I am sure this has been posted a million times, but a local pawn shop wants to clear out a couple of rifles that they have had for a while.... and the price is right, althought I would be looking to make them down to the actions...

They are both sporterized and shot wear on the stocks and the barrels they currently have....

Both are Springield Arsenal built....

one has a serial number in the 835,000 range and the other has a serial number in the 3 million range....

I can get a super deal on the pair, if purchased together.... my concern is the one with the serial in the 835,000 range....

Good or junk?

One will end up being a 6mm Rem and the other a 257 Roberts or 250 Savage...

Thanks,

cheers
seafire

The answer was but a search away
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../r/55910005#55910005

If it has a serial number on it, its a good one!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:
If it has a serial number on it, its a good one!

Smartass



hehehehe..........just having a bit of fun with ya Rick!

Buy both and sell the low # to Rick for twice what you paid. He'll buy anything as long as it's marked Springfield or Remington.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Buy both and sell the low # to Rick for twice what you paid. He'll buy anything as long as it's marked Springfield or Remington.

Or Starett!!! The guys and gals at the machine supply place I use see me coming and pull out every new Starett tool/gauge or whatever and sit it out on the counter. I must have at least $5 grand or more of their stuff.

Hey you guys...you better stick to gunsmithing topics and stop the personal attacks on me or this poor guys thread will disappear!

Oh yeah, I thinks he also gets off on "genuine" USMC surplus.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Oh yeah, I thinks he also gets off on "genuine" USMC surplus.

That one I wasn’t aware of...when did I start collecting that stuff?

seafire

I don't know if your question was really answered or not, but both rifles are considered "High Numbered". The one in the 835, 000 is a double heat treated Springfield armory action and is my favorite model for building rifles from. The other one is a nickel steel action although without a better description it could be a couple of different models, but from the serial number it is not one from the Springfield Armory. I would guess it was built by remington if the serial number is in the 3, 000, 000 range. It is however a good safe action for building a rifle from. If you can buy them right and they are not messed up, I would buy both.

I am with Idared ... Buy both as they are both good "numbers". Then make them up into a nice pair in 6mm Rem and 257 Roberts.

Save the 250 Savage idea for a nice Mexican Mauser. It will be a better fit.

The 3 million rifle is most likely a 1903A3 from WWII and is not worth building a high class custom rifle on.

The 3,000,000 serial rifles were made by Remington. Up to 3,348,085 they were 1903, after that the 03a3's were phased in.
Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
The 3,000,000 serial rifles were made by Remington. Up to 3,348,085 they were 1903, after that the 03a3's were phased in.
Good Luck!

I actually have a Remington 03 serial number 3343563 that is part of the batch mentioned by Clark in his book on 1903’s. This group of actions were destined to be 1903A3’s but when the company supplying the new rear sights didn’t come through on the contract the receivers were finished and marked as 03’s.

The visible differences are on the top of the rear bridge where the first cuts for the new rear sight would have been. There are two very, very faint machined flat spots fore and aft on the rear bridge.

The other is the shape of the rear of the cut-off housing. Instead of being fluted and somewhat pointed like the 03’s it is full diameter with no flutes like the 03A3’s...and there is no groove connecting the three detents for the cut-off lever.

I’ll tell you though, the machining is extremely smooth and much more like that on earlier Springfields.

As I said they were phased in. There were almost all possible combinations made during the changeover.
Good Luck!

I no doubt should have said in my post that some of those over 3,000,000 were Remington 03s and some were Remington 03A3s as hawkins did so helpfully.

That said, most Remington 03A3s I have seen tend to take more to make a nice custom rifle from than the Remington 03s. I like Rick have seen some very good machining on the Remington 03s and would not hesitate to use them for any project. I might also add some of the late nickel steel Springfield Armory actions were not machined as well as they could have been either. I have one presently that is worse than any Remington 03 I have seen.

quote:

Originally posted by Thaine:
The answer was but a search away
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../r/55910005#55910005

Yes, but you are ASSUMING User Intelligence... which doesn't always exist consistently!

cheers
seafire

quote:

Originally posted by Idared:
I no doubt should have said in my post that some of those over 3,000,000 were Remington 03s and some were Remington 03A3s as hawkins did so helpfully.

That said, most Remington 03A3s I have seen tend to take more to make a nice custom rifle from than the Remington 03s. I like Rick have seen some very good machining on the Remington 03s and would not hesitate to use them for any project. I might also add some of the late nickel steel Springfield Armory actions were not machined as well as they could have been either. I have one presently that is worse than any Remington 03 I have seen.

Both of these rifles have been sporterized already, and I am just looking at the Actions, and then would also scrap the stocks, and put on a laminate stock from Boyd's anyway....

The 3 million series Springfield is maked as a 03A3....on the receiver....

I may be able to get the pair for $350.00 out the door.....

cheers and thanks for the feedback...
seafire

I may be able to get the pair for $350.00 out the door.....

That is a good price for my money. It allows you plenty of room to customize them into something nice. Good luck on your projects.

I posted on this subject awhile back, got some very differing opinions. But my smith has a early number springfield action he shot for years in 6.5X57. He used the barrel for another project and put a Roberts barrel on the action.
he has since stocked it in with a very unusual piece of walnut, witch makes a real prety rifle of it. He said he has no fear of using any springfield for a Roberts and has little fear of using them period, and has used them for 25 pluss years with out problem...tj3006

$350 for both is indeed a great price. Good luck with your projects.

I picked up a Remington 03-A3 a couple years ago that was already sporterized too. The bolt and bottom metal had been replaced with and 03 bolt and 03 milled bottom metal. Overall it is in very nice condition and will make a dandy 257 Roberts someday.

quote:

I posted on this subject awhile back, got some very differing opinions. But my smith has a early number springfield action he shot for years in 6.5X57.

T J:

I have a 3rd Springfield here at home that is a 1920s production from the Rock Island arsenal that was sporterized into an 06.... the barrel is shot out...

This one will probably end up being a 6.5 x 57, which is my favorite round, followed by a 6mm Rem....

Cheers
seafire

6.5X57 is an interesting cartridge. I like any round based on the mauser case. They seem to be accurate as hell, and have a shape that just feeds smooth to me.
Charels daily had the round on its list of cartridges when they had the Zastaffa action.
Sort of thought it would be cool. But I just want another Roberts for now. The one I have is a great deer hunting rifle , but to light weight to shoot more than a few rounds at a time before it heats up.
I am thinking of doing a poll on the gunsmithing forum about a Robetrts on a low # springfield asking how many would 1 not buy it 2 buy it but shoot little and load light 3 buy it and shoot it like any other rifle...tj3006

There are many opinions on this subject; "All the bad ones have failed by now. The Marines took Guadacanal with low numbered 03's, Most failures occured when shooting 8x57 ammo "All Krags were made the same way". It is interesting that both the 03, and 95 winchester had large enough necks to allow 8mm's to chamber. This caused a lot of bad press for both of them.
I will

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hawkins:
There are many opinions on this subject; "All the bad ones have failed by now. The Marines took Guadacanal with low numbered 03's, Most failures occured when shooting 8x57 ammo "All Krags were made the same way". It is interesting that both the 03, and 95 winchester had large enough necks to allow 8mm's to chamber. This caused a lot of bad press for both of them.
[/QUOTE

I will pretty much agree with you on the low-numbered thing...But Guadalcanal took place in 1942. In WWI all the Springfields were low numbered ones.

The marines didn't get M1's until after Guadacanal. They used what they had (many low numbered 03's). They used a higher front sight so that their "battle sight" was set for 200 yds, not 500 yda.
Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
The marines didn't get M1's until after Guadacanal. They used what they had (many low numbered 03's). They used a higher front sight so that their "battle sight" was set for 200 yds, not 500 yda.
Good luck!

I know...I’m a retired Marine! Yes, there were obviously some low-numbered 03’s in their arsenal at Guadalcanal but to state they they “took the island†with low numbered 03’s is a bit of an over statement.

There is an old story, possibly apocryphal, that a Marine was seen following a GI on Guadalcanal. He stuck closely to him. Finally the GI asked the Marine what he was doing. Quoth the Marine, when you get hit I'm grabbing your M1 and throwing away this Springfield.

quote:

Originally posted by vigillinus:
There is an old story, possibly apocryphal, that a Marine was seen following a GI on Guadalcanal. He stuck closely to him. Finally the GI asked the Marine what he was doing. Quoth the Marine, when you get hit I'm grabbing your M1 and throwing away this Springfield.

That sounds exactly like what a Marine would do and say!!!

My old friend Gunnar Alvermann was there, and you
were not. The Army came with M1's, and food later in the scrap. Note I didn't say all the 03's were low numbered The initial point to be made was they are probably safe to shoot. .
And like the Krag they were slick.
Good Luck!