Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 1903A3 Rebarrel

Gentlemen,

I have a question that I think this is the perfect group to answer. I have more sporterized 1903A3s than one man needs, so one of them is going to get rebarreled. If you were in the same predicament, what cartridge would you select? I've got four in mind, two bigger, two smaller. I don't want to name them so I can get truly unbiased answers, and also so nobody calls me names like "blasphemous", "sacrilegious", or "moron". Bear in mind, I've got enough rifles that no game in North America is safe (from me shooting in their general direction and typically scaring them) so the intended use of the rifle is irrelevant. What are your thoughts?

I'd stick with something based on the 30-06 case. Likely 25-06 or 35 Whelen.

Regards, Guy

25/06

280 (std or AI) Remington.

I have only a couple 03A3’s left alas. If I were to rebarrel one it would be 35 Whelen, but more likely I’d send it one to have it rebored to 35 Whelen.

Same here, anything Ackley Improved might be cool as well. But man, they're stout actions and since that was what made the original 35 Whelen, I'd have to have a go at one.

Well, that's a quick three votes for the #1 cartridge that I had in mind. No votes for the others, yet...

The sky's the limit, close your eyes and pick one. Example: one of my (several) R2 Lovells was done on a M1903 action (well before my time) - bull barrel, custom trigger, Unertl scope blocks, etc. Extractor hook built up to grasp the small case, and a little ring of steel affixed to the bolt face to encompass the small rim. Single shot, of course. All that is just to say that there are fewer limitations for a Springfield action than you might think.

Always thought I'd like a .400 Whelen on a Springfield. Then I would slap myself for thinking that, as I have absolutely no use for one and detest getting pounded by each shot. But still....

Didn't Sedgley make mag-fed 22 Hornets on the 1903?

For a simple one, a fast twist 256 Newton.

Bruce

338-06

.25-06; 6.5-06; .280; .35 Whalen would be my preferences in that order.

The correct answer, 270 WCF. (hint)

What about the 9.3 x 62?

If you are blessed with the ownership of a 03 or 03A3 that is no longer in collector condition the only intelligent thing to do is wear the existing barrel out by shooting it. When it is tired then debate the rebarrel or rebore options. You can't handle shooting 30-06 full power, use reduced loads. Rebarreling only when the service life of the original is gone or too defective to perform at a reasonable standard. You asked...mb

There are, to me, certain classic cartridge rifle combinations. The 03 Springfield in 06 and the pre 64 model 70 in 270 are the definition of classics. For the 03, I look to the old guys, and the aspirations of the Greatest Generation were when they built their ultimate rifle on their sacred Springfields. The 35 Whelen was the power house to fuel their dreams of big game in Alaska or the Yukon. The 25 06 was their dream for screaming bullet speeds and far reach. For classics, they would be my picks.
What a great project to dream about and put together. Imagine a perfectly matched set of the 3, maybe with one of those 22 LR Springfield trainers sitting beside them.
Have fun.
Bfly

There are 6-7 Springfields in my family chambered to 30-338. Covers a lot of bases.

The bigger would be a 9.3x62, the smaller a 6.5mm-06.

Another vote for the 35 Whelen. Although the 9.3x62 adds some cool factor to the equation. You could also get crazy with the new 338 Weatherby RPM and have a unique hammer that even Paul Pelosi wouldn’t vote against.

I went 257 Robert’s. 24 inch barrel.

I always wanted a Springfield in 7x57 or 257. I have two presently one in 30-06 and the other in 280AI both great shooters.

Dang guys, thanks for all of the suggestions! I've seen all of the cartridges I had in mind mentioned by others, so I might as well say them now. 35 Whelen and 9.3x62 are the larger two that I was mulling over, useful for large communists, bears, and communist bears. 257 Bob and 7x57 for smaller communists and deer. I REALLY want to build a couple quality deer hammers in inherently low recoiling cartridges like the bob and mauser, guns my kids can grow up shooting without fear of recoil. I also REALLY want to be able to blow the hell out of a communist bear with a big boy cartridge. The issue I have is this: I know if I chamber it in the bob or 7x57 that I'll use the hell out of it and kill lots of deer. I know if I chamber it in a boomer that I'll shoot it every now and then and mostly just tell friends I have a cooler rifle than they do. These are both facts. But I can't shake that I really want to make it into a Whelen. I suppose the only real solution is to keep buying springfields and do them all.

This one of mine will remain a 30-06, as it's all original anyway:


The other one has been "sporterized" back in the 1950's... And it's a great rifle. It "might" remain a 30-06, or... a re-bore to 35 Whelen or 9.3 x 62... Seems attractive.

Guy

The Whelen seems like a solid pick and trust me, you don’t need to load the demons out of it to make it way fun for killing bucks.

The Springfield in a 7x57 seems wrong to me…. ‘Merica and all

The 257 works nice as does a 6mm Rem….

Whooooaaaa. Now that is cool!

I hope you do a Whelen one of these days. You might see what all of us have been yammering about.

This is exactly what I meant in my first post about being called names. My coworker got really upset with me when I told him I might chamber it in a mauser cartridge.

So many great options for that old warhorse.

I’m glad I don’t have to decide.

I'm enjoying the process. My brain is broken so I need all of the cartridges, I just need to figure out which ones is first.

LOL! Well you were a "communicator" so of course you yammer!

35 Whelen... Sure seems like a great idea.

Guy

This is a great suggestion for a rebore from JES since the 9.3x62 reamer completely "cleans up" the 30-06 chamber so headspace is a non-issue, even if things have set back a bit over the years in the donner barreled action. I had JES do two of my 1903's, one in 338-06 and one in 9.3x62.

A Springfield in 8x57 would seem wrong but I am too fond of the 7x57 to hold any angst.

My buddy has a pretty awesome one in .400 Whelen.

Dave's .400 Whelen!

My 92 year old friend proudly showed me the M1903 Springfield sporter he built back in the early 60's. Its very pretty pre-war style sporter stock made me do a double take. But then I saw the serial number and thought "uh oh". It's a low number job. Then he told me the chambering: 8mm-06. I asked him why and he said because he thought 8mm was a wiser choice than anything else. (Remember this was 60 years ago and 8mm bullet selection then was abysmal.) Oh well. He said if I want it it'll be mine someday soon. I figure the wood will look good on something else....

Guys routinely re-chambered war surplus 8mm Mausers to 8mm-06 back in the post-war era because it was a way to make the guns go bang in an era when 8x57 factory ammo was nigh nonexistent. But to purposely choose that chambering for a custom gun would've made no sense when there were like, maybe, three or four dodgy bullets for it on the market.

8mm-06 for larger, 6-06 for smaller.

The 8x57 not so much but the 7.7 Jap would seem wrong.

Gnoahhh,
You may well be smarter than me about low number Springfields but there are some very interesting things to be learnt in THIS article. Since it might be yours one day!

BL, all low number receivers are not the same, and any that were going to fail have probably failed by about 80 years ago.
Cheers,
Rex

Thanks. I was kinda reluctant to even bring it up for fear of a low number v. high number debate. Everyone has an opinion, and frankly I don't know where the truth lies anymore. Bottom line, I have plenty of other guns to shoot and don't need to incur unnecessary risk shooting a low number '03 no matter how slight the risk may be.

.35 Whelen or 9.3x62. Classics for a classy rifle.

I saw a custom Springfield 1903 in 8X57MM many years ago. It was a very well done rifle, most likely built in Germany from the style of stock it had

Heat treat is not a problem with 03-A3s.

I think that the 257 Roberts is pretty classic itself.

Indeed so, which is another reason I'm regretting even mentioning a low number rifle, except it was in context of examples for potential conversion. The 03A3 is one of the top handful of hellaciously strong bolt guns of the mid-20th century, just not as refined/smooth as some others.

Gary,wouldn't a re-bore to 8mm-06 lower pressures?

On the face of it, yeah, maybe. But that's a subjective thing, not knowing what somebody is dumping into the cases, both '06 and 8mm-06, and not taking a whole lot of other variables into consideration. I'll bow to JB on this one, for sure.

I got a couple old 03's I thought about sporterizing, but with the crop of custom actions and prefit barrels just couldn't do it.

SD

One of my 03-A3s came from the CMP with a two groove barrel. When I first looked through it, there was a moment of WTH? I thought I was cross-eyed or something….it looked really odd. 😊

If I were using a 1903 action to build a custom rifle it would probably be done in .270 (yes, I hear the howls) Although, the .358 Whelen has some merit. an aquantience had a 1903 action for sale a couple of years ago and I passed it up. I wish I hadn't of done that.

kwg

270 is too close to 3006 for me, might as well leave the 06 barrel on it. I'd like to either fill a gap in calibers, like the 35 whelen, or build a light recoiling deer hammer for one of my kids, like the 257 or 7x57. I'm just not that into the 270, I don't know of anything it can do that a 3006 can't do equally or better.

35 or 375 Whelen. Both have bullet options meant for slower cartridges, so you could easily load light recoil stuff or heavy hammers in the same gun. Either one is an easy rebore so you don't have to worry about dealing with contour changes in the stock, or sights if they have them, or bluing. If you'd rather rebarrel just keep in mind it'll cost a little more than most other actions with the coned breech and extractor cut.

I would in this order. .35 Whelen first, 7x57 a very close second and the .257 Robt. in spot #3.

One thing I would not consider is going with a magnum cartridge. Back in the mid 70s I had an 03A3 that someone had Bubba'd, so I had my gunsmith rebarrel it to .458 Win. Mag. and put it in a stock i had. It was very accurate and recoil was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. The big problem was we could never get get it to feed. Guess it was doomed to forever be a single shot rifles. I gave it to a friend who wanted to play with a .458 in. and didn't care that it was a single shot. It shot very well with the older Lee 500 gr. Cast bullet.

I think I'll repeat myself. "I would in this order. .35 Whelen first, 7x57 a very close second and the .257 Robt. in spot #3."
PJ

Jak just wear that 308 barrel out. Play with the 125, 130, 150, 165, 180 and 200-220 gr range bullets with it. Satisfy your curiosity with the PERFORMANCE of the 30-06 . Then rebore it...mb

It'll be tough to wear that barrel out with my current supply of primers, but I really like this idea.

Jak you will find out why the 30-06 is still the standard everything else is compared to for a dang good reason...mb

Mine as well but moving the 25-05 to last. It’s one of my favorite cartridges except for the barrel life as I shot two barrels out and went 6.5-06 this go round.

I mean, I've already got two other 30-06s, one of which kills deer every year. I'm well aware of how great of a cartridge it is.

6.5X57, soft shooting KILLER

1. 35 Whelen
2. 270 Win
3. 6.5x55 Swede

Yes, I have one 03 in the safe. It belonged to my FIL and my Son has laid claim to it.

The inside of the barrel looks like forty miles of bad road. But hell it is probably near 100 years old, and burned corrosive ammo for the first third of its life.

The stock has been chopped up, and miltary hardware removed.

I intend to have a barrel fitted, set up for scope mounts, and a trigger before I hand it over. Probably will be a 24 inch in 25-06, with a duplicate taper. Maybe keep the old stock just for nostalgia, so it still looks like PaPa's rifle. And finally ceracote the barreled action to match the present finish.

There is an extra VX-2 3-9x40 sitting here that would work well.

That is about #4 on my to do list.

35 Whelen for bigger, 6.5/06 for smaller