Help with a Remington 1903A3

[Roy S]

Hi all,
Haven't been here for a long time but back & need help.
Looking to buy a remington 1903A3 The barreled action has been put into a sporter stock but the iron seem to be correct its a 4 million serial number and has a barrel marked RA & I believe 2-44 date. finish seems original parked grey-greenish color. For some reason the fellow selling this rifle says his grandfather sporterised several of these back in the 50s-60s and this is the last one. Seems to have had the bolt handled altered. like for a scope but no holes drilled in the front receiver ring. Has Original A3 rear sight. When I raised the bold handle as to cock the rifle I noticed a notch on the right side just behind the rear receiver ring in the tang. I didn't purchase the rifle due to this notch. I came home to check this out on a rifle I own. It has been sporterised too and also has the notch - My brother also has an A3 sporterised too and it has the notch. I attached 2 photos of my sporter for comparison - the notches are almost identical to the 1903A3 I want to buy. Is this original to these 03A3 receivers??
Also - how are Remington 03A3 parts marked to id if all are remington?
Thanks for the help
Roy

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.

[Mike D]

The notch is not original to the M1903A3. It is a common mod when using a turned down bolt.

Most Rem A3 parts are stamped with an "R".

Mike

[Roy S]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the info. In your opinion, as far as barreled receiver is concerned, & I'm on a fixed budget so was thinking about this rifle and if I can acquire it reasonably -#150 to $175- and put a couple hundred dollars in a stock and some stock hardware would it be worth it and just as presentative of the WWII M1903a3. I wouldn't attempt to sell it as an original but I would make sure all components are correct for my sake. I just can't afford $600 to $800+++ plus bucks for a complete rifle these days. The components & finish are pretty nice. It does have a milled triggerguard rather than the stamped component. I have a bolt on the line and thik the rifle is more than safe.
Just need someone else's opinion.
Thanks again
Roy

[Col. Colt]

A similar notch was only done on one factory model 1903 Springfield - the M1903A4 from WWII. The sporter in your pictures with it's high polish would not be very restorable - but the parkerized gun you describe is different. It would seem the original owner planned on scoping this rifle also at some time in the future, and just did all of them at once. If that is the only material deviation from completely factory metal, with a tight budget in mind, I would go ahead with your plan. You will have a perfectly good shooter, and very few people would know the difference. CC