A darned goodly number of 03A3's will shoot like houses afire, make no mistake.
Springfield's accuracy standard for acceptance for finished rifles was 2MOA with then current Ball ammo, and each rifle was test fired before it left for service. If the gun didn't make the grade it went back to the Armory for rework. Accuracy across the board was almost universally better than that but that was the minimum standard. And mind you, the gov't-issue Ball ammo back in the teens-30's was crappy stuff by today's standards. National Match 03's, special target models, and NRA Sporters were held to a higher standard, 1 1/2 MOA minimum, but commonly figured at 1 to 1 1/4 MOA with Frankford Arsenal Match ammo. Again, they were good for better than that on average and will prove it today with good ammo with modern bullets. I really don't know what Remington/Smith-Corona standards were for minimum accuracy with 03A3's, if they even had any or if they even test fired for minimally acceptable accuracy.
I saw a photograph once of the test range where Armory employees were test firing 03 Springfields. A long open-fronted room with rows of benchrests and guys all shooting 03's, with racks of fresh rifles sitting behind them. The floor was literally ankle deep in spent brass. Imagine that. A pretty hardy bunch of fellas to do that 8 hours a day 5 days a week, and not a set of ear plugs or ear muffs in evidence, and no shooting glasses. Those guys were a close-knit bunch and had formed a club for "off duty hours" and met every Saturday after work --- to shoot!
