Got a friend who is trading a rifle for a described pristene all original,no alterations 03-A3. Have'nt seen it yet but he should be bringing it by in the next couple days.If it is how he described it,any ideas of value. I can only assume a low ser.#.

M1903A3 rifles were not produced until 1942, so the title of your post is a non-starter. The U.S. Rifle Model 1903 was produced from 1903 through 1942. There are virtually no "pristine all original, no alterations" M1903 rifles outside of collections. Some early Remington M1903 rifles made in late 1941 and early 1942 and never issued were brought back from England and stored here for many years before becoming available a few years ago. There are some such M1903A3 rifles - those built late and placed directly into war storage. I have one of the latter Smith Corona M1903A3 rifles in my collection.

Virtually all M1903 and M1903A3 rifles have been arsenal rebuilt at least once and most more times than that. There is no way to value a rifle like this remotely without extensive pics. Measurement of muzzle and chamber with an appropriate tool will give an indication of barrel wear. A barrel date that corresponds to the serial number production date is a minimal indication of "correct" status but each individual part must be checked before any degree of originality or correctness can be considered.

Bottom line? Be very careful and remember to buy the rifle, not the story. $700-$800 for a shooter would sound reasonable to me, but I haven't bought nor sold one of mine in some years.

All the above is off the top of my head, without checking my reference books, but is reasonably accurate. Hope this helps.

I had 7 03s at one time only one of them was close to being pristine. All the rest were arsenal rebuilt mostly in the early 40's'

Sold most of them in the last few years in the 700 dollars range after having them on the marget for awhile.

As stated above its got to be a WWII rifle if it's an 03A3. It's much more likely to see an original pristine 03A3 than just about any other US service rifle. There are a lot of non rebuilt 1903 rifles, nothing like M1s. I'm always suspicious of anyone says they have have an "original" M1. Anyway a good clean 03A3 will start at $600 and go up. 4 groove barrels command more than two groove. Barrel date ( top of barrel just behind the front sight) should be '42 or later. 03A3 rifles are probably the best bolt action service rifle ever made. Good luck.

He claims it was mfg.in 1920.Misses WW1 a bit.Will post more info when I get it.Thanks.

Be different like me ,get a Mark I .
I just wish it had all the interesting parts .

I have a question here that I hope someone can help with. i have a Smith-Corona 03a3 with a barrel date of 6/43 that appeared to be unfired - I have shot it four times. The bore is the cleanest and brightest of ANY WWII vintage rifle I have ever seen that had been fired with corrosive ammo.
The widow I bought it from stated her late husband had bought it "from the NRA" and I assume she meant the CMP. No paperwork was found so I only have what she told me to go on. Everything on the piece seems to be original - barrel index marks align, etc. Now for the heart breaker - it sits in a Fajen sporter stock and no trace of the original GI can be found.
So, what are my chances of ever finding the correct stock and stock furniture to make this a complete and correct 03a3.
Secondly, how much is such a rifle worth 'as is' in the sporter stock, etc.

All 1903s and A3s are dated on the barrel, top of the muzzle end. Tell him to look there for the month and date. That does not or may not be when the rifle was made as many were changed out during overhaul or rebuild at some point but for sure, all A3 barrels will be dated during WW2. They are very strong and not as well made as the 03s. I have a set of original stock and parts I will sell you. Sporterized A3s should be 300 or so if the barrel has not been cut. If so, don't pay too much as you will have to get a barrel and they are 150 for a Remington and 350 for a SC if you can find one, which you can't. I just sold the last new ones I had.

quote:

Originally posted by TrapperP:
I have a question here that I hope someone can help with. i have a Smith-Corona 03a3 with a barrel date of 6/43 that appeared to be unfired - I have shot it four times. The bore is the cleanest and brightest of ANY WWII vintage rifle I have ever seen that had been fired with corrosive ammo.
The widow I bought it from stated her late husband had bought it "from the NRA" and I assume she meant the CMP. No paperwork was found so I only have what she told me to go on. Everything on the piece seems to be original - barrel index marks align, etc. Now for the heart breaker - it sits in a Fajen sporter stock and no trace of the original GI can be found.
So, what are my chances of ever finding the correct stock and stock furniture to make this a complete and correct 03a3.
Secondly, how much is such a rifle worth 'as is' in the sporter stock, etc.

If they just yanked the barrel action out of the military stock and put a sporter stock on it then your chances of putting it back to military is pretty good. I believe all the stock hardware for that model were of the stamped type which are readily available. You can find a stock time to time, but you can get a reproduction one too.

It's worth whatever someone will pay for it.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Be different like me ,get a Mark I .
I just wish it had all the interesting parts .

I have a Mark I although it has been rebuilt. I'm surprised that is still retains the Mark I trigger and sear. What was different on the Mark I's that I know of was they had, of course, the cut out in the left receiver wall for the ejection port, the stock wood near that port is lower so to clear it, the trigger and sear are different, the magazine cutoff switch is different, and the receiver is marked as a Mark I.

I recently acquired a Smith Corona 03A3 that my grandfather purchased from the NRA in early 60's. He left it as is, and I believe he paid about $25 for it. Excellent condition, 4 groove barrel like new, and shoots unbelievable groups at 100 yds (bench) with the peep sites and reloads. I just worked up a hunting load for it, and would love to shoot a deer with it some day.

My first center fire was a 03-A3 brought just before GCA 68 went into effect.

The business that had them had tables full of them for 30 dollars.

30 dollars was a lot of money back then

03A3s were not low serial #s, in fact they had their own sets of serial numbers. They were built by Remington and Smith Corona. They were built with 2 and 4 groove barrels. Value depends on condition and originality. What are called "prime marks" can make a rifle that looks the same a $400 or $1500 rifle. The book THE COLLECTABLE O3' by JC Harrison is a must have book before messing with any 03's
http://www.amazon.com/COLLECTA...tible+03+springfield

This is my hunting load I just developed for the 03A3... 165 Hornady Interlock, 5 shots, benched at 100 yds, standard peep sites.



And this one is my target load, using 168 Hornady Match, 5 shots, 100 yds, peep sights.

I was amazed how well peep sights would work, when I do my part.

Okay Mike, we need to know more about the load????

Powder, weight, primer, brass.......come on man?


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