I was born in the early 50's and came of age in the 60's reading the gun rags of the day. Even though the Monte Carlo/white line spacers/exotic wood fore end tips were touted in seemingly every article I read, I didn't buy into that style at all. It all seemed kind of kitschy to me even as an impressionable newbie. On top of that, every oater on the big screen had the heros and villains toting Winchester lever guns and Peacemaker Colts. How boring, even though I loved (and still do) western movies. What I lusted after was a Thompson SMG like Vic Morrow carried in "Combat", or failing that, a Garand like the other guys carried. When I learned that my uncle John Lenig was a real life WWII combat hero (Big Red 1, beginning to end) and that he carried an '03 Springfield (infantry scouts got to choose their weapons back then), my dream changed. I haven't been without an '03 in some form or another for over 45 years now.
