I'll start by saying that my job is being the Police Mechanic for my town. Now and then, townspeople, mostly older widows, come to Police headquarters to turn in the guns left in the home. In my state, once turned in to the Police, the firearms must be logged in and eventually destroyed.
But occasionally, the officer on the desk will ask the individual if they would like to sell their firearms, legally, including all required paperwork. By doing so, it gets the residents some money for their guns, and allows several dealers and individuals [like me] to get some really nice guns that would otherwise be destroyed.
I've been lucky to legally get ahold of a nice Marlin 35 rem and a few shotguns this way.
About 2 1/2 years ago, one of the police came to me and said a women had come to turn in a rifle, which he legally purchased from her for the whopping price of $25 bucks. He offered it to me for the same price, saying it was bubba-d, but it was a matching 03a3 from 9-43. I checked it out, and gave him the cash...filled out the proper forms.
This particular Remington 03a3 was manufactured in june of '43, and wore a 9-43 remington 2 groove barrel. The previous owner cut the stock at the lower band, removed the rear sight knurl and instead installed a brass screw where the knurl was. The front barley corn sight was broken and all the rest of the bands and metal gone, but for 25 bucks.....
I got to thinking this cheepy rifle would be a great restoration project, and thought I'd build it as an 03a4 sniper, rather than just a plain jane a3. This started my 2 1/2 year quest.
I had a company in Oregon turn me a new scant C stock from an old one I sent them. 15 coats of hand rubbed oil finish it, taking two months, just to get the right hue to the stock. I found an old Lyman All-weather Alaskan 2.5x on the net [this scope would actually be a post WWII scope] found original mounts and 7/8 rings, but after having a g'smith bend the bolt and drill the receiver, the Alaskan's bell would not clear the handle, due to the fact the rings were intended for a Weaver 330C. So he found a set of Kollmorgan [sp?] rings and turned me inserts to fit inside the rings to hold thescope tight. Countless nights surfing the web eventually found me all the metal I need that was missing.
The only other thing that was done was a targetcrown turned inside the original, thus keeping the profile of a WWII weapon.
So I present to you, my phony 03a4; built by me for my enjoyment, not to fool anyone into thinking its the real deal.
Enjoy.
But occasionally, the officer on the desk will ask the individual if they would like to sell their firearms, legally, including all required paperwork. By doing so, it gets the residents some money for their guns, and allows several dealers and individuals [like me] to get some really nice guns that would otherwise be destroyed.
I've been lucky to legally get ahold of a nice Marlin 35 rem and a few shotguns this way.
About 2 1/2 years ago, one of the police came to me and said a women had come to turn in a rifle, which he legally purchased from her for the whopping price of $25 bucks. He offered it to me for the same price, saying it was bubba-d, but it was a matching 03a3 from 9-43. I checked it out, and gave him the cash...filled out the proper forms.
This particular Remington 03a3 was manufactured in june of '43, and wore a 9-43 remington 2 groove barrel. The previous owner cut the stock at the lower band, removed the rear sight knurl and instead installed a brass screw where the knurl was. The front barley corn sight was broken and all the rest of the bands and metal gone, but for 25 bucks.....
I got to thinking this cheepy rifle would be a great restoration project, and thought I'd build it as an 03a4 sniper, rather than just a plain jane a3. This started my 2 1/2 year quest.
I had a company in Oregon turn me a new scant C stock from an old one I sent them. 15 coats of hand rubbed oil finish it, taking two months, just to get the right hue to the stock. I found an old Lyman All-weather Alaskan 2.5x on the net [this scope would actually be a post WWII scope] found original mounts and 7/8 rings, but after having a g'smith bend the bolt and drill the receiver, the Alaskan's bell would not clear the handle, due to the fact the rings were intended for a Weaver 330C. So he found a set of Kollmorgan [sp?] rings and turned me inserts to fit inside the rings to hold thescope tight. Countless nights surfing the web eventually found me all the metal I need that was missing.
The only other thing that was done was a targetcrown turned inside the original, thus keeping the profile of a WWII weapon.
So I present to you, my phony 03a4; built by me for my enjoyment, not to fool anyone into thinking its the real deal.
Enjoy.
