1903A3 Smith Corona correct finish

[grey ghost]

I have an early Smith Corona (36121XX), what is the correct finish for an early gun? It has a dark parked receiver with a blue bolt. Rest of the metal parts are dark parked. Could it have gone thru arsenal rework? Stock does not have any arsenal rework cartouches. Thanks Steve

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.

[Chuckindenver]

pictures would help

[noelekal]

Don't know if this helps. I've had an early Smith Corona since I was 18 back in 1975. Has a six-groove barrel dated 12-42. Bought it in a pawn shop along with a fairly nice Krag Jorgensen and gave $200 for the pair. The fellow came off a little for buying both and the Krag had the higher price tag. 'O3A3s weren't worth faking back then so don't think the gun was monkeyed with in some garage. It was squeaky clean and new looking when I got it. Took my first two deer with it and shot it in high-power competition for some years. Never thought much about the rifle's origins for many years. It's put up in a scant grip stock which is a Remington feature. Most other parts are Smith Corona except for the front band which is some Parkerized thing. Oh, the bolt is a Commercial Controls sub-contract production item, marked "CC." That's the way I got it.

Been thinking about its origins for the past few years. I have a theory that it was never issued. Was perhaps a barreled action that was assembled into a rifle to be sent out through the DCM program in the 1950s/1960s. No way to verify that theory.






Here it is in a recent photo taken for a forum article about U.S. military contract guns produced by typewriter manufacturers.

[Kilo22Tango]

My SC 03A3 had a green parkerized finish. it was standard WW2 Green like many of the M1 Carbs and Rifles. My understanding is that SC only tooled up for WW2

¨SMITH CORONA PRODUCTION OF M1903A3

1943‑3608000‑3707999
1944‑4708000‑4992000
TOTAL: 234000

I sold my SC 03A3, and must have deleted the photos. I do recall the barrel was green parked as well as the butt plate and the around rear sight parts. Ring bands were greenish, bolt I recall as being blued over the mag well, but the back hammer knob was green, as I recall.

hope that helps. some photos may help.

---------- Post added at 09:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

theory of never issued to combat unit sounds good. there was rapid conversion over to the Garand. I know the WW2 SC I had was never banged up. I just dont see how any in the fight rifles made it out without lots of dings to the wood and butt plate. Parts like stocks were very often subcontracted for Rem or SC, to wood working companies. also, swapping of stocks and parts among manufacturers was common. If SC needed stocks, and Rem had a lot on hand, they would ship them to SC. I'm not sure SC ever made stocks, being mainly a metal machine works company. So a rem sub contractor stock may not be improper for SC metal.

[Craig Eberhardt]

[QUOTE=Kilo22Tango;276399]My SC 03A3 had a green parkerized finish. it was standard WW2 Green like many of the M1 Carbs and Rifles. My understanding is that SC only tooled up for WW2

¨SMITH CORONA PRODUCTION OF M1903A3

1943‑3608000‑3707999
1944‑4708000‑4992000
TOTAL: 234000

Where did you get these dates from? They don't seem to match the info provided by other credible sources? Not stating an opinion just asking....

[Chuckindenver]

most 1903a3s were issued to support or non combat type troops, iv seen more then a few truck driveres with 1903A3s , as well as heavy equipment operators.

[sakorick]

most 1903a3s were issued to support or non combat type troops, iv seen more then a few truck driveres with 1903A3s , as well as heavy equipment operators.

That's true for mid/late war, however, the 1st Marine Division on GC had them and the Marines were still using them at Iwo. Here is a pic taken in Oct 42 on GC with the 5th marine Rgt relieving the 1st Marine Reg. Note they are all carrying 1903's. When the 1st Marine Division was relieved in Jan 1943 and sent on R&R, they still had not been issued Garands. Regards, Rick.

[Rick the Librarian]

1. The production figures quoted above are only partially correct. No SCs were produced after the 4,850,000 range, if memory serves me. The only M1903s in the 4,900,000 range were a block of M1903A4 sniper rifles.

2. Sakorick may be confusing M1903s with M1903A3s. The Marines used Springfield, Rock Island and possibly some early Remington M1903s at Guadalcanal. The M1903A3 had barely started production (and was still having sighting difficulties) in October, 1942. Chuck was referring to M1903A3s being used as "secondary" weapons, not necessarily 1903s (although by the last half of WWII, such was largely the case.

[sakorick]

Sorry... I am not confused, as to me the 1903 and 1903A3 are only different in the rear sight. The fact of the matter is that 03's and 03A3's were used by combat troops in WWII and not merely relegated to rear echelon cooks and such. It took a long time to ramp up Garand production...that was my only point. In retrospect, I was referring to the bolt action rifle vs the semi-auto rifle and it is certainly true by the time the 03A3 was fielded it was relegated primarily to rear echelon soldiers. Regards, Rick.

[Craig Eberhardt]

[QUOTE=Rick the Librarian;276612]1. The production figures quoted above are only partially correct. No SCs were produced after the 4,850,000 range, if memory serves me. The only M1903s in the 4,900,000 range were a block of M1903A4 sniper rifles.


I thought my 478xxxx was made in 1943. That is why I queried the info above!