Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Herter's and the 1903 Springfield Questions (Pictures Added)

Dad just came into an interesting old rifle.

Its a 1903 Springfield built at Springfield Armory. The serial number is 538XXX which should put the production date in 1913 or one of the "low number" rifles.

This rifle has been reblued, the bolt jeweled, restocked, drilled and tapped, and looks to be rebarreled (22 inch sporter contour barrel with a witness mark scribed at about the 2 O'clock position that lines up perfectly with the U.S. stamp on the receiver ring).

The stock has a 1950's-1960's style rollover cheek piece and a Herter's recoil pad and white line spacer.

I seem to recall Herter's at one time offered reworked 1903 barreled actions and stocks or "kits" to build your own sporterized 1903.

Can anyone verify if this memory is correct or perhaps someone has run into one of these rifles before.

I will have some pictures in a bit.

Here are some quick pictures:

I did a quick test fire after supper and the old rifle functioned fine with my rather pedestrian .30/06 target load of 49.0 grains of VVN140 and the 155 AMax @2775-2800 fps.

Nice find...I grew up with Herters catalogues and they did have an amazing collection of stocks and such but I don't recall Springfield barreled actions being offered. They had different commercial Mauser, Sako and English BSA offerings but I only remember sporter stocks, bottom metal etc. for Springfields. Perhaps someone else remembers differently. I did have a couple catalogues from the 60's but can't locate them right now. In fact, my HS teacher/amateur stock maker fitted a Herters full stock on my Swedish 94 barreled action. Good memories...thanks, Bruce

I wish I could have all the Herter's catalogs my grandfather used to have stacked up in his reloading room. They would be a real treasure today.

Enjoyed the pics and post. I bought a 3.1 mill range 03 that had allready been sportered ,back in 86 with a 4 groove barrel on it that was a goner. The previous owner had a Herters World Famous Model perfect Monte Carlo blank on it also. decent AM walnut complete with the Herters black plastic forend tip, grip cap, and recoil pad all featuring their black/white zig zag spacers, just about got dizzy looking it all at once. Best part was the dude who did it left about 10% more wood on it than it needed. So I popped off the forend tip, unscrewed the grip cap and recoil pad, all went away. Atleast the stock lines flowed right and no major corrections needed to make it look ok that way. I added a Pachmayer black rifle pad and went up the highway too Dakota Arms to buy a big enuf chunk of ebony to scab off enuf for 2 grip caps and left enuf for 2 forend tips. With that all in progress I had a local guy put on a decent 2 groove off a A3 head space it, etc. Then went to another smith for D&t for a Redfield Jr 1 piece base, low swing safety and a Williams bolt handle installed. Polished and blued. Back to the wood work, glass bedding and finishing it . Shoots good, weighs 9 lbs + with a 6x Burris and kills everything I shoot right now.
I have a 1974 Herter's catalog and from what I can see the checkering on yours doesn't appear to be any of the patterns they show, the stock absolutely. Enjoy it and shoot it. The 03 made its bones long before some dick started whacking and breaking low numbered receivers then calling them unfit. Magnum Man

Your 03 sounds like a great old rifle. What sorts of critters have you taken with it?

Antelope, whitetail and mule deer.Just about the most common stuff available to an ordinary fall in South Dakota. I like Springfields ,I'd never take a pristine original and sporterize it. for awhile in the 80's and 90's around here there were plenty on the local market that somebody had once sportered and buying those to redo happened a 1/2 doz times for me. I have about $350 in that one after paying $75 for it originally. Also have a 03-A3 REM that has the all orig barrel and frt sight that has a Lyman receiver sight on back. As well as a SC 03-A3 in a Fajen MC stock with a 2.5 x 8 Baush and Lomb on it. All in 30-06, really what else do you need as a all arounder? Yeah I've added a few things to them for instance all have 03 bottom metal and the first one I used a Timney on but the last 2 still utilize the original 2 stage trigger which are easy to shoot. The last one that I traded for was a 03-A3 SC with original barrel in a thumbhole rechambered for 308 Norma Mag, remembered as a young guy reading about those conversions and decide to experience it for as cheap as it was to get. They all are smooth and shoot nice. Damned hard to beat a 03 and 03-A3 for a solid using rifle. Magnum Man

I had an 03 in .308 Norma and like a dummy traded it off.

I wish I could get a do over on that one.

It would not surprise me that Herter's offered the sporter or kit. Sometime around 1966 I bought an 03 Springfield with a 2 groove barrel from the rack at Montgomery Wards in Albuquerque for $12.

That and surplus 4831 powder for 50 cents a pound or so and pulled military bullets for 2-3 cents each started my competitive shooting career, which I never did really excel at.

I wish you could still buy rifles and reloading components for those prices.

I dropped the barrelled action out of the stock to check it for markings and such. There were no markings, not even a caliber stamp, but there are to scribed index lines (?) on the barrel.

One on the top of the barrel and a smaller one about two inches further down on the bottom of the barrel.

I suspect this barrel may be a repurposed 03 military barrel.

It is in great shape and the rifling looks very good in it.

I remember them having barrels full of Springfields and Mausers in a Twin Falls, ID gun store for $20.00 but I just checked and in 1964 the average wage was $2.40 per hour so that was almost a days take home pay at that time. It is all a matter of perspective.

I still have a couple of Herters catalogs and look through them form time to time to read all of the sales hype they put out - personally tested by George and Leonard Herter, etc. Also at that time you ordered guns delivered to your home - no FFL involved, you simply signed a statement that you were of legal age and were not a criminal and mailed in your order, a few days later you had your firearm.

drover

If you read the hype in a new Cabelas catalog, it's pretty much the same as the old Herters catalog.

I have an old 1964 Hodgon catalog from when they carried all kinds of stuff for shooting and reloading

I have a Springfield that I had fully customized in Germany in 1968. The stock appears to be just like mine. Mine is a Roberts highcomb rollover which I ordered from Gander Mountain that same year. It was really rough as received, but an old German gunsmith did a marvelous job of finishing it. Last year I refinished/repaired it with the help of Elliesbear on this site. He is a marvelous stockmaker and gun guy. I'll try to get you a pic for comparrison. By the way, nice rifle.

I look forward to seeing the pictures.