New to me, I also got a remington 1903a3

[mercdeking]

Just found this forum and like another poster I just got a 1903a3 remington.
From looking at my unit it looks like the barrel has a darker parkerized patina and is dated 10-43 while the serial number is 41285XX. From looking at it it is in excellent shape mechanically but it appears to have been reparkerized. Since from looking at most forums some of the parts should have been blued while most of my gun is parkerized. the only non parked parts are the cut off (magazine thingy switch). Every other part of my gun has been parked and looks really nice.

There are no stock markings on the stock so I figure that it is a replacement.

The bad thing is that my eyesight is sub 20/20 so I'm going to fiddle with it a bit, so far I already bought a s&k scope mount since I really don't want to completely affect it. Also bought another handgaurd.

From looking at it more closely, I'm sort of now wondering if I should or shouldn't since I've found that all the barrel bands have the little r, all the sight parts (and the rear sight is heavily staked so that might get damaged) all are properly marked The front band with the bayonet lug is also marked along with the barrel although the R sort of disappeared but the A is still showing (light strike?) the maker symbol on the barrel also seems to have been a light strike or maybe it's hidden underneath the new park and the light strike isn't helping it appear.

Will probably still do it mainly because I'm a recreational shooter and I really don't buy wall hangers. But I don't enjoy missing with irons plus I like the feeling of accomplishment when I smack something out to 300-500 yards with my rifles and at that distance targets disappear with my eyeballs.

Was going to post my pictures here but I'm having a hard time finding my card reader! Will post later tomorrow in the AM when I get off of work.

Now my question/s, is on removing the rear sight and from reading the rear sight removal thread, it seems pretty straight forward but is it possible to just keep slowly hitting it with my brass punch to remove it without damaging it? Or should I drill it out if it is staked in there pretty good?

Before I bought the scope mount I thought all I had to do was tap it out... and if I wanted to go back tap it back in. Is there any other ideas on getting it off without affecting anything?

Bought a replacement rear sight base but i don't know who the maker is in case I bork it up

Also, what is the fair market value of this gun, bought it from cabelas and when I tried to get one that looked to be in good shape from phoenix back pages it was going for 400 or 450 but i lost out to another Arizonan. When I was at Cabelas (in Glendale) I just kept walking back to it and bought it for $599 which seemed a bit high to me but by the time I go through an ffl since I haven't done my c&r yet paid my dues to an organization like GCA (25.00) and paid for my C&R (40.00) plus any shipping fees; I'ld be pretty close to that plus that damn impulse buy thing got me!

Funny thing was that there had been a 1917 that was in pretty good shape for the same price and I saw it going from the back to the racks a week or 2 ago! What a shame for it to get beat up and it was in pretty darn good shape.

I've bought a few Russian wwII guns and now I'm going to add a few american guns to my collection. Too bad anything full auto is out of my realm for now

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.

[RBruce]

Barrel date is within range for the SN. I would use a piece of oak or walnut as a drift to remove the rear sight - less chance to ding the base. The real problem removing the rear sight is avoiding bending the side of the sight base or housing. The S&K mount is a good choice since there is no permanent alteration to the rifle when mounting it.

[mercdeking]

Once the parts arrive in (delivery is scheduled on the 7th and 9th for all the parts) I plan on removing the rear sight screw and maybe make some sort of drop in piece to place in between the sight ears. Sort of like I used a two by four between my radiator support when I bent it on my camaro and then I used a steel bar to push it into shape.

I'ld rather do it right as much as possible, will try to drift it off first and hopefully it isn't staked on there too hard.

Barrel date is within range for the SN. I would use a piece of oak or walnut as a drift to remove the rear sight - less chance to ding the base. The real problem removing the rear sight is avoiding bending the side of the sight base or housing. The S&K mount is a good choice since there is no permanent alteration to the rifle when mounting it.

[mercdeking]

Well, I got the rear base off, I modified my new handgaurd that I bought and fitted things up. I've decided for now to stick with my old bolt but any suggestions on mounting a scope. I can see that I'm going to probably need some high rings but I'm wondering if my old 1" leupold will work or if anyone sells any decent reproduction scopes that is at least 4x?

Any suggestions?

The s&k mount mounted pretty solid on there but I didn't realize the amount of modification that the handgaurd would need!.

Lots of trimming and test fitting. Still need to finish it for the perfect fit but as is right now it looks ok, the middle band needs to be moved back an 1/8 of an inch since it didn't seat behind the steel band and I need to round some of the squared off ends like at the rear where it goes into the handgaurd still plate holder thing.

My only issue now is cosmetic, my receiver is parkerized and the scope mount is some sort of black finish.

[JGaynor]

[QUOTE=mercdeking;85061]Well, I got the rear base off, I modified my new handgaurd that I bought and fitted things up. I've decided for now to stick with my old bolt but any suggestions on mounting a scope. I can see that I'm going to probably need some high rings but I'm wondering if my old 1" leupold will work or if anyone sells any decent reproduction scopes that is at least 4x?

Any suggestions?

QUOTE]

Use any decent 1" Import (Bushnell etc.) that fits and gives you the eye relief, magnification and reticle you desire. If you are shooting at 300 to 500 yards you might want to bump up the magnification to 6 or 8 X.

Definitely try the Leupold on for size. They are pretty high quality scopes

Regards,

Jim

[sevenfingers2001]

I just purchased a Remington made 1903A3 Springfield and wonder if my old eyes (wearing bifocals now) will be up to snuff but I won't despair; it's an old and dear friend!
Some years ago I had an M1 Garand, and M1 Carbine, and a 1916 Spanish Mauser.
The Mauser sported a no gunsmith mount from B-Square which worked perfectly well with a pistol scope.
When my eyes were younger, clear, and bright I could hit the 500 meter gong 5 out of 5 with the iron sights on the Garand.
The Mauser would hit 3 for 3 chickens at 200 meters with a Tasco Pro Point!

[Swede49]

Recently acquired another 03A3, 4-43 all-Remington, black rear peep, pinned stock with faint markings, possibly sanded at some point. Very smooth action. Paid $400. Cleaned up stock by stripping and krud kutter, BLO finish. Good, shiny bore. Haven't fired her yet. Has that great Springfield feel!!
Attachment:

IMG_5558.jpg [ 405.6 KiB | Viewed 19 times ]


Attachments:

IMG_5537.jpg [ 1.77 MiB | Viewed 19 times ]

IMG_5536.jpg [ 1.79 MiB | Viewed 19 times ]

IMG_5531.JPG [ 1.49 MiB | Viewed 19 times ]

IMG_5533.jpg [ 1.74 MiB | Viewed 19 times ]