I thought I posted this yesterday, but can't find it, so bear with me if two posts show up.

I want to try something different, and am thinking of a sporter 30-06 using a 1903 Springfield. I don't know much about them, but have seen them occasionally at gun shows and in pawn shops.

Any hints for picking out a good one? Common problems to watch out for? Price I could expect to pay for a typical 1950's surplus-cheaply-converted-to-sporter, in salvageable condition?

I plan to use the issue barrel, do whatever modifications needed to mount a low scope, polish/reblue, and put it in a new stock.

Thanks for any pointers.

Todd

[ 06-16-2002, 14:54: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

Todd; being the proud owner of four already sporterized Springfields, two 03 and two 03A3, I would reccommend looking for and buying an already converted rifle. The cost of sporterizing is more than the result is worth and there are many used Springfields in sporter guise already on the market. Ones that someone else has put the money into. Most are inexpensive which is what you will have when you finish converting one yourself, a very expensive rifle that has low resale value. I had one of my 03A3's rebarreled to 9.3x62 over the winter and just as soon as I finish here I'm going to the range and enjoy hunting dangerous game in South Dakota. Ok, it's paper but I can dream.
Plus the collectors have driven the cost of stock 03's up and get really twitchy when someone cuts one up.

I bought mine already sporterized with a pre WWII 2X Zeiss for $135. Not sure if this is the going rate or not, but the unmodified versions are definitely worth more. My current scope has a straight 3/4" tube. It has to be in order to clear the safety and the bolt handle. The bolt handle could be bent, but how do you get clearance for the safety if you wanted to mount a scope with a bigger eyepiece?

Todd,

Listen to 33-OKH. There may be a million or more sporterized Springfields out there right now. We got them for as little as $5 and cut them up.

Now with military collectors paying hundreds of dollars for a used one I don't see the sense of it. The actions are quite slick however and faster to cycle than the soft Mausers. There are low numbered Springfields too that you should know about that may not be heat treated right.

So as suggested if you must have one look for one already started and don't pay a lot. They are very accurate rifles or at least so when they came out of the Armory. Far more accurate than the Mausers that I have shot.

Rest easy, I'm not thinking about cutting up a stock '03. That would be rather expensive for a "donor" action.

Ideally, I would like to find a 'cut-down' sporter, with a chopped military stock and few metal alterations (less chance of things being screwed up). The only alterations I was planning were a low bolt handle, new safety, bluing, and a classic style stock. I would probably scope it, but maybe just a receiver sight. I'd prefer to use the original barrel, if in good shape, to avoid the expense of rebarreling. The whole idea is mainly just to play with something new (the same reason I reformat my computer every time I get it running good). Also because some crappy old military rifle that I spent several dozen hours refinishing means a lot more to me, for hunting, than a stock rifle I bought. Since I started doing this with Mausers, my 2 factory rifles haven't been to the range once.

What I'm interested in is the cut off for serial #'s to avoid the "slow-roasted" unsafe receivers, and some steering in the direction of '03 vs. 03-A3. And any common problems that would make the action unsafe or unsuitable for my purposes. There is a relative lack of this information in the bookstores and libraries, I can only guess because the heydey of Springfield modifying was 40 - 50 years ago.

Thanks again, and good shooting to all.

Todd

[ 06-19-2002, 06:59: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

The book you need is Hatcher's Notebook by Julian S. Hatcher Major General, U.S.A. Retired. Published by Stackpole, my copy is the 1966 edition. May not be in print, used copies are out there. 03 cutoff numbers are Springfield Armory, above 800,000, Rock Island Arsenal, above 285,507.
Some of the later 03A3's had stamped trigger guard/ floor plate assemblies which are God-awful ugly, I have been fortunate to find mine with the nice bottom metal. Around here they sell for $175.00/$250.00 depending on which shop has them. One thing to watch out for is scope screw holes that are not in line, the receivers are damn hard and it's hard to hold the bit in place unless one has precise equipment which some of the amateur gunsmiths obviously did not have. Have fun, as I have said before, one of mine has become a 9.3x62 with a nice long magazine. Enjoy!