Smith-Corona 1903A3

[brucev]

First .30-06 was a 03-A3. Like to have died of shock when I saw what it did at the range! Shot 130 gr. JHP's loaded over a super secret dose of RE-7. It would absolutely hold the 10 ring of a SR-1. It was pure poison on anything that walks or crawls in the southeast United States. Still have several 03-A3's. One is a Smith Corona that got rearsenaled with a brand new Rem. 1944 barrel. It is a superlative shooter. Even better, it shoots cast bullets with the same outstanding accuracy. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[nutsforsmiths]

About 10 years ago, I talked to a then 93 year old man, he has sinced passed awsy, who had been in the typewriter repair business most of his life. His father was also in that business, so he had been working on typewriters since he was a teenager. He was drafted into the army during WWII. When he got yo basic training he was given a 03 A3 that was made by Smith-Corona. He thought it was kind of ironic!

His unit was shipped to England. Once there an officer found out he repaired typewriters. So for the rest of the war, he was in England as a typewriter repairman!

 

[SASFixer]

My only suggestion is to find the closest club running CMP "as-issued" service rifle matches.
For that you'll want a sling (although you can do 'ok' without) and 2 or more stripper clips.
You can skate by with any sort of mat to lay on and a block or container to hold 10, 15, or 20 rounds.

The matches are derived from the KD qualification courses of the period, but the target and score rings are smaller.
NRA SR target at 200 yards or the SR-1 at 100 yards.
The rapid targets starts from standing (and then go to prone and sitting/kneeling) and are just fast enough to add to the stress of competition especially with the bolt action.

Having a spotting scope is helpful but it all depends on the club and the range. Some have electronic scoring and others have pits.

CMP Club & Competition Tracker | Match Search

ct.thecmp.org

Search for under vintage as well as Springfield and Garand. The course is the same regardless, either course A or B, and clubs will list the event various ways. I think at bigger matchs they segregate so each competitor has opportunity to shoot 3 different rifles.

Be the MAN, start a CMP program at your local club. Local Club matches are a ton of fun. I did it in 2002, with a commemorative match held in February I called the Frozen Chosen. It is has been held every February since then. This beginning led to CMP GSM matches held from October to January.

 

[bgrafsr]

I bought a Smith Corona 03-A3 from a fellow club member for a decent price. I replaced the stock with a C type stock, removed all the stamped parts and replaced them with the milled parts, installed a nickle steel bolt, and my Cousin, who owns a machine shop, made a copy of the Marine Corps target front sight for it. The gun already had a target rear sight, a Lyman adjustable target sight on it.
The 4 groove barrel was not the best, so I bought a new in the wrap barrel, thinking it was a 4 groove. It turned out to be a 2 groove barrel and had it installed on the gun.
With my target handloads it is very accurate.

 

[LVSteve]

quote---------------The Army said that the 2 groove was just as good, believe it.--------quote

Actually that is only partially true. U.S. Military tests later proved that although the 2 groove barrels shot "well enough" when new that they lost accuracy faster than 4 groove barrels as the throat started to erode (burn out) as all rifle barrels eventually do. Because of the sub-standard manufacture of the barrels it took about 2,000 rounds of shooting before the barrels hit peak accuracy (according to the Military) because they were not hand lapped as well as they should have been.

The Fanatical Germans when lapping 98 Mauser barrels actually hand lapped the barrels twice, once for uniformity and once for smoothness to iron out any rough spots.

I might add that U.S. Savage produced British No. 4 MkI rifles with two groove barrels showed the same loss of accuracy compared to the British produced 4 groove and 5 groove barrels as the throats eroded but under wartime conditions this was deemed acceptable.

Back when I was buying military rifles in the 60's we had to pay far less for a 2 groove than a 4 groove 03 Springfield as this erosion problem even back then was well known.

Having said all that my Father during WWII used (among other weapons) a 1903 (not a 03A3) Springfield and he said his 03 Springfield shot way more accurately than the M1's he also used. Later in time I found out why as the stock on the M1 had no metal liner and and the pounding of the action within the stock under recoil soon caused the stock to loosen up. This was later corrected with the metal liner used in the production of the M14.

The Brits had the added factor of Cordite as their propellant, perfect for throat erosion during rapid fire. In the milsurp shooter world, a good two-groove Enfield will shoot accurately for as long as most collectors will need.

Another issue with 303 British is that the best ammo for Enfields has a flat base with exposed lead. Yes, some rifles with minimal wear will shoot boat tails well and do so for a long while, but once throat erosion gets going, flat base is the way to go.

 

[daveboy]

I believe he designed the adjustable rear sight for the M1 carbine too.

Not sure if John Garand designed that sight. But, the 03A3 sight and the M1 Carbine sight are almost identical. To me, they are perfection in a battle rifle.

 

[daveboy]

My Remington 03A3, circa 1943. She shoots much better than I can.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I couldn’t resist: saw a very nice Smith-Corona 1903A3 for a thousand dollars from Cabela’s of all places; looks to have all of the original military furniture, and to be in excellent condition. As a left-handed shooter, I really regret selling my last 1903; for some reason the bolt guns just speak to my soul and unlike the original 03 the A3 has sights I can use well easily. It’s on the way to my local Cabelas now. Sure, I’ll end up working more overtime or something…but you only live once, right? My great-great uncle was an anti-tank infantryman in the 442nd, apparently he’d have either carried a carbine or a 1903 for reasons of weight?

I still need a sling, it’ll mount my Garand bayonet.

From a firearms perspective, I think the bolt-action rifle is nearly perfection for the kind of shooting I enjoy…methodical, accuracy-focused, paced. I’m 100% sure I’m going to sell my AR to help fund this adventure; I’ve got a Mini and a 10/22 for semiautomatic kicks in small calibers.

If your great great uncle was with the 442 that means he trained about five miles from my house at Camp Shelby Mississippi. They were probably the most decorated division in WWII. Several of them came back here to live after the war. I dated the daughter of one of them (Herbert Sasaki) when I was in high school. There is a nice memorial dedicated to this unit at the Camp Shelby Military Museum. I have four 03/03A3's including the Smith-Corona.