Pacific Miniseries 03A3

[mercman]

Last week or so I ordered one of the Pacific Miniseries 03A3 rifles from Sarco Inc. Now I've dealt with Sarco off and on for 25+ years and had mixed luck with them. Their products were always as advertised, but that term was open to interpretation. I have in general been satisified with their offerings so I took the plungs and ordered one of these shooting irons.

What intially attracted me to them was their provenance trail of being used in a WWII miniseries as an investment (maybe better than my 401K has been doing GI2) The add stated that they had new 'GI' barrels installed, hmmm, and had suffered the usual dings and scratches in being used in the making of the miniseries. The rifle also came with a picture of the whole lot before shipment, purchase orders and a signed certificate of authenticity from the movie director. What the heck, why not try and see what I'd get.

More pics after I figure out how to erase my camera's memory card. And very sorry for the workbench mess, I guess it's time for my biannual cleaning.

Well anyway it came today on the BBT and I must say I was pretty happy with what I got. I was expecting a redone drill rifle that I would probably have to return, but what I got was a Smith Corona receivered (as I had requested), 1943 R A barrelled (looks brand new!), USGI stocked period gun. The package also included a couple of stripper clips (brass and steel) and a sling marked Hoyt 1917 (in a package that says Made In India) and obvious repop.

Of course partway through taking some really lousy pics I got an error message saying my memory card was full, D'oh!! Here's some pics of what I got:

[/IMG]

Not visible here, but below the action is a stamp that says "US PROPERTY ROTC"

[/IMG]







Very sorry about the truly crappy pics. The receiver is marked Smith Corona and the barrel is marked RA 12-43. Barrel has very sharp rifling and a dusting of powder residue which I haven't cleaned out yet.

The bolt has a B&S body and mostly Remington stamped parts. The stock besides having the US Property ROTC stamp (looks more like ink than an impression stamp) is marked "OG" (Ogden Arsenal), "P" on the pistol grip and an "SS on the butt near the butt plate. No weld marks anywhere (Whew!!), just a good looking period rebuild. I am very happy with my purchase.

Correction!! After a closer inspection I found that this rifle is a reconditioned drill rifle that was welded at the cutoff lever and then repaired to allow functioning. I was so intent on inspection of the receiver ring/barrel area (which shows no indication of being welded and appears to have been intact for quite some time) that I overlooked the cutoff lever area. I purchased this rifle for an investment given the provenance of having been used in the miniseries. If the rest of the rifle was not in such good condition my decision as to whether to keep or return the gun would be easier. What do some of you folks that collect the 03 think about this decision?

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.