Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors (Off Topic) Remington 03-A3 Please lead me in the right direction.....!!!!!

Thank you for the clarifacation. Been a sorta bad day for me. I'm close to splodin and that would not be a good thing!!!!

"Tsaright? Tsaright. Remember Senor Wencas? I heard he's on the Ed Sullivan Show tonight. Wait a minute- what year is this?

loggah, if you have a rifle marked Eddystone, then it's not a Springfield. It'a a 1917 Enfield, made by Eddystone, owened by Remingtom back in the 1st world war.

I was forunate in acquiring a M1903A3 from the DCM via the NRA in the late fifties ('58 or '59) at the price of $14.50 (near as I recall, perhaps a few bucks more). Further, I took it upon myself to travel to the Raritan Arsenal here in NJ in an effort to pick it up after receiving the necessary paperwork. Surprisingly, the effort paid off and I was able to personally select my rifle from the hundreds racked in the warehouse and I ended up with a Remington with a four groove barrel.

It wasn't too long after getting the 03A3 that I set about "sporterizing" it as many others were doing. That effort went through several evolutionary stages of modification over the years and today it is fully customized with a classic style checkered walnut stock, milled M1903 trigger guard/floor plate, modified bolt handle, Buehler safety, original barrel cut to 20" and rebored to .35Whelen, D&T for Redfield JR mount and Lyman 48 receiver sight, ramp front sight, Timney trigger, Realist 1.5x to 4.5x scope, and a polish and reblue of all metal parts. A really satisfying bolt action sporter and the first of that type I ever owned. I still have it and will 'till I kick the bucket.
Alot of money went into that rifle but today it is probably worth about half of what an original un-modified M1903A3 would bring. However, it was a lot of fun at the time.

The M1903A3 was originally proiduced by Remington to meet the demand for rifles at the onset of WWII. M-1 Rifles were in short supply and none had yet been issued to the Marine Corps.
The Marines when they invaded Guadelcanal were armed with M1903 Springfields. As mentioned by others in this thread, the M1903A3 was modified by Remington to lower the cost of production by shortcutting many machining functions. The substitution of an adjustable peep sight for the M1903 barrel mounted open sight was a big improvement for accuracy.

I've managed to acquire another Remington 03A3 which is in an unaltered un-altered as-issued condition as well as a couple of M1903's. They are all great rifles but none measure up to the great one.....The M-1 Rifle.

Chip, ya i had a brain cramp its a 03 springfield but its a "ROCK ISLAND" !! i did have a 1917 EDDYSTONE but it went away, i do have a1917 WINCHESTER enfield. Don

I guess what got me hooked on '03's years ago was my uncle who was in the 1st Inf. Div., Feb. '42- March '45. He was an infantry scout, which MO allowed him choice in weapons. He stuck with the '03 he was first issued in late '40. He said he had plans to dufflebag it home after the War, but a German gunner changed those plans abruptly. (Probably wouldn't have gotten away with it anyway.) That was his 3rd wound, and got him sent home.

When I got my 1st '03 in 1968- 1903 MarkI (altered for Pederson device), for $45- he showed me the old Manual of Arms and laid a few war stories on me. That was the first time I knew him to talk of the war, and the last. He was my personal hero.I've had an '03 somewhere within reach ever since.

Here are pictures of the original book that came with the rifle...!!!


Mike...