my new, broken 1903a3

[ssgross]

I just took possession today at my ffl and got it home. the underside of the barrel has some pretty bad rust going on, as does the front surface of the trigger. surface rust on the milled floor plate. The receiver is clean...the gunsmith that did the polishing and bluing left the parkerized finish under the woodline, and it did its job over the years. When I pulled it out of the box, the buttstock separated. here it is...
Attachment 116191Attachment 116192Attachment 116193
I was hoping to find a mark, or penciled signature somewhere under the buttplate or in the inletting to identify the gunsmith. The job on the bolt handle is interesting. I've seen some jeweled 1903 bolts, but none like this. It looks like it was done "in place", as I can't see any evidence of the original being cut off and a new one welded on. Were these handles sold aftermarket? or did someone painstakingly redo the original?

as regards barrels...sarco says theirs is still packed in grease. if no one has anything negative to say to the contrary, I'll order one. what I saw NOS on ebay was a ridiculous price.'

Jim, if you would like to try your hand at fixing the stock, it's yours. I'll splurge for the shipping too if you promise to post every step in detail with pictures! There was no rear screw bushing, but likely as you said someone beat a tree with it. Sad...but it's in safe hands now!

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[browningautorifle]

if you would like to try your hand at fixing the stock,

No thanks, just too bad. Nice profile of stock.

[usabaker]

Originally Posted by ssgross
if you would like to try your hand at fixing the stock,
No thanks, just too bad. Nice profile of stock.
Regards, Jim

I'm half tempted to send you the postage for the lost case and take it on just for Shoots and Giggles. But I have too many projects already I need to complete. Would be fun though, It's one of those cases that fixing it would cost more than buying the replacement if it was brought to a shop and just not worth it. Because of the break location, that one is going to require grafting of new wood and inletting just so the stock would act as a solid piece again and hold correctly to the recoil and motion/flex.

[ssgross]

I'm half tempted to send you the postage for the lost case and take it on

I thought about trying my hand at it just for the practice, but I despise sporter stocks with a cheekpiece...they are always on the wrong side!
postage would be on me, all you gotta do is fix it and post along the way.

My kids have already begun to speculate stories as to how it ended up this way...lots of fun.