bja105 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I bought this 1903A3 on gunbroker. It has a fajen stock, and an unknown safety. The stock seas to be a low grade, lots of filling is needed. I'm not too fond of the shape either. The stock shape prevents use of the magazine cutoff. The barrel outside is bad, even for a wartime product. I don't have a good pic of it, but anyone who was a michinist prior to the war would have been embarassed. Of course, the important part, the bore, is very good. My goal is to remove the barrel and smooth it out, without reducing it too much. I plan to reuse the stock, so I don't want a big gap around the barrel. I will reshape the stock somewhat, and refinish it. I already removed the wood that prevents using the magazine cutoff. The tip is plastic. If I get ambitious, I might replace it with ebony. I want to use a side swing safety. I bought milled 1903 bottom metal, which I will slightly recontour ans add a push button release. There are some tool marks on the receiver to remove. I might build a parkerizing tank and park it, but if the metal work comes out nice, I may send it for hot bluing. I'll post progress pics soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limpid Lizard Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 The 03's are my favorite action to play with, especially the DHT models. The 03A3 was designed to be produced quicker and cheaper than the 03. One of Remington's modifications was to omit the removal of tool marks prior to park. Your barrel looks pretty normal from what I could see of it. They take a lot of work to polish up. I have a Remington 03 set aside for sporterizing. Actually it will be a Lazurus project like yours. It had been previoulsly sporterized and now I have to breath new life into it. It is more or less the transition between the Springfield Armory 03's and the Remington 03A3's. It is nickle steel, but finished much nicer than the 03A3's were. Nirvna pretty much is a DHT Springfield in 257AI. LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 NICE FIND!! She ain't perfect but at least you found one. At least here in Phoenix, 03 actions alone go for a small fortune and sporter stocks no matter how bad go for way to much. I gave up on the idea of an 03 project a few years ago because of the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bja105 Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 1903's are my favorite. This is my favorite, a Springfield made in 1930, with last year's buck. I didn't do anything to this rifle, bought it as is for $230. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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