A close friend and training partner of mine lost his father two weeks ago at the age of 88. He was a local magistrate for over 30 years and was a lifelong firearms enthusiast. This past weekend, I helped my friend inventory his late father's firearms in anticipation of selling them for his mother. As a thank you for my help, my buddy gave me first dibs on the guns available and I bought this Springfield 1903 sporterized rifle. The action and barrel are in their original military configuration except for the addition of a barrel band and stud replacing the original military barrel band and the replacement of the original ladder rear sight with a vintage and then top-of-the-line Lyman 48 aperture sight. The original military stock has been replaced with a custom stock having very refined hand-checkering on the forend and pistol grip. It had a 60+-year-old recoil pad installed that was basically "petrified" and had become brittle and literally hard as a rock. I removed it and will be installing a new all black Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad on it in the near future.
This rifle was manufactured at the Springfield Armory in 1930 and its original SA barrel is dated 2-29. I'm excited to have obtained this really cool Springfield sporter that, though no longer in its original configuration, is still a piece of American military history. In its present form, it makes for a handsome, handy, well-balanced hunting rifle chambered in the versatile and very capable .30-06 cartridge. I'm happy to own it!
I've owned literally hundreds of different firearms over the decades, but I never got around to owning a U.S. Rifle Model 1903. This is my first. Is there anything I should know about this one or anything interesting and/or unusual about it that you can comment on?
I do have one question. That J5 bolt, from the information I've found about it, seems from a few years earlier than the receiver and barrel. Does this indicate it is a replacement? Is this odd? Thank you!
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