Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Smith Corona 1903A3 .30 Cal Rifle??

I might add i also ran across a number of years ago a brand new smith corona bolt in cosmo, still in the green sticky tape stuff they wrapped them in. And i remember some new barrels being sold around that time on ebay that were military barrels.

one of the other ones that kind of intrigued me, and i have only seen one, was a remington 1903 made at the beginning of WWII before they switched to the o3A3. Had the most ugly finish on it i think i have seen. Only made them for a short while.

Remington made over 300,000 1903 rifles before phasing them out in favor of the 03-A3. The Remington 03's were made on old Rock Island tooling. The early ones were pretty decent, finish-wise, but they got progressively rougher.

The 1903 in the picture on my post above is exactly that; one of the '03's made by Remington prior to the switch to the 03A3. However there is nothing to complain about regarding its fit and finish. It does have the "scant" stock, which is the closest they could come to a full pistol grip stock while using the original stock blanks for the straight grip '03. The barrel bands are also stamped instead of milled, similar to those on the 03A3.

The '03A3 in the picture is also a Remington and the serial numbers of the 2 rifles are only a few thousand apart, so they must have been made not too many months apart.

I have an A303 that has been customized. Bolt has been lowered (apparently by Les Womack as it is marked on the root by his distinctive mark). Has Remington take off rear sight with a Lyman Banded front with a Sourdough sight. Butt[plate is what appears to be an old steel Winchester style with the widows peak. Stock is nice piece of what appears to be birch with very decent checkering and 3 capped crossbolts. Floorplate triggerguard is off an 03 and has a large pushbutton for takeoff. Trigger is a Timney and Safety is a Winchester 70 style.Custom front half barrel band swivel base with regular rear base. G&H takeoff rings for 7/8" scope (probably an Alaskan) very neatly installed and all reblued. The barrel is the hooker. It is rather heavy and chambered for 458WinMag. It is only 16" long and I'm pretty sure that was the original length. The stock is quite trim with a slight schnable. All in all one of the best balanced rifles i have ever put to my shoulder. The barrel is marked A & M Rifle Co so I suppose they produced it and most surely made the barrel. I would imagine it was built around the mid 50's as I bought a 458WinMag barrel from them in 1954/5 and they fitted and chambered it to an Enfield and said at the time they had been working on some 458's on militaries. It's the second 03 I have that is unusual. The other is Standard military that has also had the bolt lowered with the same marking. Also has Timney with a Mdl 70 type safety and a G&H mount with Alaskan. It has a nice small compass inlaid in the left side of buttstock. The unusual thing is it has been cut to 16" barrel and associated wood also shortened and reinstalled with original hardware. It's a 2 groove Remington 03 in 06 and shoots quite well with factory ammo. My understanding it was made by Les Womack for a sports writer who fished for salmon in Alaska and this was his insuarance rifle. I am quite pleased with both 03's.

He made out like a bandit @ $1200

i dunnoknow, the prices continue to climb on these things, particularly on ones that haven't been arsonel rebuilt.
I have torn apart a few "duffle bag" m1carbines, that were truely shall we say appropriated at one time. They can bring some pretty big bucks.
anybody remember the day for the cheap WWII 1911A1? Ain't any mmore.

I couldn't get my greedy little hands on it, but a story about a 1911.
Guy was in the pacific, but not front line guy. He was issued a 1911 in the kraft box, brand new. Never used it, stayed in his locker, brought it home. Guy i know that also works in the retirement area i do bought it off the elderly gentleman. You don't really want to know what he paid for it, i tasted a little vomit when i found out.

Here is mine:

http://www.vishooter.net/m1903.html
You can look up the SN# on this site for year of manufacture.
I checked mine out and it was 2/43 with proper 4 groove barrel. The rifle is decently clean with a few dings in the wood. I'm guessing it stayed stateside and was used for guard duty only. I can't say how it shoots because my poor old eyeballs can't see the sights. I have that same problem with a near mint M1 Garand. They have been relegated to safe queen status.
Paul B.

That's a beaut! What caliber?

It's a .338 Win Mag. Douglas premium barrel finished at 23 inches, in a Pacific Research stock. Aftermarket trigger and side swing safety, but I forget the makers. Weighs right at 8 lbs with scope and sling.