1903 barrel value

[amos930]

Hello, I am new to the forum, but I have been shooting Springfields for quite a while. I recently picked up a 1903 that someone has attempted to sporterize. They have drilled and tapped the receiver and bent down the bolt handle, and put in into a new stock, but they didn't finish the job. I bought the rifle to turn into a nice sporter instead of a piece of crap. The rifle, which dates to 1918, wears a 1942 SA barrel. The barrel has had the sights removed, but it still has the front and rear sight collars.

I was originally planning to remove the collars and re-fininsh the barrel, but I have been thinking that since the barrel hasn't really been tampered with, I wonder if it would be worth anything to someone trying to restore a 1903 rifle. If anyone knows what a barrel like this might be worth, I would like to know. I haven't been able to find any like it for sale so I don't have anything to go by.

I know that sproterizing these rifles is a big no no, but in this case the damage has already been done to the receiver. I would like to salvage the barrel if it could be worth anything to anyone.

Thanks for your help

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Rick the Librarian]

Are you putting on a non-military barrel as a replacement for the 1942?

As far as value it depends on the condition of the bore and how much wear. If you have access to some sort of muzzle gauge, that would be helpful. If worse to worse, you can use an M2-type 30-06 cartridge (the nose inserted in the muzzle, not chambered!) to get a rough idea as to wear. Obviously, the condition of the bore (lack or presence of any pitting) would be of interest to a potential buyer.

If a good bore and a fair amount of "life" left, the value would be in the $135-200 range. The lesser the wear, the more towards the "high" end.

[Claven2]

It depends where you are too. Here in Canada were 90%+ of the 1903's came from Korea or China and the bores are like the surface of the moon, a nice low-wear bbl is worth more like $300-350 as there are virtually no surplus new-in-wrap barrels left here now except 03A3 barrels. Very market dependent.

It is, IMHO, worth saving it and putting an after-market bbl on your receiver.

[amos930]

Thanks for the help. Yes, I am considering putting an aftermarket barrel on the receiver. From what has been done to the action, I don't think there is any hope left in restoring this one. It sounds as if there is at least some value to an origional barrel, so I will probably rescue it. Hopefully myself or someone else can use it to restore an old gun.

[Chuckindenver]

i have several nice sporter 1903 barrels i can work a deal with you on.