US Remington 03A3 - Time Capsule Find

[s&wchad]

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

 

[turnerriver]

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

 

[gdnagle]

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.

 

[OFT II]

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.

 

[Iggy]

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

 

[Sprefix]

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

 

[Faulkner]

Very nice!

 

[Roadtrash]

Great find wish I could be so lucky.

 

[moosedog]

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

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

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

 

[jaykellogg]

OH, I am so jealous!!!!!

 

[singleshot1]

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

 

[s&wchad]

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

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

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

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!

 

[semperfi71]

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!

 

[LVSteve]

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.

 

[chud333]

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

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


Chuck

 

[Dave from Pa]

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

 

[Terry C]

Awesome find!

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

Not sure I could resist the temptation.

 

[loknload]

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....

 

[Silver Dollar]

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