I purchased a treasure over the weekend. A woman who's in my brothers decoy carving class told him about an "unfired Remington .30-06" that her son was selling. That's all I knew about the gun. Most leads like this don't pan out, but I followed up just in case. I'm glad I did!

The sons uncle got the gun from the DCM in the 1960's and supposedly never shot it. The son remembers helping him clean off the cosmoline and inherited the gun when the uncle passed away. The son said he never shot it either and I believe him.

He had some of the details wrong, but this Remington 03A3 was obviously unissued and in amazing condition. It passed inspection at Ogden Arsenal in Utah after the war and is so marked, but it obviously was never rebuilt. It now has a place of honor in my meager US military collection.









Nice cartouches! RA (Remington Arms), crossed cannons and FJA ( Lt. Col. Frank J. Atwood - Army ordinance inspector)


OG (Inspection stamp, Ogden Arsenal)


Remington inspection stamps


Proof mark








"R" is for Remington!










Pretty clean bolt face!




2 groove barrel

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"I also cook."

Score ! That used to happen now & then, years ago, but not much anymore.
Is it going to stay unfired ?
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

Nice find something I would like to get. First firearm I ever shot, my uncles 03-A3 I was about 12-13 at the time, a long time ago. Tried to get his but he died and his woman friend sold all his firearms. Still you got a good find there.

Great looking rifle. Those two groove barrels shoot well. I had one years ago and was a little doubtful about the barrel only having two grooves but it shot just fine.

My Dad had one of those. Don't know what became of it. Your's is beautiful.. 2 months older than me.

You've scored a twin to mine. I love shooting it. It is easy to shoot accurately. Congrats!!!

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Go big or stay home

Very nice!

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- Change it back -

Great find wish I could be so lucky.

Nice catch Dave. That box of Wimbleton ammo is probably worth a good penny itself.

Years ago I met a man with an 03-2 groove. the bore had been rough so he lapped it our to .311 or .312 and shot cast bullets into very small groups at 200 yards. I saw a stranger ask if he could shoot it? "Sure", replied the owner, "But I'm out of ammo, you'll have t to use yours". The stranger had some M-2 ball, and proceeded to shoot a 25-30" group at 200, The owner said, "Some people know how to shoot and some don't." Ivan

OH, I am so jealous!!!!!

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Luke 22:36

s&wchad, very nice rifle. I bought one from the DCM back in the late 50's or 60's, it was like yours, brand new. I don't know what ever happened to it, most likely got traded off for something else. They cost all of $15 back then! You have a nice piece of history. Dave

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Dave

I plan on preserving it just the way it is. At 70 years old and in that kind of shape, it deserves the respect!

Thanks Leonard. The Wimbledon cup ammo was already in my pile, I picked it up at a show a few years back. It's a full box. There's a photo of the box in Roger Rules book The Rifleman's Rifle and he calls it rare. That's a Model 54 pictured, so I'm sure it pre-dates the Model 70 (1936). Those were the only vintage boxes of '06 ammo I had and I thought the photos deserved some accoutrements!

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"I also cook."

Proof again that in the gun world one should always follow leads, no matter how slim.

Very nice rifle. In such condition that maybe we should send you and it back to boot camp!!

It's interesting how Remington eventually removed all the unnecessary machined parts from the '03 models but stamped each individual part with an "R".

I once had a Remington M1903 that was their first version of their idea of the "revamped" M1903. It only had the stock groove on the forearm not in place. All other items of '03 were there. But they still managed to "R" stamp everything.

I had heard for years how the two-groove barrels were not accurate. I once had a M1903A3 that was a two-groove. Based on what I had "heard" I threw together some reloads with Remington 150 "cheapo" bullets and IMR4350. With its iron sights I got 3 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I later read a little in depth on these rifles and they can shoot!

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

The "two-grooves can't shoot" legend refuses to lay down and die. The UK did extensive testing before approving two-groove barrels for the No.4 rifle and millions were produced, many in the US. The UK was not only concerned with accuracy but there had been dire predictions about over pressure with 2-groove bores.

As the rifles have aged there is some suggestion in the collector world that when a two-groove bore suffers from throat erosion that the accuracy goes off quicker than for a 4 or 5 groove tube. The use by Britain of cordite ammo may mean that this is true for rifles with a high round count, but I do not think it can be scientifically proved. Also, I've never seen a milsurp that came with a "rounds fired" certificate so I am not yet convinced. Besides, a buggered crown will screw up the accuracy regardless of the groove count.

That's a nice one Chad...
A true time capsule.

Did it come with the small tin of "Poison" ???


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Many of the 1903a4 snipers were 2 groove barrels,they shoot fine.

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SWCA#2288
SWHF#407

Awesome find!

And I would like to ask as well, will it stay unfired?

Not sure I could resist the temptation.

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Where do we go from here?

Got one just like it! Great catch and I wouldn't part with it either.
Went out looking for a Garand and came home with that instead and even had a retired Marine Gunny check it out for me! Said I got the deal of the day on that one! Big question,,, will I ever shoot it,,,,,Naaaah I think not. Somehow stayed pristine and pretty all these years why ruin it....

That's what I call a great score. I'm jealous.

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S&W Model 15-3

Ya got the makin's for a nice sporterizing project there , yea?

Of course I'm kidding!

And that's the way they should be. Greenish parkerizing on receiver/barrel and blue/black (DuLite) on the small parts.

I remember them being so cheap back in the 70's.

The two-groove barrels can shoot. I just rebarreled my Remington with a NOS-USGI barrel 2 months from the original.

I only got to shoot one of these a few times, back
when I had no appreciation for the finer things in life.
Yours sure looks good! Glad you got it, and shared it here.
TACC1

It will remain as is while I'm the caretaker.


No, the poison comes with the moderator job. We've been instructed not be taken alive!

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"I also cook."

Nice! I have an 03' Springfield in similar condition with a star gauge barrel. Excellent shooter!

Elmer Keith may have touched that rifle. He was an inspector at OG during WW II.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I have one similar to yours. It has a mysterious SS stamped on the stock.
I have yet to learn what it signifies.

When somebody hollers....Lucky Dog...you better raise your paw! Beautiful rifle!

The only thing that could make that one better is if it had the "OGEK" cartouche.
At one time Elmer Keith was an inspector at Ogden.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I'm very happy for you. I'm glad the rifle is in the hands of someone who truly appreciates it, instead of being sold for a hundred bucks at a gun buy-back to be destroyed.

Thanks for the post. I have a similar condition smith-corona and didn't know what the OG meant. It was in cosmoline when I got it about 20 years ago.

WOW, nice gun. You have to turn over every rock to see whats under it. You never know, Larry

I would just HAVE to shoot it. How different is 03 ammo from 06? Were the changes just to the bullet/load or actually dimensional??

Military designations can sometimes be a bit confusing.

The original US Model 1903 Rifle was chambered for the .30-03 cartridge and featured a 220 grain round nose bullet. The cartridge was redesigned in 1906 with a shorter neck, different powder and a 150 grain spitzer bullet and became the .30-06 Springfield cartridge we all know and love.
.30-06 cartridges can be fired in a rifle chambered for .30-03, but not vice versa.

The US Model 03A3 Rifle (1903A3) was a WWII adaptation of the US Model 1903 rifle, intended to speed up production and make it more battle worthy. The stock and sights were redesigned and a number of forged parts were replaced with stampings. Late 03A3 rifles like mine have a two groove barrel.

To sum it up, the 03A3 rifle is chambered for the .30-06 cartridge and ammunition is readily available... but I'm still not going to shoot this one!

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"I also cook."

This is a wild guess , but Springfield Sporters popped into my mind for some reason. They were a big surplus arms importer and dealer and though I know the importers weren't required to mark the guns they sold back then , and certainly not on the stocks. Could also be the initials of a previous owner?

That is waaaaaay cool. I do think it needs to roar. That is why it was made.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Nice, no great find. Good thing you followed up.

It only seems like yesterday but in the early 70's I bought one of these, same condition for 20 or25 bucks. It traded hands several times, no actually I traded a lawn mower for it. No one would shoot it because the Bore was pure corrosion.

I knew what it was, a bore brush and bore cleaner took out the cosmoline. I'm now too ashamed to say what I did to that rifle. But they were everywhere for nothing money.....

You didn't mention how much you gave for that rifle. If I owned it I could not resist taking it to the range with the 1903A3 that I bought from CMP a few years back for about $400.

There are no more to be had from CMP, so they say.

Mine wasn't unfired like your find but in really nice condition with an almost new bore, according to the gunsmith that I had check the headspace.

I shoot it 3 or 4 times a year and I'm sure it's worth a lot more now than when I bought it.

Funny how an emergency stop-gap second line military rifle, put into production to supplement the supply of M-1 Garands, with stamped parts to make it cheaper and quicker to build has turned into a classic that folks are hesitant to shoot!