt handle, and stamped in the right buttstock to. It also has stamped FJA on the left side as well as RIA EB in a box on the left buttstock. I will post up some pics later, i hope you guys will be able to answer my questions and shed some light on what i have.

Congratulations! You have one of the very last M1903A3s made. Production ended in Feb 1944 around s/n 4209xxx. Yours is just a few hundred before that.

The "bullet test" is entirely subjective. It depends on the consistency of the bullet used. The ogive (profile of the nose) of Prvi ammo may be different that US GI M2 ball ammo and hence give an entirely different reading.

You can tell as much with the eye. Is the crown nice and round without any dings or dents? Do the lands come all the way to the crown and are they strong and even at the muzzle? This photo shows one in VG-Ex condition.

Attachment 30563

ViShooter has an excellent M1903 reference website

http://www.vishooter.net/m1903.html
http://www.vishooter.net/ra_serialization.txt
http://www.vishooter.net/RA3.txt

The FJA is an inspector's stamp found on Remington & SC rifles; the RIA EB is a post-war rebuild stamp from Rock Island Arsenal.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...02132610-1.jpg


https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...02132708-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...02132621-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...02132648-1.jpg

---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 AM ----------

Heres some pics i will try to get some of the bore and crown. Hard to get a pic of a rifle this long with a cellphone! Anything you guys see wrong or an info you can give would be appreciated. I got a pretty good deal on it so i hope i did good.

Is the rear sight bent or is it an optical illusion?

D. :cheers:

I looked at that too. It is just over to the right and the angle i had the rifle sitting at when i took the pic. I moved the sight alll around and it is fine. atleast appears to be. will know for sure after i shoot it.

Nice rifle. Let us know how it shoots. :thup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike D

Nice rifle. Let us know how it shoots. :thup:

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Thanks. Just hope its safe to shoot. Going to try and get out tommorow. sometime. Have to remember camera! Will post up a range report.

Pics of the bore and crown, best i could do with cell. Battery charging for digi-cam. Its a 2 groove like i said before. I can clearly see the rifling go all the way from the chamber up to the muzzle. Seems ok for a 70 year old rifle! Looks like a shooter to me! Anything i may have missed? Any input is welcome! Plan on shooting some 150gr. to test her out.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...04002818-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...04002718-1.jpg

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04002758.jpg[/IMG]

---------- Post added at 01:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

one more..

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...04002753-1.jpg

Looks great! :super:
Enjoy your range time.
Don't forget the pics.....:)

D. :cheers:

Nice rifle!
Looking foward to a range report!!!

Congratulations again! It appears the Greeks serialized your bolt to your receiver. It's not a big thing but now you know that at one time the Greeks checked headspace & matched that both to that receiver.

Now for the bad news. Your stock has pins rather than bolts which means two things. First, the stock predates the receiver by about a year. Second, pins proved to be an unsatisfactory method of keeping the stock from cracking (which is why they abandoned pins & went back to bolts). At the least, make sure there is a .1" gap between the tang & stock. Make sure your stock bolts are always tight. At the worst, you make need to replace the stock.

Well got out to the range....beautiful late afternoon.

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04154925.jpg[/IMG]

First 4 rds, 50 yds., bechrested.
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04155410.jpg[/IMG]

Next 10rds 100yds., freehand.
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04160626.jpg[/IMG]

Last 5rds, 75yds., High Kneeling.
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04161302.jpg[/IMG]

Have to get some more time with this rifle. Happy that is shot well, and that i could atleast hit the paper! Thinking about putting a hood over the front sight. Have to get a handle on the front blade better. But overall happy.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04154901.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-04154917.jpg[/IMG]

Well, after all of my reading and research. This is what i've come up with. Built between Jan/Feb 1944. Original barrel on it 8-44. All parts have an "R" stamped in them except for the extractor claw has an "S" stamp. The small parts appear blued, the reciever, barrel are grey parkerized and are all worn evenly, which leads me to believe most parts are original or atleast Remington. But, it does have the rebuild/re-inpsect stamp RIA EB in the stock. Also, the bolt handle is vibra-peened with the last 4 of the S/N, and the stock has the last 4 stamped into it as well. It's a straight, pinned stock. It fits very good and all pieces are uniform in color and character. So maybe a Greek Lend/Lease? Any other marks I should look for to confirm that? Or if anyone could shed some light to this rifle or atleast let me know if any of my research is correct. Thanks for all the replies so far everyone!

Anbody with some help?

Closer look at the rear sight does point to some issues.
Offset to left and crooked.
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-11004515.jpg[/IMG]
Witness marks way off?
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-11004540.jpg[/IMG]
Front edge of dovetail looks peened over
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-11005613.jpg[/IMG]
Front dovetail damaged?
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-11005618.jpg[/IMG]
Appears to be holes drilled or swaged? hold sight in place?
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-11004927.jpg[/IMG]

It definitely sounds like a Greek reimport. It looks like a good shooter.

The sight does look crooked and offset. If it is zeroed with some windage adjustment left, not sure how much it matters, although any windage adjustments that you make with the windage screw will probably not be uniform.

Complete rear sights are readily available..might try a new one and see where the rounds fall.

Lend Lease ended in August 1945; Greece is listed as receiving $357,000 in weapons through the program. At most a tiny smidgen of this amount might have been small arms. More likely the small arms went to Greece early in the Cold War through a variety of military aid programs. It was touch and go for awhile with Greece being under a very real threat of being taken over by the commies.

Well guys got to the range again today and put another 20rds through it, This target is at 50yds. shooting from sitting postion, using the sling. The rifle shoots low, and last few rounds i was using kentucky windage, the 3 high and 3 center, pretty much had to aim at the top edge of the target. Sorry for the glare cell phone pics.

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-12172849.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-12172918.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...2-12172924.jpg[/IMG]

---------- Post added at 09:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 PM ----------

The rear sight is set in the center with no adjustments made for windage. Not really needed at 50yds anyways with a .30-06. Im thinking of replacing the rear sight, since adjustments could be compromised and incorrect. Then take a look at the front blade, maybe trimming some off if needed or ordering a shorter one. Anyone have an idea of what height would be needed to correct the 3" low shooting?