Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles 1903-A3

Doing some scouting and grabbed a rifle in case a coyote came by. Smith Corona, and those brown blobs in the back are deer.

Great pic.

Just need more "Great Pixs' and bit of specs. Serial range, bore condition how it shoots, any out of the ordinary pluses or 'other'. Same kind of stuff you'd likely want to know when somebody puts up a "teaser" shot like the above!

Tentative 'congrats' on what might be a very nice rifle... or not!
Best!
John

Love the 03A3's. Great picture. What load did you have in it?

Great rifle for coyotes, deer or combat! Thanks for sharing.

I'm kinda fond of the Springfield myself:

I have 2. A Remington is sighted in with 150 gr Speer HotCors with a hot load I use in another 06 I have. The Smith-Corona is loaded with some 155 gr cast loads. Very easy shooting, looking forward to trying it on some game.

Pushing the "like" button now!

Looks like mine. 😊

I envy those pristine 03's and 03A3's around here they start at 850 and go up. I have more than a few bubba'ed sporters of both. You know you can allways count on them to get the job done. The bubbas represent a time in American history that simply showcased American ingenuity and ability to fill their needs..mb

We all have to start somewhere. Once I watched my BIL cut down and basically Bubba an all original Lee Enfield Mk III 303 British

Very nice, looks a lot like mine too, Smith Corona, straight grip stock, condition etc.but that stock's got a little more figure in the walnut than mine.

I like the finger groove stock and forged bottom metal of the 03 but these look good to me as well and I shoot them better, receiver sights make a difference. War time production or not, Remington or Smith Corona, 4 groove or two groove, these are good quality rifles. The action on mine is at least as smooth or better than any bolt action rifle, including some expensive ones, that I've ever cycled or shot.

Speak for your self I have never taken a pristine 03 or 03A3 and bubba'ed it. But I've bought a lot of ones allready bubba'ed and kept them shooting..mb

Perhaps just the pix angles, but neither of the A3 models pictured 'appear' to have the latter era curved bolt handle configurations proper for the A3 genre.
Hopefully, just the view impression afforded!

Good Luck!
John

I bought a M1903 Springfield made in 1918 that was in a very odd target stock from Herters. I reshaped it into something I consider beautiful. One of last winter's projects.

AS one of us o so modern gen x kids, I grab an M1 for the same task. 8 instead of 5, y'know.

So how good a groups can your m-1 shoot? I like m-1's too but your comparing apples to oranges.

Always kinda wanted one of those. Maybe when I get old…….

Can't tell in the OP's pic, but the second pic does indeed look like a straight pre-WWI single heat treat bolt handle. Probably just the camera angle, I hope.

I developed a love for Springfields while still a teenager, back in the Pleistocene Age. The oldtimers whose words I hung on disdained the 03A3 for its crudity compared to the pre-war Springfield/Rock Island variety. Everyone agreed that the best use for one of those $20-through-the-NRA 03A3's was to sporterize it to the extent that one could. I guess that has tempered my view of the beasties since then. I never owned one, except my Dad's which he had promptly sporterized when it came in the mail circa 1963.

Even though I'm in the paring down phase of life now, and my interests have shifted in other directions, my ears still perk up and I get twinkly-eyed when I hear mention of a M1903/M1903A1 or any of the other pre-war variants but not so much for an 03A3. Just me, don't be offended! Accuracy and functionality is all that really matters in any rifle, granted, but for me I have to add aesthetics and historical provenance to the mix. (After all, the Marines didn't use 03A3's at Belleau Wood, Wake Island, or Guadalcanal - they used '03's, and disdained acceptance of A3's when they appeared. But of course by then they were itching for M1's like everybody else.)

Both the 03-A3 and the Garand are more accurate than the reputation they have received. I have killed everything from gophers to elk with them and they perform above their reputation.

My 1903-A3 is a special gun I found at Shedhorn Sports years ago for only $500.00. It was inspected at the Ogden Armory by Elmer Kieth...

Oh yes they did, just watch "The Pacific".

All joking aside, that series is more accurate than the typical Hollywood stuff.