USN Seabee Drill Rifle Rebuild

[sjwilbanks]

I'm looking for some direction for a special project, but first a little background on it: my father was on the US Navy Seabee Drill Team during the Vietnam years. He's 70 now, and my brother and I want to put together a rifle replicating his drill rifle as best we can to present to him. They used Remington 1903A3's- fully functional, not de-militarized. They had access to rifles and stocks by the truck load (they broke a lot of stocks), so they hand-picked each one, often cannibalizing multiple rifles to assemble their show pieces. They then sent out the metal parts to be chromed and refinished their own stocks. I believe all of their rifles were still functional since they often performed firing details during funerals and other ceremonies. I've found pictures of them with rifles fully chromed, fully parkerized, with white parade slings, OD slings, etc. Much like their uniforms, I think their rifles went through an evolutionary process as the years passed. At any rate, when he was discharged in 1969, he "acquired" a stock set, a chromed bolt, trigger guard, miscellaneous parts, and a bayonet, as well as a box of other spare parts before chroming, all stamped "R" or marked Remington. I want to use all of his original chrome parts on this project, although they will have to be re-chromed due to the finish starting to crack and flake.

Obviously I need a barrel, receiver, and other parts, so I'm looking for suggestions on how to best proceed. All will have to be chromed, so the parts won't have to be perfect. I've found a few sources online that sell parts, but I want to make sure I'm getting it right. Neither of us are gunsmiths, so we're willing to pay a professional to make it that way if that's the best route to take.

I've attached some photos from his drill team days that show the rifles as best as I could find. A Navy press photographer traveled with them all across the country, so I have some pretty good shots, but no real close-ups of the rifles. I've also included pics of what I currently have on hand.

Many thanks for any assistance or advice.

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