The rear receiver bridge is stamped:
US
Remington
model 1903
3028XXX
It is equipped with the windage adjustable ladder sight indexed to 2700 yds.
My wife inherited it from her father. All we know about is that it was her Dad's deer rifle from the fifties onward.
ETA: Okay Wiki says it is an early WW II production rifle judging by serial #.
A class legacy, do you shoot it?
Early Remington, barrel date should be either Feb or Mar '42
Either grasping groove stock or not.
All parts should be stamped with an "R".
Stamping is not on the rear bridge but on the receiver ring.
Hopefully the stock has not been chopped, those particular vintage stocks (stamped with a boxed RLB) are a rare thing to find.
Any pics ?
Remington was "issued" the old mothballed machinery from Rock Island Arsenal left over from when RI stopped producing the 1903 Rifle at the end of WWI. By all accounts the machines and fixtures were in a sad state of affairs after sitting neglected for 20+ years. Remington did the best they could as their contract was for rifles intended for Lend-Lease to England, with some production earmarked for U.S. use. (Mind you, Springfield at the time was nose deep in trying to get Garand production up to speed and had no time to devote to building more '03's.) The early Remington guns were ok, not quite up to the high standards of pre-war Springfield stuff, but very good nonetheless. As the old machinery continued to wear out and the need to re-tool became apparent, and the demand for rifles of all types was through the roof, Remington approached the Ordnance Dept. for permission to substitute stamped parts for non-critical milled parts, sight changes, and to take a lot of other time saving shortcuts in production such as attention to finishing. The resulting rifle was enough different from the standard M1903 that it was designated the M1903A3.
Remington '03's are a great addition to a rifleman's battery, IMO.
I prefer the 1903A3 simply for the peep sights.
You have a fine gun that is fun to shoot and even carry for hunting. The magazine cut off was a great idea that was kept through out production.
The nice thing about the 1903 is that you can shoot any commercial 30-06 ammo as opposed to the M1 Garand which can be damaged using commercial ammo. The Garand requires the use of only IMR 4895 or IMR 4064 powder. Other ammo produces gas pressure peak that damages the operating rod.
I have one of the Remington 03a3s, a refurb with a Criterion barrel. I had to replace the milled follower with a stamped one to get it to feed the 5th round, but have had no other issues.
It is actually quite accurate, it surprised me the first outing, shooting the same load I shoot in my Garand.
I prefer the 1903A3 simply for the peep sights.
You have a fine gun that is fun to shoot and even carry for hunting. The magazine cut off was a great idea that was kept through out production.
The nice thing about the 1903 is that you can shoot any commercial 30-06 ammo as opposed to the M1 Garand which can be damaged using commercial ammo. The Garand requires the use of only IMR 4895 or IMR 4064 powder. Other ammo produces gas pressure peak that damages the operating rod.
Why was the magazine cut off a "great idea". That Garand does not require the use of only IMR 4895 or IMR 4064 powders.
True, but the Garand requires powders of a similar burning rate nonetheless for "normal" jacketed loads.
I like the magazine cutoff on '03's because it limits bolt travel when at the bench firing single-loaded cartridges. It beats grinding the back of the follower to allow the bolt to ride over/past it like what is typically done with Mausers to achieve that.
Well, there is that. After (on a sporter/custom) you make the butt ugly notch in the stock to allow it to function.
Hornady's manual has four pages of reloading data specifically for the Garand.