1903a4

[Mustang51]

Several months ago I threw a couple of bids in at an auction. I kinda forgot about the bids, but last week the auction house advised me that I had won both rifles.One was for a 1903A1 NM rifle. SRS was able to confirm that it had been sold by the DCM as an NM and even found the original sales ticket.

The other rifle I bid on and won was an 03A4.





Description advised:

A US MILITARY .30-06 CAL KEYSTONE 'M1903 A4' BOLT-MAGAZINE SNIPER RIFLE, serial no. 3420685, Built on the M1903 A3 rifle, 24in. barrel, no fore-sight, the muzzle with 'R.A.' over the ordnance bomb and '3-44', fore-part with bayonet lug and 'R' mark, receiver with 'US REMINGTON MODEL 03-A3' marking, the serial number rotated to the right side of the receiver ring (correct for the Sniper variant to remain visible with the scope mounted) and mounted with correct later Korean war era Lyman 'Alaskan' B-prefix serial numbered scope, no. B4851 with rubber eye-piece, Parkerized receiver and barrel, R marked low profile concave bolt, stock with bolt notch and various letter stamps 'W', 'N', 'U', and also with the 'K' stamp for 'Keystone', steel buttplate with square stamp chequering and trap, in tidy overall condition

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

Very very cool. Congrats.

 

[WestKentucky]

Want to adopt an adult? I grill a mean porkchop and keep the dishes done...

Seriously nice rifle.

 

[ifit]

Nice
I have a reproduction by Gibbs and a blast to shoot and great history behind the A4

 

[Jim Watson]

Very nice, now are you going to show us the 03A1 NM? Please.

 

[Mustang51]

Thanks, guys! The 03A4 arrived at my FFL, but due to California's infamous 10-day "cooling off" period, I can't take it home right away. I did grab a few pics at my FFL's place of business...

The stock is in pretty good shape, has a "K" in the mag cutoff cutout and a few miscellaneous letters stamped into the side of the stock.












The scope mount looks legit and the scope is a B-series Lyman. It has fine crosshairs and the optics are clear.





The barrel is in great shape and gauges just under a "1" on the CMP muzzle gauge. it looked like a 2 groove.

Better pictures in 10 days.

 

[Mustang51]

Very nice, now are you going to show us the 03A1 NM? Please.

I definitely will.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=10342725#post10342725

 

[Jim Watson]

I just like to cuddle up to those "C" stocks. If I were into milsyrups I would want one bad.

 

[Mustang51]

I just like to cuddle up to those "C" stocks. If I were into milsyrups I would want one bad.

They're the best

 

[bannockburn]

Mustang51

Definitely some '03 sweetness going on there! Congrats on the two great acquisitions!

 

[Mustang51]

Thanks, bannockburn!

 

[FOGeologist]

So... Awesome zebra pattern in the walnut on both rifle stocks.

Will you shoot them much?

Unless you reload, start with Federal Gold Medal Match. No point in putting lesser quality ammunition down the pipes as you won't shoot either enough to cause them noticable wear.

 

[Mustang51]

Thanks, FOG.

I'll shoot it some...not sure how much. I need to find out how stout the Alaskan scope is...the B-series serial numbers were actually GI, mostly used on the M1 C's. I wouldn't want to shoot it to pieces.

 

[tahunua001]

beautiful rifle. I found a barreled action in a basement one time and bought it thinking it was a drilled and tapped A3, ended up being a genuine A4 receiver so I spent my summer rebuilding it. I decided to just go with modern optics instead of a crappy repro scope. I loved that rifle, got tried of dumping money into it and ended up trading it for two other rifles which I also love. a few months later by buddy showed me his bubbad 1903 MK1 and I had so many parts left over from my repro job that I turned his into a faux 1903A4 as well. it was a good time, great learning experience, here's a picture of mine and his together.

 

[Mustang51]

Wow! Nice looking rifles, tahunua001.

A few years back I was looking at a nicely sported Remington. Wanted something that I could turn into a faux A4. Then I noticed something about the Remington...

 

[tahunua001]

nice. I love the "wait a minute" moments when you find out something cool about a gun.

 

[Mustang51]

Me too!

Some poor devil turned a $4000 rifle into a $300 rifle.

The barrel is probably original, but it is so polished and highly blued that the only thing left is the front sight milling.



The bolt is worth more than I paid for the whole thing.

 

[agtman]

Some poor devil turned a $4000 rifle into a $300 rifle.

Probably the only $200-$300 mil-surplus rifle whose value you can actually increase with custom touches is a Mosin.

About everything else, once you start fiddling with it and depart from its original ("as issued") configuration, is a losing investment. Especially 1903s and 1903A3s.

 

[Mustang51]

Guess at the time this was fiddled with it was an economical thing to do.

 

[WestKentucky]

Mosins AND Spanish Mauser short rifles. The guns rechambered to 308 have a terrible reputation and command about 80 bucks. A barrel in a lower pressure round would eliminate the danger stigma. Im still thinking of rechambering to 327 fed or 30-30

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

That sporterized one had a twin at the local gunshop. I wonder if that was a popular aftermarket stock of the time?

Regards,

Josh

 

[Mustang51]

That sporterized one had a twin at the local gunshop. I wonder if that was a popular aftermarket stock of the time?

Regards,

Josh

Was the "twin" an A4?

 

[lysanderxiii]

Me too!

Some poor devil turned a $4000 rifle into a $300 rifle.

The barrel is probably original, but it is so polished and highly blued that the only thing left is the front sight milling.



The bolt is worth more than I paid for the whole thing.

Depends on when it was done....

Back in the day, 03's were cheap and plentiful.

I remember not too long ago sporterized M1917s and P14 with the rear sight ears chopped, and scopes mounted selling for about 50$ more than the "as issued" versions.

The P14's were particularly sought after as they could be re-chambered for the big belted magnums.

 

[Mustang51]

Depends on when it was done....

Back in the day, 03's were cheap and plentiful.

You are right, of course. `What I should have said is that he turned what would someday be a $4000 rifle into what would someday be a $300 rifle. I suspect that whoever did this sporterization did it when 03's (even 03A4's) were much cheaper.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Mustang,

I didn't know enough about what to look for when I last really examined it, and I think it's been sold.

I'll check next time I'm there, though.

Josh