First, thank you to everyone who has responded to my questions. Each of you has provided valuable information and I appreciate it. With Art’s response, I think that I have enough info to move forward.

Art – I just realized that there were 2 pages to this thread and am now seeing your response for the first time. My wife refers to me as a SOP (stupid old person) – in this instance, she’s correct.
At first I didn’t know that this site is focused on restorations, but nonetheless, appreciate the advice. You’re correct, I want to use dad’s 03a3 for hunting and target shooting. Just need to restock it to fit my oversized carcass.

Just looked up Richard’s Microfit. It appears that they can provide a 96% inletted stock for an 03a3. Boyd’s does make stocks for these, but their inletting gets lots of poor reviews. Good to have an alternative – I’ll look into Richard’s further.

The sites that I’ve seen show that the action was manufactured in 42, but then again, it’s the internet. You get what you pay for. The barrel was clearly manufactured in Nov 43. As long as it continues to shoot well, it doesn’t matter to me. I didn't know about the safety, trigger guard, and bold mods - thanks. Love the Timney trigger. He also had one on an Argentineicon Mauser - consistently crisp and light triggers.

No clubbing or bayoneting, just a whitetail or two. I do some woodworking, so this will be a fun project and, as you say, a labor of love. Dad lived to hunt and play golf. While I’m not a golfer, he taught me to shoot rifles and pistols pretty well.

Since this site is focused on military rifles, you might find this interesting. In early summer 1945, dad was 14 and his brother was 12. They lived in rural, desert NM (their town is now named Truth or Consequences) and slept on a screened porch to escape the heat. Early one morning, the “sunlight” woke them up. A minute later, it was dark again. Being boys of that age (we’ve all been that boy), they didn’t think much of it and went back to sleep. That “sunlight” was the first nuke being tested at Trinity Site (White Sands Test Range), about 70 miles and a mountain range to the NE.

Again, thanks for your information and advice. I’ll try to remember to post a picture once the project is complete, probably towards the end of 2021 (if the chicom virus doesn’t get us first).

Glen