Saw one that will be auctioned next week. It's a late gun, still has the green Parkerized finish and all the varnish on the stock.

What is the significance of the RA over the bomb over the date on the muzzle?

What's a good price for this in fine to ex. condition?

Thanks, Rob

I belive it is a remington arms inspector mark or proof.

RA - Remington Arms Flaming Bomb - U.S. Army Ordnance mark.

Check to see if it has a 4-groove or 2-groove barrel. 2-groove guns are generally woth less than the 4-groove types, but generally shoot about as well. In fact, 2-groove barrels are thought to be a little better for shooting cast bullets.

It is hard to give a value on these rifles without seeing it. A tip-top shape Remington 03A3 will bring in the $600 - $700 dollar range. If it is an arsenal rebuilt it will bring a hundred dollars or so less. The prices on these things have increased 1/3 in the past two years or so. I don't really get it, but it has something to do with supply and demand. I still think of these as $25.00 rifles. Prices on 1917 Enfields have also soared, with the Winchesters bringing more than the Eddystones. It is hard to find a Garand that is not an arsenal rebuilt, but an all original WWII Garand will bring lots and lots of money. There also is a brisk trade in WII parts for Garands with folks trying to replace the later parts and make a phoney WWII Garand. Krags are going up as well. I have no idea when and if these things will top out in price, but they seem to keep on going up. There is no way I would pay $600 for an O3A3, but I already have one that I got for free. If you can get the one you are looking at for no more than $500.00, then I would say you got a good deal. Pay more than that, and you had better know your O3A3s.

Thanks to all for the help. It does have 4 groove rifling and looks to be in greta shape but I don't know if it's a rebuilt or not, how does one tell?

Thanks, Rob

First take the rifle serial number and go to web page and look up the date of manufacture.

If the receiver date is within a few months of the barrel date, (right below the flaming bomb near the muzzle it will be month and year)chances are it has not been rebuilt, or may only have minimal mismatched parts.
Ther are differences in the bolt, bands, and stocks that is far too involved to get into here, but I would say if the barrel date matches the serial number date then $350 to $500 is not unreasonable.

[ 11-13-2003, 22:06: Message edited by: Pa.Frank ]

The easiest way to tell if it is a rebuilt is to look at the inspectors marks on the stock. An original Remington will have a big R in a circle at the bottom of the wrist of the stock just behind the rear guard screw. That tells you it was made by Remington. Now look at the left side of the stock toward the rear of the action. If you see more than one stamp there it is a rebuild. Just one stamp is the original inspector. You may see OG which stands for Ogden Utah Arsenal where many were rebuilt. These stamps tell the history of the stock and most likely the rifle. These rifle were made by only Remington and SMith-Corona, but rebuilt several places, with Odgen the most frequently encountered.

Well the serial number shows 1942 and the barrel is 9/43. I don't know about the stock marks yet.

Rob

This sounds like a chance to learn somthing. When did they ever rebuild
O3A3's, particularly at Ogden?.
Thanks!

Irv...I don't know how many 03A3 were rebuilt at Ogden, but I have seen half a dozen and one is in my gun rack now. My Remington 03A3 has a 1942 Receiver and a 7-43 barrel. The left of the butt stock is stamped OG and a few inches in front of that is the inspector's mark OG EK. The stock was sanded at that time, and the first set of stamps are faint but still there. The Ogden stamps are fresh as a daisy. I have seen these rifles passed off as inspected by Elmer Keith with a premium charged for the stamp. The fact is that there were two inspectors at Odgen during WWII and both had the initials EK. Ed Kouser used the OG EK stamp and Elmer Keith used the intials in a box/cartouch. If you need another source check Brophy's book "The Springfield 1903 Rifle" and you will find that O3A3 were rebuilt at Ogden during WWII. I ain't making this up!

Charger; Thanks for the input, learn somthing every day.
It suprised me as the 03A3 came late, and was gradually
phased out. There are people out there that have several stamps
and will for a fee stamp replacements. This would be an area that
would require careful examination.
Take Care!

Irv..I have a little time, so I thought I would continue the lecture on the 03A3's in case anybody found it interesting. When WWII started, the Springfield Arsenal production of Garands was far below what was needed. The machinery and existing stocks of parts for making the 03 at Rock Island Arsenal was transfered to Remington who moved it all to their plant and they began to produce the 03A3 with some 03s which used up the inventory of parts from Rock Island.

High Standard had been producing replacment barrels for the 03 and was given a contract to make O3A3s. High Standard pulled Smith-Corona in on the contract in kind of a joint venture. Even thought barrels are marked SC on these rifles, they were made by High Standard. They are first rate barrels and better than the Remington.

These Remington and SMith Corona rifles were issued to combat troops mostly in the Pacific during the early part of WWII. When the Garand production ramped up, they were replaced with Garands. When they came home, they were rebuilt and placed in storage or issued to home troops. Some went to England and a few other places.

in 1961 many thousand of these 03A3 were sold through the DCM to members of the NRA for about $15.00..I don't remember the exact price but with shipping came to a hair less than $20. I bought one and it came to me direct from the Army depot in Pueblo Colorado.

When WWII ended, the Garands were gathered up and a big rebuilding program began as most were pretty beat up. My Garand was rebuilt at Red River Arsenal in 1957. It has a 1944 Springfield receiver, a 1952 Line Machine Co. barrel and a mixed bag of other parts.

Many 1917 Enfields were also rebuilt during WWII at Ogden and other places.

The rebuilding of service rifles has a very long history. During fiscal year 1881 and 82 many Trapdoor rifles and carbines were removed from service and rebuilt at Springfield. They used new receivers and there is an astrix/star in front of the serial number. After the rebuilt they were issued to guard units and not the regular army. These rifle contain a mix of parts, but strangly command a small premium from collectors if all of the parts and stamps come up to a genuine arsenal rebuilt. I have both a rifle and carbine from fiscal year 1881 that were a part of this program. Both are minty. I paid $300 for the rifle and $500 for the carbine in 1991 and my gun friends thought I was nuts. I can get at least five times money back for these pristine rifles.

The US services rifles are a fascinating part of American history and also shoot good. We can't buy real M-14s or M-16s that are govt issue, so these older rifles keep going up and up in price. Get yours now!! They will never been any cheaper.

Rob..I am a little slow on the uptake, but I noticed you original post said the stock has all of it's original varnish. The original stocks were not varnished. They had a Tung Oil finish which was dull and non-glossy. If the rifle you are looking at has a shiney finish, it was put on later and will reduce the collectors value drastically. If it does indeed has a glossy varnish finish, then you have a shooter with little collectors value with $350.00 being the very max to pay.

Charger, you are correct that the finish was shiny so I guess this one had been dolled up.

I put in a low bid and din't win it, don't yet know what the winning bid was.

Thanks for all the great info here gentlemen. I learned much that will be put to use in the future.

Rob