Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles 03 Springfield info

I'll add that Brophy's and Canfield's books on the subject are a must read for any serious student of the '03 too.

Great thread for some of us Springfield "loonies"-lot of good information posted by knowledgeable folks. Thanks for starting this Boca.

Thanks to all for contributing!

All of the finish is the same. Barrel, receiver, sight, bottom metal, bolt handle, even where it was ground down.

Which would indicate to me it was probably done by a civilian after the rifle was bought or put together surplus.

Since I'm not a collector, but a shooter and hunter -it'll do just fine for me.

What's the rifle worth?

I knew that question was coming! View Gunbroker auctions and GunsInternational sales for an idea. Bearing in mind all the stuff we pointed out to you. In today's world a righteously "correct" late WWI rifle will fetch $1K in dubious condition, and twice that for a good one. If you gave $200 for it you did really good, 2-3 times that would be expectant for the same gun offered in a public sale.

Looking at it in terms of its individual parts, its receiver is its strongest point. Figure $200 just for that. (I recently paid $350 for a late pre-war nickel steel receiver with correct bolt numbered to it - with concrete provenance of it having been used in a National Match rifle built in 1936.) Figure another $200 if buying a late war replacement barrel (they're on eBay a lot). Sights and stock furniture maybe another hundred. The scant grip stock - I don't know. A lot of Springfield guys turn their nose up at them, but if it's sound maybe another $100? The bolt is a throwaway IMO so not counting its worth.

Not for sale-just curious. I figured I did alright on the purchase.
Again thanks all.

I'll update the thread occasionally as I mess with it. Shoot some actual groups and hopefully take some deer with it.

I'm thinking I'll load up some mild 150gr loads for it and enjoy it won't I other rifles are cooling off!
-Jake

Six rds through it this afternoon while getting dinner ready..

The bottom latch held fine. So, cleaning that mechanism up did the trick.

Done messing with it until I start shooting regularly again when the weather breaks.

I'll spend some time at the loading bench loading some mild 150s.

-Jake

I don't have collector grade Springfields in the house nada one Springfield and Remington 03's. Remington and Smith Corona 03A3's all bubba'ed one way or another so cash wise they are not expensive specimens. Not worth alot of money but everytime I use one they increase in value to me. Both my moms dad in ww1 and my dad in ww2 trained and qualified on Springfields you might say they are in the blood. There are more advanced rifles today but as a military bolt action they have no equal far as I'm concerned...mb

I hear you. My fondness for the '03 was sparked by my Uncle John who was drafted in 1940 (first ever peacetime draft - he was "lucky" enough to be in the first 100,000). Was assigned to the 1st Inf Div. Fought through North Africa (got captured at Kasserine Pass and escaped), then on to Sicily where he caught a bullet, then back to England and landed on Omaha Beach 3rd Wave, wounded again somewhere in France. Finally caught his 3rd bullet of the war in the Huertgen Forest and that was it for him, back to the States. He was kind of a hell raiser and kept getting busted in rank. The rifle(s) he carried: '03 Springfield until Sicily, then a Thompson. His MO was Infantry Scout and as such was one of the few GI's that had carte blanche as to his choice of personal weapon.

He talked guns a lot, and about drinking escapades with his buddies, and the time a bistro in Paris fed him rabbit stew comprised of cat meat, but he never talked about the bad stuff. He confided in my Dad and no one else, and Dad passed a lot on to me. I can still see him work the bolt on my first '03, draw a bead on a tin can, and when it bounced away said "well, there's one less Kraut for ya." Yeah the '03 is in my blood.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

Had issues at first, it didn't want to feed the last round, I mean it would bind up tight! Did some research, what I found was that the magazine follower for an 03a3 was a stamped unit, mine had a milled one for the 03. It wasn't a lot of money, so I thought "what the hell, everything else looks good", so I replaced it.

It feeds the last round without any issue, now. But, as much as I have cycled the action, it still has a roughness to it and I've heard that it may be a characteristic of the 03a3. I don't know. It certainly isn't as slick at some 03s I've cycled and not even as smooth as a Krag.

But it sure are fun to shoot! Surprisingly accurate, too.

That's a nice one, Vic. The 03A3's were a wartime expedient, as you know, and as such they cut a lot of corners with them. But that doesn't detract from their utility one bit, just as you note not as smooth as pre-war guns. (And I'll admit they have way better sights.)

Curious, does it have a tiny little "K" stamped in the recess in the stock where magazine cutoff switch flips down into?

I do enjoy loading for and shooting my 03-A3.



Vic_in_VA - the Krags I've shot were quite smooth.

Regards, Guy

I think I paid $12 for my first .03 back in 64.They were in a barrel in Montgomery Wards.I started my competition shooting with that rifle and it shot better than I did.

Sometime in the late 90's DCM (now CMP) found a supply of them and had raffle for anyone wanting to buy one. I won a slot and think I paid about$150 for it. Everything was about perfect on it except the stock was cracked.
A co worked saw it and really wanted it.Stupid me, I sold it to him and he won't sell it back.

John George; US Army, "Shots Fired In Anger", who wrote aboutj his experiences from 1942/45 at Guadalcanal and in Burma with Merrill's Marauders was an expert rifleman and an 03 fan. He wrote about the 03 and he writes about some of the military's members initial skepticism of the transition to the Garand from the 03 and how it changed to enthusiastic acceptance once the Garand got into actual combat. The Marines were the last to be issued Garands and I believe it was him among others who said the Army had to watch their Garands pretty close as they tended to "disappear". Good read.

If rifles could talk......

Dad bought 4 or 5 03’s and 03-A3’s when they came in 55 gallon barrels. My two older brothers each had a couple. My oldest brother bought quite a few never used barrels for $.98 each. I started out with a Mauser. But when I had enough scratch I got a 03. I carried that for coyotes, deer, pronghorns etc. I mainly used 180 grain Rem CL bullets for everything. My 03 had a Weaver K4 and Weaver rings and bases.

No, it does not, I suspect the stock is an aftermarket one.

It has no stampings or cartouches whatsoever and a Criterion barrel.

I suspect it had been fired very little when I got it. I haven't fired it much, either.

Guy-Nice rifle. Krags are perhaps the smoothest actions I've cycled, my 03a3 feels like it has sand in it compared to the Krag.

43Shooter-I read that book on another member's suggestion, excellent read. I like how he gives a relatively objective view on the equipment Japanese vs American.

gnoahhh-I've dug a little deeper into this rifle and what I found was some markings on the barrel indicating this particular rifle was refurbed by Rock Ridge Machine Works and is possibly a recovered Drill rifle.

I knew it was not a collectible, the refurb had taken care of that, and because of the price I paid due to the feeding issues, I really don't feel bad about it.

👍👍👍

A shooter grade rifle with a worn out barrel is an excellent candidate for a Criterion barrel. I've used a couple on Springfields, and a Garand. Price (when they're available, which has been spotty here of late) is comparable to a run of the mill GI barrel and they're devilishly accurate, at least in my experience.

My best performer is an NRA Sporter I bought with a tired barrel on it. They came with Star Gauged barrels, and quite a few were chosen by serious competitors back in the day in lieu of service rifles and National Match rifles. (Perhaps due in large part to their heavier barrel contour versus the Service rifle barrels.) It would hold maybe 2 1/2" at 100 yards, on a good day - certainly good enough for hunting within its iron sights limitations, but it bugged me. I pulled it off (and tagged it with the info of the rifle it came off of for posterity), and installed a match grade barrel (Krieger) that was contoured to exactly match the original. Tight match chamber with minimum headspace, original sights retained. Now she'll stick five into an average inch, with enough 3/4MOA groups to tempt me to revise how I talk about it - not bad with iron sights. I'd love to scope it with a period correct Lyman 5A to see what it's really capable of, but that's another one of those "Roundtoits". (The Springfield Armory made these for sale to civilians in the mid-20's to early 30's, only 5000 total. Kinda rare.)



A couple 3-shot groups: