National ordinance 1903a3 original stock
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The various markings on your barrel are steel lot codes and inspection marks put on as the barrel went through the various phases in it's making.įinally, looking at your particular rifle, I would say it was done by a skilled gunsmith that knew what he was doing and did it well.
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The A3 barrels also looked better in that it didn't have the notches in the barrels where the rear sight sleeve mounted and would be exposed in a sporter stock such as yours. A3 barrels were in good supply where as 03's were not. There were many civilians that bought surplus rifles to make sporters and typically they took the shot out barrels off and put new surplus one's on. It was probably surplused out by the DCM in the late 40's or early 50's. What you have is a typical sporterized 1903 Springfield. Thus, if you took a 1903 barrel off and put a 1903A3 barrel on, you wouldn't have a rear sight. The rear sight for a 1903 would be a ladder mounted at the rear of the barrel where as a 1903A3 would have a peep sight mounted on a dove tail milled into the rear receiver bridge. In addition, you won't find a military rebuild of a 1903, Springfield or Remington with an 1903A3 barrel. The bolt is an early Remington 1903 bolt (marked R as you noted) that was bent for a scope, again outside the military.Īn original Springfield would have a dark parkerized finish, a military rebuild would have a greyish green parkerizing on all parts. The rifle has been polished and blued, the barrel changed to the later A3 model and the receiver was tapped and drilled for a scope mount. Your rifle was not rearsenaled by the military, it was sporterized by someone other than the military. It has no collector value and falls in that $200 to $250 range. With the limited pictures, that's about all I can tell you. The bolt appears to be an original 03 with the smooth profile but has been modified, polished, and bent down for scope use. This will be a 43 or 44 date, ie 4-43 etc. There should be a date stamped on the top of the barrel just behind the rear sight.
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The bottom line here is what the receiver bridge is stamped as is what it is.
#National ordinance 1903a3 original stock serial numbers
Ord and Santa Fe were the only one's that made and used cast reveivers and the serial numbers were stamped in the 5 mil range, the receivers were stamped Nat. ALL parts used by Golden State Arms were US GI and the receivers were original Remington as stamped.ĭuring those years, there were a number of players in the game and they all knew each other and were frequently in bed together. These rifles were often found to be a mix of 03 receivers and A3 barrels as 03 barrels were somewhat scarce at that point.
![national ordinance 1903a3 original stock national ordinance 1903a3 original stock](https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/17213/16967960_1.jpg)
and model, in the case of the 1903, "Sharpshooter 0f 1942". Golden State stamped the barrels with their name, cal. This was a California based company in the 60's that took US GI surplus receivers, barrels and parts and produced sporterized rifles. This was done by either civilian owners or by outfits like Golden State Arms and others.Ī note here on Golden State Arms. The rifle is as noted a 1903 Springfield and dates to around 1921.Īt some point it was sporterized and the original barrel was replaced with a Remington 1903A3 barrel.