I ended up with one a while back. It cost me a Carcano cut into a scout rifle and an old Savage - Springfield 12 ga pump that had been cut into a riot gun.

My 1903A3 is a Remington. At some point it was fitted with a 1/44 HS bbl. It was also possibly a ceremonial rifle at some point. The bolt, receiver and metal furniture is all nickel plated. Nicely enough done... the rifle remains fully functional. The handguard has been glued but is solid.

I figured that it was never going to be a sought after rifle so I eliminated the annoying shine with a coat of flat black paint. An eventual Duracoat finish is probably in order but that costs more than a can of paint.

The peep sight seems easy to use. Ammo is not hard to find. Compared to a Mosin Nagant it is even light and handy. What about using it as a general purpose rifle?

Great rifle! Perhaps the best all-around big game cartridge made. Great iron sights. Bull-solid action. Plenty of metal parts around if you decide to go back to plain Parkerized metal. I would have made the trade, too.

I have a SC 1903A3, in extremly good shape. Good barrel, smooth action and extremely accurate. It would make a great general purpose rifle.

The exception, (for me) the front sight was too thin, I like more of the thickness of the Garand/M14. Anyway I got a .074 thick front sight from a gun on the CMP form. (just the blade). It makes all the difference in the world.

I have and do most of my competition rifle shooting with irons and would have no problem using the 03A3 for everything (except I have lots of rifles and don't want to get rid of any of them).

I use mine for CMP Garand-Springfield-Military shooting so I wont be modifing it.

Get some good stripper clips, the sucker, with practice can be fired as fast as a Garand. Just have to learn to work the bolt, by the time you recover from recoil, you should have the bolt re-cycled.

You'll like it I'm sure, its my ideal of the best battle rifle ever made. I like shooting it better then I do my Garand.

But like others, the rifle isn't complete until you add a bayonet. CMP has them.

Sounds to me like you did well on the swap, and ended up with a great rifle. And, if the desire ever hits you, you can take the black paint off and have yourself a BBQ rifle!

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Even older, even crankier....

If you can find one, a Marine Corps front sight protector is great; you can leave it on all the time, it is large enough to shoot with, unlike the Army ones. The front sight is known to tear the lining out of gun cases....Btw, I've heard reproduction sight protectors are out there, haven't seen one myself, but if one is not a collector, and if the quality is ok, I'd go for it.

One of my favorite bolt action military rifles. I have 2 and both are all G.I. original except for one having a Lyman rear sight that was installed back in the 1950's by a relative I inherited it from.

In my experience, they are darn accurate and pretty ruggedly built. I think they serve as a fine "general purpose" rifle under most ordinary circumstances. Best of luck to you with yours, have some fun!

Cheers;
Lefty

My first high powered rifle, bought for me as a birthday present as a teenager. Something like $19.99 at K-Mart in '63 or '64....killed many deer and coyotes with that thing...dispatched a few head of sick cattle with it as well...carried it butt forward in a saddle scabbard when checking cows and fences...got stolen in '74...sure miss it

They don't come much better.

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Eccentric old coot

Sir, the '03-A3 is an excellent rifle and a good choice for a general purpose gun. The gun itself is reliable and strong, and ammo and parts are readily available at reasonable prices. If I could keep only one centerfire rifle, my '03-A3 would be a very strong contender.

As someone else noted, the issue front sight blade is very narrow--tough to see clearly with over-40 eyes. Lyman used to make a hooded match front sight (17A?) that took different style inserts, and that's a good way to go. They turn up with some frequency at gun shows around here.

**edited to add:**
The sight I'm talking about is the Lyman 17A XNB. The XNA has a dovetail for the earlier '03 sight base and won't work on an 'A3. Check out the link (it's a completed auction) to see what the XNB looks like.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

Great rifle, I have an 03 and 2 03A3. They will shoot 1 inch groups at100 yards with my handloads when I do my part. Not bad for an old Army gun.

You don't know what was done to the metal other than nickel plating it. The heat treating may have been affected. Have you checked headspace?

A non-altered Springfield would be a sound choice.

I have not been able to find a bayonet that I can afford. The CMP ones are 265 unless some of the Garand ones will fit?

There is a Thompson in the museum here that a guy had nickel plated. Why would the nickel plating weaken the receiver and bolt etc?

I believe the Garand and 03 Springfield bayonets will interchange.

You'd be hard pressed to name a better general purpose rifle.

Sir, Garand and Springfield bayonets are interchangeable. Sometimes even a Krag bayonet will work.

As I understand it, the chrome or nickel (or whatever it is) doesn't bother the gun, but removing it via chemical processes such as reverse plating can make the base metal brittle. Whether it's enough to make the gun unserviceable I don't know.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

If someone nickels or chromes a gun, I don't know what else may have been done, or how expertly. And tolerances may be affected, for all I know.

Some of these nickled rifles may have been graded as Drill Purpose to begin with.

I have been shooting 03-A3 rifles since 1980. They are wonderful. I've used them on all manner of targets, both animate and inanimate with complete success. I currently own Smith Corona and Remington 03-A3's as well as Springfield and Remington 03's. It is very difficult to tell any difference between them on the target range. In the field, the 03-A3 offers much greater utility. My last deer was a nice 8 pt. buck shot at 181 paces with a single round of plain Jane Winchester 150 gr. Power-Point ammo. Shot him just in front of the left hip and raked the round though and out his right shoulder. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. I've been using the 03-A3 and M-1 Garand on deer for a long time. They are extremely effective. JMHO. Sincerely. brucev.

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<><

In 1967 I moved to Colorado, then bought a Remington 1903a3. I was poor, a student in Gunnison, and had no scope. The rifle had electrical tape fixin a stock neck crack where I had earlier put a sliver into the web of my right hand. My eyes were overdue for a glasses upgrade.

Nevertheless, I took it hunting in the West Elks. The rest of the group decided to go up to a ridgetop late in the day, but I stayed down on an old 2-track road because my arthritic feet were dying. So I walked in a rolling footstep as quiet as possible.

Suddenly I noticed a spike bull crossing the road about 80 yards away. I recall shooting from a standing position. That slowed him. Then I sat down on the road and fired two more times. He dropped just off the trail.

My eyes were so ****ty I think I was shooting at a blur elk rather than a bull elk.

The other three guys came down off the ridge into West Red Creek maybe 15 minutes later. After all the hooping and jumping we looked him over: 19 inches spike ( just legal back then ), and he had lost one hoof, the root of one antler was flopping, and he had a chest wound.

Pack him out? Heck. We drove my 65 IHC Scout right to the ditch swale, lowered the tailgate, and slid him in the back.

My wife was pregnant. She felt barfy just going into the garage where the elk was hanging, and she tossed every time she cooked me some.

Couple of years later I got a job teaching at U of Nebraska Kearney, got new glasses.

Yup.

I still have that gun. Except that a gunmaker at Kesselrings near Bellingham WA did a beautiful fit and finish on a quality Bishop sporter stock. No drill and tap. And I have a San Antonio Arsenal unissued Scant stock ready once I find a front barrel band.

"Why would the nickel plating weaken the receiver and bolt etc?"

'Hydrogen Embrittlement' is something that can happen to some steels when electroplated.
I've been warned of the problem before on some chrome and nickle plated firearms, but I do not have the knowledge of the processes & chemistry to understand it or explain it.

Might be something to look in to,, or perhaps someone else here has a clear understanding of it and wether it may be something to be of concern in this case..

I've taken south Arkansas whitetails with my USGI 1903. Fine shooting rifle.

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- Change it back -

A Springfield as a GPR...you betcha!!
While the "survivalists" will insist on a semi-auto, like an AR or AK, these old bolt action beauties will do very well at bringing home the venison, keeping the varmints away, and do it with style and grace!
Plus being '06 means it can reach out and touch something at a distance, and said target WILL know it's been touched! Dale

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

I used to have a 2 groove Remington '03A3 from July '44. It would shoot 3/4" groups from the bench, when I did my part.

I used mine for deer hunting as well.

That's a great choice for a GP rifle!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

There is nothing wrong with your springfield. I have one that cast me the grand sum of 89 bucks. Bubba had his way with her. Had a spare new barrel installed, lyman 57 target knobs rear sight and a redfield ramp
installed and rifle blued. I did all the polishing work. Had it now for about 25 years. No mystery metal on a springfield. Frank

I think you did very well. I think almost any rifle is better than an Italian Carcano. I've got one that I've had since I was a kid. It's been sitting in the closet waiting for a "gun buy-back" program to hit. I missed one a few years ago, and I'm still kicking myself on that one. I tried to sell it once at a gun show once and couldn't find any takers. Finally, one vendor said "$100.00". I was floored - "...you mean you'll give me $100 bucks for this rifle"? "No", he said, "you give me $100 bucks and I'll take the dang thing off your hands".

Regards,

Dave

I will trade you something for that Carcano if you want Dave. I kept two since I sort of like them. One is a true mutant that uses some SKS and Enfield parts. But that is another story. I ought write about my mutants one of these days.

ARMSLIST - For Sale/Trade: 1903A3 Model SpringField is the now expired/completed ad that I answered. The photos show my rifle as it looked prior to painting. Pretty but it was awful shiny.

Apparently CMP sold a lot of nickel and chrome ex drill rifles a few years back. Some - like mine - had nice bores and seemed to offer a rock bottom price on a shooter. Now that I have googled it I am not sure about embrittlement - the receiver is thick steel. But I am not an engineer.

I suppose if it turns out to be a potential danger that I will need a new receiver.

The Remington models were all good shooters. If you intend to shoot it in any kind of competition be sure to use a padded shooting jacket as the recoil of 52 to 60 rounds in a short period of time isn't pleasant. They are accurate and rugged rifles, but there could be better ones to serve your needs.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

In 1985 I was given a Smith Corona 03A3 that was an NRA Sporter from the 50's. It was still packed in cosmolene and in a wax paper wrapper. My friend said he purchased it for $18.00. It's a 2 groove barrel made in 1943. I had always used 150 grain bullets and was never really impressed with my groups. I was told to try a much heaver bullet. My first group with 220 grain roundnose Remingtons was 5/8" using the peep sights. Two years ago I killed a deer that I thought had been wounded by my son in law. It was running full out broadside at 70 yards and dropped in its tracks. I don't think I could have done that shot with a scoped gun. (I would have never attempted it except I thought it was already hit). Anyway, my Weatherby .270 sits in the case and I use the 03A3 for deer under 100 yards.
The action is as smooth as butter, and the trigger is actually better than the Weatherby!
Stonecove

as a general purpose rifle ... well that pretty much sums up the design goals when it was invented

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it just needs more voltage

Superb rifle, I prefer the A3 over the original because of the sights.

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Always bet on stupidity.