Hello all. Probably a common theme, but I was recently bestowed this rusty old rifle, which sadly had been sitting in the corner of a tin shed for who knows how long. I have been trying to learn about it before I start trying to clean it up. I am new to the M1903 and it's variants, and learning as I go, so please bear with me.















I KNOW!!


From what I gather, what I have here (and please correct me) is a Remington 1903 that has been sporterized (and neglected for years).

Short term goal is to stop the rust and clean her up as best I can (does that look realistic to you?). The plan was to use a fiber wheel to get the worst of it, naval jelly, etc. But that probably makes some of you cringe, so feel free to set me straight. A local gunshop offered to "bead blast" it (?). Once the rust is under control, I expect it will need to be re-blued? Parkerized?

The long term goal is to completely un-sporterize it and bring it back to as close to original, firing condition. To do that, it looks like I will need to obtain (at least) the following parts:

1. Stock ("S" stock? "C"? What would be correct?)
2. Bolt (I have been told that any 1903 bolt will slip right in... true or false? Where do I find one?)
3. Rear sight (I'm not sure what is on there now... looks to me like a sporterized peep sight but there appears to be a location for a ramp rear sight in front of the receiver?)


Thought about posting in the restorer's corner but I thought there would be some Springfield specific stuff to be answered here first.

Thanks for any input!
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