Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing sporterized 03 springfield

I have my grandfather's 03 Springfield sporter and would like to have the bolt handle modified and the receiver drilled & tapped for mounting a scope. It's a Remington action in a Fajen stock that looks pretty well done and shoots good. I would like to hunt it but I have come to a point where a scope is a necessity. Living in Massachusetts, I'm not exactly surrounded by gunsmiths. Can anyone recommend someone to do this work? Any suggestions and/or ideas from someone who has more experience with this kind of modification would be greatly appreciated. Thanks; Mike

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I love the '03s, and if your's is Remington manufacture, it was a transition model, just before the 03A3. That makes it nickle steel, and easy to drill and tap. The older DHT models were a pita. Any decent smith should be able to do the job for you.

That said, if the metal is unaltered, it will decrease in value once drilled and tapped. Drilled and tapped sporters are not uncommon in pawn shops. My 257AI (DHT)came drilled and tapped off center. I made bases with off center holes to match. My two 06's came with receiver sight holes (one DHT and one Rem).

If you hunted up an original stock, you would increase the value significantly.

Increasing the value of a collectable firearm is only advantageous if one is planning on selling it.

In the case of the OP, if I were he, I'd never sell the gun, thus it becomes a moot point. I would dearly love to have had a hunting rifle that belonged to my father/grandfather, or even an uncle. Hunting with a treasured family heirloom would be a fabulous way to connect with the spirit of the original owner. I'd cherish that... tho' YMMV.

Just my $.02 worth...

Edw

Grasshopper,

To anyone with brains, assessing options is valuable regardless of the decision made.

I provided information, no more and no less. That you would not sell the gun does not make anything moot, as you do not have the gun, nor is not your decision.

So: Are you saying that I have no brains???




Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you have the gun either...

As near as I can see, you merely provided an opinion... As did I.

Thus if my opinion has no value, neither does yours!

I merely put forth a counter point from yours... And the value of any given opinion depends on how one looks at it. Does one value sentiment more that $? Or does one value $ above all else?

The above notwithstanding, I'm not really offended that you don't value my opinion... What ultimately counts is whether the original poster does...

GH

I do not have to make a statement about your brains, you are doing a darn good job of showing what you have upstairs.

Contrast these two sentences if you can:

"The sun is shining."

"It's nice when the sun shines."

Right now, where I am sitting, the first sentence is true, it contains information that can be empirically verified. The second is opinion, much as your post was. We may be able to get 4 billion people to agree with the second sentence, but it can not be empirically verified.

Furthermore, if you think your opinion makes the actions or decision of another moot, you either do not understand the meaning of the word, or you have an awful high opinion of yourself.

Were it possible, my opinion would make the vote on Obamacare moot, and the whole thing would just go away. I happen to know that my opinion means squat.

Klondike. What type of sights do you have on the rifles at this time?

It has a Lyman aperture on the rear and a white bead (maybe Williams) on the front. It has no rear barrel sight and it looks like there was never one mounted since there are no screw holes or dovetail slot. Thanks; Mike

I have an '03 Springfield, also sporitized. I wanted it d&t but the gunsmith I had brought it to talked me out of it because he was against defacing a Springfield. He worked in the Springfield Armory as an apprentice. Anyhow, he had access to a scope mount that was installed without having to d&t the barrel or receiver. It kind of wraps around the receiver and pressure clamps in a couple of places. I was surprised on how well it works. I don't know where he got the mount or if they are still available or not. Just another option to think about.

Bob

Seventy posts, and you are the official 24 Hr Fire philosopher and semantics wizard!

Klondike, Your question was not whether you should D&T the rifle but rather who would do the job for you.

I had my first Springfield D&T back in the '60's by a local gunsmith. I would assume most any good gunsmith could do the job well. I bought a bolt that had already been bent for scope. They were quite common way back then. I feel certain your chosen gunsmith would have no trouble modifying your bolt.

It has already been D&T for the receiver sight and is, therefore, not returnable to pristine original condition.
I don't know if you are considering ever selling your grandfather's rifle. If you are, the collector value has already been compromised. If you are not, the collector value does not really matter very much and you should do what you want with it so you can enjoy it for the rest of your life.

edit: I have two other Springfields in original condition that I would never consider sporterizing even though I will never sell them. I wish my first was still in pristine condition but have enjoyed hunting with it for over 40 years.

This might be a b-square mount. I'm pretty sure they still make one.

Thanks Notropis, you pretty much sum up my sentiments. Any collector value has already been eliminated and returning it to it's original military condition would far exceed the $$ value of a clean unmodified example. Since it was my Grandfather's, I don't expect to ever sell it although I can't remember him ever hunting with it. I think he bought it from a friend as his "someday" gun for when someday he would hunt bigger game out west. Of course being a hard working family man someday never arrived. Anyhow, thanks to everyone's help here I'm closing in on making a decision. Thanks again everybody; Mike

you 2 guys grow up.

I have my Grandfathers 03 that he got from the NRA for 20 bucks, first gun I ever called my own and the first one I sporterized. I cut the barrel off behind the front site and recontoured the barrel (hard sumbuck) I had the bolt bent,drilled and tapped and blued. Before bluing I hand polished it and fitted a stock from the old Herters company. It's still one of the most accurate guns in my safe and will be passed on to one of my grandkids. I always hoped to run up on a Pederson device for it since it is a Mark I.

I can appreciate that some purists (I am a purist on some things, myself) would be aghast at drilling and tapping an '03. However, I purchased an unfired Remington-made '03 from the DCM in the early 1960s (for $19 as I recall) for the express purpose of using the action for a custom rifle. It took me about 30 years to get it done, but it has become one of my favorite rifles and goes to elk camp with me every year, no matter what other rifles I take. I almost never shot it when it was in its original configuration, but I have put several hundred rounds through it since it was finished and enjoyed pulling the trigger on every one.

Last time I checked there were about eight or ten Springfields in my safe. Most of the them have been altered extensively, but one of them is all original and one more could be put back to it. However, it won't happen because I can't see spending what the parts cost to do so. Add to this there is almost as much history connected with custom rifles built on Springfield actions as there is with the military ones.

Townsend Whelen's last Alvin Linden custom stocked Springfield was recently put up at auction and the bid of $9500.00 was not accepted. It's not uncommon to see custom rifles on Springfield actions sell in the $5000.00 range so I recon that value of a rifle can be a sketchy thing at best. I'd definately customize a rifle so that it is easier for one to use if I wanted to. If that means drilling and tapping the receiver I wouldn't think twice about doing it, just do it.

They are a grand rifle and to me the greatest value is being able to enjoy shooting them.