1918 1903, need advice

There is a 1903 listed on a local paper. 1918 serial number. Went to look at it today, not too bad, barrel has 1930 date, grasping groove stock, has a extra 1918 barrel to go with it. The bad is that it has a single heat straight bolt, which I'm not sure why as the sn is 8496xx which should have had a swept back bolt. I don't know if it would be worth getting then look for a swept back bolt and have it fitted and checked by a gunsmith. I don't want to end up putting more into it than what it's worth. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance.

Single heat treat bolts were never pulled from service. Because your rifle has a 1930 barrel date it is a rebuild, so it could have had any bolt installed in rebuild as long as it was made up to that date. Of course the bolt could have been swapped at any time since then as well.

heat treatment of the bolt was never an issue. It's whether the bolt headspaces. That's a bigger concern. Would love to see pictures.

Actually, Those single heat treat bolts were forged by the same guys who were burning the receivers, so the bolts ought to be burnt at a similar frequency. Hence because they are suspect by the same reasons that the low number receiver's are, they are, according to CMP rules, not allowed in competition. Now I know there are plenty of low number 1903's that people have and shoot but I am only interested in obtaining 03's to use at Camp Perry. Currently I am using my 1903 MK1, all correct parts, circa 1920. I'm actually looking for at least two, one for Vintage Springfield and I want to make up a 41 Sniper 03 for the Vintage Sniper Match.

Bolts are easy to come by (I must have a half dozen or so). Most are A3's made by various sub-contractors but 1 or 2 are 03's. Check Ebay. Usuallly a replacement bolt will headspace OK unless the receiver has been extensively used. If the bolt is the biggest problem and the price is in line, I'd say "go for it".

Attachment 128581Several years ago, I checked about a dozen bolts in the same rifle, and all passed a "GO" and rejected a "NO GO", so the odds are that a new bolt will be correctly headspaced. Get it checked regardless. Incorrect headspace will give you a bunch of these.