New "match 1903"

[Calfed]

I got this 1903 "match rifle" at an online estate sale last month. It is currently sitting at my FFL transfer dealer (damn California laws!) awaiting the expiration of the 10 day "cooling off" period (double-damn California laws!).





It is a Springfield, serial no. 12123xx, barrel dated 10-20 with what looks like a Lyman 17A globe front sight and a Lyman 48 rear sight, I got a chance to check the barrel (bright and shiny, gauging about a .5 on the CMP muzzle gauge) and the headspace (would not close on a Clymer field gauge).

At some point it was put in a 03A3 scant stock. Wondering if this is possibly the original barrel.

Will provide a range report as soon as I can get it to the range.

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[Calfed]

Today I was sufficiently dispassionate to pick up some guns that have been waiting at my FFL (California has a 10 day "cooling off" period). One was the 03 "match" rifle. I got a chance to take some pics and was pretty happy with what I found. Nice original barrel (I believe, based on the date), shiny and gauging midway between "0" and "1" on the CMP muzzle gauge, nice scant stock, Lyman 48 rear, Lyman 17 NXA front. Parts (except the stock, of course) seem original, or at least period correct.





This should be a good shooter

[Wulf]

That's a beauty!

[Calif-Steve]

Who and when did the Scant stock show-up? Not in the 1920's for sure.

[Calfed]

Parts (except the stock, of course) seem original, or at least period correct.

I'm pretty sure you are right about that, Steve

[Allen Humphrey]

Nice rifle. Congrats. I really like the mix of 1903 steel, 03A3 top wood, and match sights. My guess is that it will shoot great and turn lots of heads. Be sure to post some range reports.

[Calfed]

Will do, Allen.

I left this sitting at my FFL for far to long, trying to save a little change by putting a bunch of long guns on one DROS.

Now that I have it, I'll try and get out to the range and see what it can do.

[Calfed]

I shot the "match rifle" and two Smith Coronas that recently arrived.

The match rifle shot pretty well. I fired 5 69 LC rounds at 50 yards to make sure it was on paper


I wagged a few adjustments and then fired 5 rounds of Fiocci match ammo loaded with 180 gr SMK's at 100 yards

It looks like only 4 hit, but the target backer confirmed that the 2 lower holes are actually 3. I probably should have stuck with the LC.

One reason that I think the 100 yard shots weren't as good as I expected is the sights. The globe was almost the perfect size for the target at 50 yards. Unfortunately, I don't have any smaller globes for the sight, and at 100 yards, the globe was just too large.

[Allen Humphrey]

Sweet shooting. Take some black construction paper with you to the range next time and you can experiment with the diameter of the black to match the globe. However, it is probably set up to match the black diameter of either a SR-1 for 100yd (6.375" black) targets or an SR for 200yds (13" black). I still really like the look of that rifle despite the fact that the real collectors probably get a twitchy eyelid when they see one. In all seriousness, I am interested in seeing what you can wring out of a 1903 with target sights and I hope you post another range report on it soon.

[Calfed]

Thanks, Allen.

I'll buy a front sight insert set and some black construction paper and see what works best for me.

The range that I belong to has "Club Hi Power" matches that this rifle was made for.