Commercial 03-A3 Rear Sight

[erikpolcrack]

Does anyone know of a commercial aperture sight that will mount on the military rear sight dovetail mount of the US Rifle 03-A3 Springfield?

 

[cmansguns]

Not absolutely sure..but old school Williams ,aybe

Trying to remember but in the early 1960's Sears sold original WWII rifles milsurp in both as issued condition and sporterized for a few bucks more (new barrels, ***en or Bishop stocks, Williams peep sights, nice refinish jobs).

Below pics are my all original 03-A3 with military rear sight. Other pics are my Sears, sporterized Enfield with Williams peep sight. Both great shooting rifles.

Cannot find my old Sears 1962 catalog page that had views of both and pricing, but maybe that Williams peep was a "drop-in" not requiring machining on the 03-A3, whereas on the Enfield they milled off the charging bridge.

I don't know if Williams peep sights are still around. Maybe Google is your friend. Worth a try maybe.

Let us know if you do find something that works for you. Is your original military sight compromised?

 

[pantannojack]

The best sight you could get is a Lyman 48. Ya gotta drill two holes to mount on the right side of receiver so not to interfere the magazine cut off. Then a AXNB front sight replaces the sleeve on the issue f sight.

 

[Patrick L]

A Williams Guide Receiver sight may. I'm not 100% sure. Those are not click adjustable, just loosen, slide, and tighten.

 

[erikpolcrack]

A Williams Guide Receiver sight may. I'm not 100% sure. Those are not click adjustable, just loosen, slide, and tighten.

Thanks, Patrick. If memory serves, that could be just what I remember using way back when. If I strike out, I'll just go with the GI model. The nicely sporterised rifle I'm looking to finish has no rear sight mounted, but still has the GI front sight. No D&T was ever done on the action. Could be returned to GI configuration. That's a possibility - I could just use the nice stock on another sporter project.

 

[DWalt]

I long ago put a Williams peep on an 03A3. It just slipped on the existing dovetail rear sight base. It was very difficult to remove the issue rear sight, and I destroyed it in the process. Later I wished I had just left the issue rear sight in place. It was foolish to replace the original.

 

[LVSteve]

The original GI 03A3 rear sight is one of the better military peeps. The one on the FN-49 is way too small.

 

[2152hq]

The Williams made their
'Model WGRS Sight for the Springfield 1903A3'
(as well as other applications)

If you search it as just that (for the 1903A3 Springfield) you will probably come up with some for sale. Ebay is a likely source.

They are a very simple straight replacement for the orig unit.
which can be difficult to remove.

The WGRS has a separate base that slips into the dovetail n the recv'r and is locked in position with a set screw.
The rear aperture then slides onto that base and rides on a dovetail lenghtwise that is on a slight incline. That incline for loosen screw/tighten screw elevation adj.
The aperture then has simple loosen screw adjust/tighten screw windage adj as well.

That's the only one of the Williams sites that was a direct replacement. They had others that required the orig be removed and then the new sight mounted on the right side of the rear of the recv'r and requires D&T of two holes the same as a Lyman, Redfield, etc.


SARCO sells this replacement sight that fits the dovetail on the recv'r.
I've never had one in-hand to examine it and I'd guess they are likely an 'import'. I'd question the precision quality at the price.
Probably better off with the original.!
1903A3 Springfield Rear Sight New Production - SARCO, Inc

 

[Patrick L]

I know this is not what you want, but I actually did D&T my O3A3 for a Lyman 57. Man those O3A3s are HARD. I also jury rigged a Lyman 17 front. Made it into an NRA Highpower gun, shot it for 15 years in local competition with cast lead bullets. I did this in the 90s, basically made it into what was the hot setup in the 50s. I had to jury rig because all of that stuff was long out of production by then!

 

[H Richard]

Way back my first High Power competition rifle was an 03-A3, and being broke most of the time, I "improved the original sight by gluing a thin piece of aluminum, with a hole with a #55 drill bit. It did improve my accuracy with that rifle. Since our club was a fixed 200 yard competition range, it worked fine.