Remington 03A3 – 12/43 Mfg. Date - Unissued Condition

[Caleb1911]

Hi to All,
This is my first post on MilSurps. I wanted to begin by thanking all of you for contributing your knowledge and expertise to this forum. I have found it to be an amazing resource over the years and I have learned a lot from reading the posts and subsequent discussions on this site. The information found here is second to none and I wanted to tell you all how much I appreciate the time and effort you put in. It has been great to be educated by the best.

This then leads to the subject of this post. I did not want to make this post until this gun was cleanly transferred into my hands. I have always had a keen interest in 1903 rifles and through the excellent training I have received here, I have become fairly good at differentiating original finish guns from arsenal rebuilds. Recently I ran across a late model Remington 03A3 that appeared to me to be unissued and perhaps even (dare I say it?) unfired. The gun was so clean that at first I thought it must be a fake, but the more I examined it I became convinced that it was the real thing. I went through my mental checklist: Receiver - deep green park; Barrel - parked with different color from receiver; Bolt - blued; Small Parts - blued; Butt Plate - tight checkering and blued; Safety - parked; Stock - correct cartouches and inspection stamps with OG inspection stamp; all parts correctly stamped with Rs in the right places. The final confirmation came in the form of the original shipping box with the appropriate aging, serial numbered to the gun with an August 9, 1962 shipping label from the NRA and the Letterkenny Ordinance Depot. The recipient named on the box checked out to be a WWII vet who had won a Bronze Star with a V for Valor as well as a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge. Of course I bought this gun before my dealer friend had a chance to pick it back up off the counter! You know, I had that feeling deep down inside, “Don’t let this one get away!”

To confirm that I had not lost my mind and my money I sent some pictures to the 1903 rifle encyclopedia who resides on this forum and is named John Beard. John graciously took some time to look at the gun and confirmed that I was of sound mind and character when I bought it. The money is not wasted - this is the real deal. John also encouraged me to make this post. I wanted to thank John for his help with this gun and for the time he takes to help out newbies like me who have questions. I know this must be like dumb-bell English for John, but he still takes time to answer and to teach any and all who ask. I know I speak for many when I say, “You are appreciated, John. Thank you for all that you do.”

What follows are some pictures of the gun. I look forward to any comments you might have. Best wishes to all.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Nice rifle...very nice.

[oldfoneguy]

Beautiful rifle, very clean. Shipped collect in 1962...wow!

[Glynn863]

Very nice rifle!

When I was in Army JROTC over 40 years ago, the unit had just received about 400 M1903A3s from the Army, all in practically the same shape as yours shown, probably from some sort of reserve war stock or the likes. Unfortunately, every single one had just been converted to Drill Purpose (or status). Plugged barrels, welded cutoffs, welded bolt face.

Mine was S/N 41283xx, with a 12-43 barrel. Fortunately, years later, I was able to find that exact same rifle and buy it from CMP. I have since restored it, with a NOS 12-43 barrel and other parts.

[John Beard]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad that I was able to help. And thank you for sharing!

J.B.

[Caleb1911]

No problem, John. I have been reading your posts for some time and I know that there are a lot of people on this forum that feel the same way.

[Caleb1911]

I had a question to the powers that be about getting some pictures posted of some really clean rifles in as close to unissued and original configuration as we can. There is a sticky posted on the forum of a thread that was started by Harlan in 2010 of an original configuration Remington rifle. The problem that am I having with it is that the pictures are no long available or linked so I cannot see the rifle he posted about. I understand that a lot of pictures were lost on the forum due to some technical issues a while back. I think it would be really helpful if we re-posted some good reference photos of various rifles and stickied these posts in order to help those who want to take a quick look at the originals for comparison with other rifles and discussion purposes. This would also help to re-build some of the reference photos that were lost. What does everyone think about that?

[browningautorifle]

I think it would be really helpful if we re-posted some good reference photos

Many have been doing just that in their own threads and posts. Yes, it's history. Harlan won't be posting however...he's been gone for some years now.

[John Beard]

Harlan passed away unexpectedly shortly after his pictures were posted. He had not even reached middle age and left behind a family. Very sad.

J.B.

[browningautorifle]

I was in touch with his son Tony for a time afterwards...