I'm thinking about getting a 1903A3 to use for hunting and maybe converting into a sporter. How are these as a .30-06 hunting rifle as compared to a CZ 550 or a Ruger M77 II?

Thanks for any help,
Dave

Dave, please don't do that. There are just too few original '03's out there. They make beautiful sporters, but take it from me, you'll probably go to hell if God is a gun collector if you "sporterize" that Springfield. Pick up a used Remington, Winchester, Ruger, or any other good rifle in that caliber.

There are several custom 03s for sale on GUNSAMERICA.

I have one I find that they make a rather heavy sporter lots of work to get them to be lighter. I would much rather buy a new ruger mkII and do some custom work on it then spend the money on something that old.

They are heavy, have slow lock times, and don't handle escaping gas very well.
As the 03 is a copy of the 93 Mauser (not the 98).
By the time you put the money into it you would be better off with somthing else.
The design is over 100 years old, give them the respect they deserve.
Good Luck!

Collectors can kiss my @$$, I just can't respect anyone who takes good rifles out of circulation for money the sold out bastards. Springfield actions are lighter than Mausers and far better looking. Lock time is easily speeded up with a new spring and the barrels that they were issued with are often of very good quality just needing to be turned down to lighten. The 03 is better finished and has much nicer bottom metal than the 03A3 but the latter has more strength due to better(more consistant) heat treating. The actions compare more closely to pre 64 Winchester model 70 actions than the Model 93 mauser. If you want to be just like the rest of the toads build a Mark 11 Ruger or Remington, want to show some class build a Springfield.

Collector or not, it don't make much sense to take a $500-$600 rifle and turn it into a $250 rifle.

The '03 and the '03A3 make beautiful sporters! The A3 requires more work to finish it nicely, and you do need to replace the stamped bottom metal, but in the end, it can be a very nice piece. I had one redone into a sporter by Paul Jaeger of PA back in the mid-60's, and it was superb. All tool marks removed, polished, rust-blued, restocked in French walnut, Canjar trigger, M70-style safety, Redfield Jr. mounts, and rechambered to .308 Norma Magnum. Turned out to be very accurate too, but punishing due to the Neidner steel buttplate! Smoothest feeding bolt-action I ever had, except for the Mannlicher-Schoenauers, which outclass ALL other bolt actions for feeding!

[ 12-07-2003, 19:24: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

The first rifle I boought 36 years ago was a sporter built from a Springfield. Was very well done. Williams bridge and rings, Beuhler safety, jeweled bolt and follower, spade handle, chambered for 308 Norma Magnum. Someone had obviously loved it.

Action is slick as owl shit. Rifle is accurate! Has always shot around an MOA.

Is as handy as any Mauser. Has prettier lines. A classic in its own right.

Today, Id tend to try to find an action and build from there rather than remove an original from its pristine condition. If a good action is too hard to find or too costly, get a CZ 550 ... they are good rifles too. Isn't quite as pretty, but is a lot less work and is very, very serviceable.

I think that they are great. I have 3. and if you pay attention you can get them for a good price. One is in my shop right now (new ejector and 2 position m70 style safety I am installing) I got it for 210 2 years ago. I have on in 308 norma, very beautifully sporterized for about 450. They had polished out the barrel to a mirror (not a single machine mark) and the whole thing was reblued, came with a Leupold scope.

But definitely buy one already sporterized. my 03a3 I bought basic with a fajen stock on it, by the time I had it drilled and tapped, safety installed, trigger, bolt handle, well you get the picture.

I do think they are some of the prettiest sporters in the whole world.

Red

I think some of you more or less got my point.I don't care how much money was spent on the original 03 or 03A3, you can pick up a real nice sporterized version at just about any gun show, or even off the net, for somewhere in the $250 (plus or minus) range.Try to buy an original untouched version for any where close to that. I have bought several nice ones over the years, including P14 and 17's, and assorted 98 Mausers in every caliber under the sun (well, not quite)and never gave anywhere close to what was spent to sporterize them. And 99% were shooters.
Many years ago I had a 1935 five window Ford Coupe with rumble seat, completely original, and chopped it to hell making a Chevy powered hot rod out of it.I don't lose any sleep thinking about it, but what it would be worth in its original configuration could have been part of my retirement today. But not all is lost. I traded it for a NIB Browning Hi-Power in 1960.

Take $700 gun and add $500 work and get a $150 sporter.
How do you make money like that?
Volume!

As has been mentioned there are more Springfields being put back to full military than being made into custom rifles by far. Look at what original military parts are selling for on Ebay and you can see that. This is fine to a point, but it certainly won't happen if I have the action. I have three of the Remington 03s and they make into beautiful sporters. Maybe they are not quite as slick as the Double heat treated Springfield Armory 03 I have but they are nicer than the Remington 03A3 and the Smith Corona 03A3 I also have. Yup, that makes six of them, and I would still by more at the right price.

If you want a military collectable get one of the low number Springfield Armory or Rock Island models and go from there. You wouldn't want to shoot a nice collector's item anyway and you probably shouldn't shoot these low number Springfields. Presto, problem solved and we will both be happy.

I am not worried about the "Springfield Gods" being upset about making fine sporters from these rifles because it goes back to the beginning of these actions. Ever heard of a "Springfield Sporter" or "National Match Springfield"? These were both made at the Springfield Armory. Add to these such famous names as Griffin & Howe, Hoffman Arms, Sedgely Arms, Bob Owens, and Al Linden and you have as much history as the military version has, maybe more. Yes, go ahead and make that sporter. If you choose not to dismantle a full military version for the action, that's fine. If you do, thats fine also. There are plenty of people out there who will gladly buy the parts from you to bring another up to full military dress. You will both become winners.

I would certainly never go the other way, and try to put something that had been sporterized back to its original military configuration.I might spend a little more on it to "pretty up" the sporterizing job, if it shoots.The 30-40 Krag was mentioned above. That's another rifle that has been chopped up so much that it is hard to find a carbine that is original.And the action is the slickest there is.I have had two or three, still carry one in the saddle boot on my ATV.I had a chance to buy one several years ago, (a full rifle) that was pristine. Nicest stock I had ever seen on one.Still had the top wood in place. Except for the two inches of butt stock missing and the shotgun recoil pad replacing it.

I am certain the total agreement of the responses on this thread settled the issue for the original poster. In not, let me throw my opinion in the pot as somebody who has built up a number of Springfield sporters over the years.

Springield actions build up good rifles in spite of the coned breech, two piece fing pins and othe issues detractors mention. Are Springfield actions any better than a good mauser? No...I don't think so, but there is something so American about a Springfield sporter. It takes us back to the early days of Griffin and Howe and folks like Bob Owens and Adolph Neider.

I agree that we should leave any original military rifles alone, but there are plenty of 03s and 03A3s out there in various stages of desecraton we can use. The 03 is a better finished action that the 03A3, but about twenty hours of hand polishing can removed all those tool marks done producing a slick and attraction action. You can even reshape the rear receiver bridge to mimic the 03 if you like.

I see no reason why somebody should not take an already modified Springfiel and build it into a first rate sporter. Any supposed advantage of other actions won't show up as any significant difference in real world shooting and hunting.

Go for it!!

I have owned three Springfield sporters in my life.

The first was a John Buhmiller rifle bought in 1959, a real beauty, and VERY accurate. In 1972 I had it rebored and rechambered to .358 Norma Mag by Al Petersen of Riverhurst, Saskatchewan. It was so accurate that when I was having a bad day with one or another of my rifles, I'd shoot a few rounds from the .358 NM Springfield NS '03.

If the first 3 shots didn't touch, I knew it was me, and I'd put off more testing of the other guns until the next day, when I might be shooting better.

My second and third Springfield sporters I still have. One is a G&H (NOT for sale) and it is a work of art. Rather plain, but every line is correct.

My third is built on an 03-A3 that I got brand new from the NRA in about 1963 or '64 for $14.50, including shipping. Eddie Mech & Gunter Kautsky of Guncraft Calgary sporterized it for me in 1979 or 1980.

The original 2-groove barrel was retained, a very nice piece of English walnut used for the stock, and a skeleton steel buttplate and skeleton steel grip cap added, along with a rosewood forend tip and a very thin rosewood "spacer" fitted under the grip cap. It has a shotgun-style trigger guard that runs clear down the PG to meld with the pistol grip cap. Being a Springfield 03-A3 it isn't nearly as smooth actioned as the other two, but is still a very, very nice sporter, and as the barrel is turned very slim, and the action slimmed, weighs very little. It still shoots well under an inch with that 2-groove barrel, and is one of my favorite rifles.

None of these rifles, BTW would be for sale at many multiples of $250, and I could make real money on any of them should I ever wish to sell them.

Real custom rifles, as opposed to home sporterized rifles, may lose value for the first few years after they are built, but over the long haul they can gain value big time. In the meantime, they are so much nicer to handle, shoot, and just look at, they are worth their price. They are the gunmakers "art", more valuable to the real gun afficianado than any Mona Lisa, and surely in the same league at some time in the future if taken care of as well.

Besides, that, we are all mortal. We all die. In the "beyond-golden" years money means little or nothing. But the memories brought back by holding an old fiend which is a true custom rifle, while seated before a late Fall fire, are a joy indeed. I'm pretty much there now, and I can tell you, the good times those guns recall to mind are worth every penny of their cost. And more, too.

AC

[ 12-09-2003, 11:02: Message edited by: Alberta Canuck ]

It's amazing that everyone has an 03 sporter that will shoot into less than an inch at
100 yds. They must be like fine wine ( improve with age).
Good luck!