03 Springfield Sporter

[351 WINCHESTER]

I finally found a good 03 sporter and bought it. My uncle used to hunt with one in Pa. and it was a thing of beauty. Whoever sporterized it did a great job. It has a newer bbl. (no markings whatsoever). The blueing is almost black and very shiney. The bolt is silky smooth. It has a timney trigger which is great. The safety is an aftermarket one that has mk11 stamped on it. It was drilled and tapped for weaver mounts and I mounted a bushnell 3x9 scope. Whoever did the work knew what he was doing. It seems to shoot good (we were in a hurry to get it sighted in). The bbl. heated up and there wasn't enough time to let it cool off. I'm going to shoot it tomorrow and see if I can get some decent groups, otherwise I'll try some reloads. The rifle came with marbles sights too. The bbl. is 24" long and the gun is heavier than I am used to. Recoil wasn't bad with rem. 150 gr. Muzzel blast wasn't bad at all. The rifle was made by springfield armory in 1918 and is double heat treated. I have a nice collection of guns (mostly rifles) and this is the best rifle I've ever owned. I don't like the new rifles as for the most part they are just run of the mill production guns and I'm partial to wood and steel. This is the first .30-06 I've ever owned or shot. I just thought that was Un - American so now I've got one.

I also have a sporter lee enfield no5 which shoots just fine with my reloads. I'm looking for a good scope mount that will hold zero and not require drilling and tapping the reciever. Any sugguestions?

My son has a camera and I'm going to get him to take some pictures and post them on this site.

 

[dirtyjim]

i have a pair of sportered 1903's. i'm kinda partial to mauser sporters but these two i just couldn't pass up. i found a sedgley 1903 at a pawn shop for $400, i'm still trying to hunt down an original sedgley front sight for it.
pic of the sedgley

next is a german guild style 1903. it has a butterknife bolt handle, double set triggers , 2 leaf express sight & a hensoldt wetzlar dialytan 4x scope sitting in claw mounts. it still has the original 30-06 barrel, but i think if would have been a little neater if it was in a metric caliber
pic of the german style sporter

as soon as i finish a few of my mausr sporter projects i have a 1903 that the previous owner drilled into the chamber when he was drilling the receiver for a side scope mount that i'm going to build into a match style 1903 but with a 6.5x55 1-8 twist barrel

 

[TheGrimReaper]

Those are NICE!

 

[Jim Watson]

"i think if would have been a little neater if it was in a metric caliber"

Just call it a 7.62x63 and amaze all your friends who are impressed by French notation.