Unissued M1903O3A3's

[Chuckindenver]

ok,
well, i doubt any JROTC ever were issued M14,s maybe, and Garands very few, and were issued well after the 03,s and A3,s but doubltful.
however..
the JROTC were issued 1903A3,s and 1903,s for drill use. and the rifle were modified for drill use,, not demilled.
to demill, is to cut into 3 parts, modify for drill use, is to weld, and plug the bore so a live round cant be fired.
but,. yes, many many new unissued A3,s were modified for DP.
over the years iv seen many, that were still crispy, and likely had never seen DP duty as well.
some of the barreled receivers i got were still full of grease, and new original bolts that had been welded shut.,,what a shame.
but still, in the military eye. a 15.00 rifle is cheaper to modify, then buying new {toy} rifles at 18.00 per rifle..
most of those had location tags, from the CA ROTC highschool units..and never were issued, likely the stocks were removed for rifles in use...hard use.

Information

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[David]

John/Chuck:

Back in 1978 I had sent DCM a very early case hardened 1903 receiver right at the end of their program where one could be turned in and for $15 (I think) they would send you a serviceable receiver back. After waiting several months I contacted them and was told yes, they had gotten my receiver, no they did not have any more to exchange and by the way they could not find my receiver in their stocks.

A few days later one of the DCM employees called me and advised that they had located some 03A3's that were being turned into drill rifles for ROTC and they had arranged to pull one and send it to me. Was that OK... sure it was!!

When the rifle came it was a flat new from stock Remington 03A3 that from every sign had never been issued or fired beyond proofing. No wear, no rebuild marks, correct match of blue vs. parkerized parts, everything marked R that should be, etc.

So, along with what Chuck says, I am inclined to give credence to the story cited in the first part of this thread. In my case, I just got lucky!

[John Beard]

ok,
well, i doubt any JROTC ever were issued M14,s maybe, and Garands very few, and were issued well after the 03,s and A3,s but doubltful.
however..
the JROTC were issued 1903A3,s and 1903,s for drill use. and the rifle were modified for drill use,, not demilled.
to demill, is to cut into 3 parts, modify for drill use, is to weld, and plug the bore so a live round cant be fired.
but,. yes, many many new unissued A3,s were modified for DP.
over the years iv seen many, that were still crispy, and likely had never seen DP duty as well.
some of the barreled receivers i got were still full of grease, and new original bolts that had been welded shut.,,what a shame.
but still, in the military eye. a 15.00 rifle is cheaper to modify, then buying new {toy} rifles at 18.00 per rifle..
most of those had location tags, from the CA ROTC highschool units..and never were issued, likely the stocks were removed for rifles in use...hard use.

The high school JROTC where my children attended had M14's.

J.B.

[Emri]

The high school JROTC where my children attended had M14's.

J.B.

!973, Memphis TN, M14's. Ready to go but for firing pins. The armory was about 20x30 feet and 3 walls were lined with them in 2 rows. I'm sure they aren't there now!

FWIW,

Emri

[Loy Hamilton]

ok,
well, i doubt any JROTC ever were issued M14,s maybe, and Garands very few, and were issued well after the 03,s and A3,s but doubltful.
however..
the JROTC were issued 1903A3,s and 1903,s for drill use. and the rifle were modified for drill use,, not demilled.
to demill, is to cut into 3 parts, modify for drill use, is to weld, and plug the bore so a live round cant be fired.
but,. yes, many many new unissued A3,s were modified for DP.
over the years iv seen many, that were still crispy, and likely had never seen DP duty as well.
some of the barreled receivers i got were still full of grease, and new original bolts that had been welded shut.,,what a shame.
but still, in the military eye. a 15.00 rifle is cheaper to modify, then buying new {toy} rifles at 18.00 per rifle..
most of those had location tags, from the CA ROTC highschool units..and never were issued, likely the stocks were removed for rifles in use...hard use.

Hey Chuck

Get a load of this JROTC USMC beauty/my daughter and her pristine M14!!
I had 4 of those M14's in my truck one day after a parade, but the Gunny made me give them back..