1903 a4 Price check

[johnny112]

Today I came across a Remington 1903a4 at the local gun shop and wanted to get second opinions on what these one of rifles may be worth as these guns seem to be in a wide price range these days for many different reasons based mostly on originality. Any and all advice would be amazing. and my apologies in advance for the bad pictures.

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.

[JGaynor]

Your rifle s/n 3412978 is one of about 200 recorded in the CMP inventory in 1999. It is also recorded in the Records of the Springfield Research Service (SRS) noting the CMP inventory status.
For a charge of $25.00 CMP will search their records and may be able to provided some additional information. SRS can also provide additional information but if all they have is the CMP inventory I doubt it would be worth the cost.

The rifle appears to have a June 43 Barrel which is appropriate for that s/n. The barrel also has a mark at 6 o'clock which suggests its original.

The boxed "OG" stamp suggests the rifle was rebuilt at Ogden Arsenal.
The Bolt has been parkerized which is typical for a rebuild /refinish.
The magazine box Assembly has also been parkerized. Originally it was blued.

The firing pin is from an M1903.

The telescopic sight is a very late model M73B1, so while correct, it is not original to the rifle. (CMP records may disclose if the rifle was shipped with a scope.)

Questions:
1. Are there any stamps on the left side of the stock above sand behind the trigger. Specifically a large "RA", an "FJA" (boxed or unboxed) and the "ordnance escutcheon"?
The stamps may be faint but without them i believe the sub-inspectors marks forward of the magazine might be counterfeit.

2. Is the barrel 2 or 4 grooves?

Regards,

Jim

[johnny112]

Jim,
There was a "RA" and "FJA" both looked non boxed very faint and what looked like a circular crossed cannons.
what are ur thoughts on a fair price? any way to know purchase price from CMP?

[m1903rifle]

This rifle would have probably have had a full "C" stock when it left Remington instead of the scant.

[JGaynor]

Jim,
There was a "RA" and "FJA" both looked non boxed very faint and what looked like a circular crossed cannons.
what are ur thoughts on a fair price? any way to know purchase price from CMP?

Faint stamps are OK.

Original, including rebuilt- original rifles have been few and far between lately. Only saw one at the last two gun shows i attended.
i have seen similar rifles go for $4500. at Allentown Show. $5500. in the CMP auctions (which are typically high).

In the last few years shooters have become much more accepting of clones and reproductions so there has been some downward pressure on prices.

In this case the CMP and SRS listings work in its favor. Of course if you are buying I would keep that to myself.

[johnny112]

Thanks guys for all the great help and advice!I was hopeing to find one more in the $3000 to 3500$ range so i think this rifle may be a little out of my price range.

[Neal Myers]

None of the 1999 CMP lottery rifles came with a scope. M84 scopes were sold separately. The lottery rifles were either Condition A (with attached scope base) or Condition B (no scope base). The one pictured appears to be a Condition A rifle, which was sold by CMP for $650.

Subsequent to the lottery, CMP sold several additional 03A4's at auction, & 1 or 2 came with an M84 scope.

The scope pictured here looks exceptionally nice. I would pay $3,500-4,000 for the rifle.

Neal

[Randy A]

This rifle would have probably have had a full "C" stock when it left Remington instead of the scant.

Unless any records state otherwise there is no way of knowing, a very large number of A4s left the factory in scant stocks. The fact that this stock is an authentic A4 stock "and" carries the RA and FJA stamps means that it left the Remington factory on an A4. Granted, could have been a different A4 but was still a new issue stock.
I know there are a lot of folks out there that think scant stocks and 2 groove barrels were "2nd choice" or replacements, but that's not the case. There is strong evidence that a "majority" of the 2nd and 3rd production runs of A4s had scant stocks and a significant majority had 2 groove barrels.