I guess one could argue the fine points between sporterized and custom as at least one of these was probably never a military rifle.

I've posted these here and there but since I'm a new guy lurking here......Regards, Art

gorgeous.

those are some very nice 03's

I have to agree

Its hard to beat good 03 porn.
Thanks for sharing

I've always wanted a nice custom built on an '03. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful. I have a nice 03 a friend just finished up for me, done pre-war style, need to find someone to checker it.

Here's one I've been working on a while. I sealed the stock to try it out at the range. Once that is done, I can finish the stock and have it checkered. It is in 240 Weatherby. I made it to be a partner to an Enfield I purchased in 240 Weatherby. The stocks are of similar wood, but the Enfield is more modern. I thought it would be neat to have a sort of pair based on the two WWI battle rifles.













Here's the Enfield that inspired it:

Could not agree more about the handsome part of your Springfields. On the opposite end of the spectrum, but just finished building on mint 03 a duplicate of the original sniper version complete with like new Unertl scope. Very accurate piece of gear. However my ultimate goal is to convert it to sporter couple years from now and seeing these even convinces me more to do just that. Well aware of the design advantages of the M98, own a few, but they "aint no Springfield."

Can you share with us where those stocks came from? Very attractive.

The stock on the Enfield I have no idea. I bought the gun on consignment at a gunshop. Had to replace some springs and the firing pin, but then it functioned flawlessly. It is a relatively modern design but has a really open grip when seen in person.

I purchased the blank for the Springfield on eBay. It was 10 years old and paid $215 for it. I actually thought it would have more marble cake when turned since it was perfectly flatsawn. It ended up with wide streaking instead, due to the stock contours.

I had it turned to an Old Classic style by Richards. I then had to remove about half the remaining wood, due to their usual clubiness for my taste.

Surprising thing to me was that the Enfield weighs 1-1/2 to 2 pounds more than the Springfield. The barrel is slightly bigger, but is fluted, and the foreend is quite a bit longer, but the difference in the actions is amazing when seen side by side. It makes me really appreciate the job the smith did on it to make the action look so balanced. If the Springfield shoots better than the Enfield, I may do a barrel swap to a larger caliber. One thought is to have it rechambered to 244 H&H. Toyally useless, but what a conversation piece!

Both the Enfield and Springfield are very nice. I hope my wife is in line to inherit her dads semi sporterized 03.