Opinions on this Remington 1903A3?

[clarkmilitaria]

Hello,

I would greatly appreciate help determining value and authenticity of this rifle. The seller says that it is a remington 1903A3, a rework, he does not find markings on the smaller parts, but he knows it has Remington parts. He says the bolt has etched numbers on it, the serial number is 3587XXX and the barrel date is 6-44. I have requested more photos, the one attached is the only one I have currently. He also says he checked the headspace and found the rifle to have target-grade tolerances.

My research on the serial number gave me a production time of early 1943. That would lead me to believe that this rifle was rebarreled, am I correct? If you need any photos please let me know.

Thanks,
Jim

Information

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[Rick the Librarian]

VGery hard to tell from just the one picture, but I can gather the following:

1) The rifle has been rebarreled - an original barrel would be from early 1943

2) If the bolt is etched on the top of the bolt handle, it is most likely a former CMP Greek rifle. I does look like a nice example, though.

It depends on what you're looking for. If a "collector" it may not be a good choice. If a "shooter" (and the price is right), it may be a good choice.

[clarkmilitaria]

The rifle would cost me around $550, but I am not interested in it for a shooter. Maybe I could pass it along to someone who is interested in it for that price. Thanks for the help.

[Rick the Librarian]

That's a very decent price. The CMP rifles will probably be in the $600 range and you don't know what you'll be getting, especially regarding the bores. By all means pass it along to someone interested in a nice shooter.

[Mike D]

It almost looks like a straight-handle bolt, hard to tell. $550 sounds good if the bore is great. Seems like prices have dropped a little lately.

[Rick the Librarian]

You might be right, Mike. Clarkmilitaria, what markings are on the bolt - look on the top and bottom of the bolt handle and on all sides of the safety lug, about halfway up the bolt body.

[clarkmilitaria]

According to the seller, there are no markings other than the electropencilled number. I Also thought the bolt handle looked straight, I thought I had seen 03A3's with slightly turned handles. For my own future reference, is that normal for 03A3's?

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Hi clarkmilitaria,

I have an original Remington 1903A3 and I took many detailed photos of about every detail I could think of and posted them in a 'sticky' that's at the top of the page.

I put the photos together to try to help people so they could see how the A3 was configured and also it's unique finishes when it was new because so many of them were rebuilt and refinished after WWII. Possibly these photos will help.

Remington 1903A3 (displaying original configuration and finish)