The Springfield follies...

[tex_n_cal]

Okay, in my youth I did many foolish things. Besides once being a Domino's Pizza Delivery Boy and setting a local record for the most pizzas delivered in one night I also....ummm.....ahhh....

....ummm...

....sporterized a Springfield 03A3.

Well, sort of. I bought it already sporterized, for $100. It had a Bishop Monte Carlo stock, a Lyman 57 Receiver sight, and a replacement bolt that was turned down for scope mounting. The GI rear sight was gone, but it had never been drilled & tapped for scope mounts, just for the receiver sight. I was told, "it's an old army rifle, not safe to shoot". I did have enough sense to know that opinion was bogus.

The headspacing checked tight, the 2 groove barrel from 5-42 looked pretty good, except for a dark spot about halfway down the barrel. I carved down the Monte Carlo hump to use the receiver sight, polished off the parkerizing and did a crappy cold blue job, that left it green, refinished the stock, & started shooting.

Without much effort I got 180 grain Noslers to go into 1.1" at 100 yards. Later on I dabbled with checkering it, gave up after concluding I didn't have the patience for it. The rifle languished for a few years.

About 6-7 years ago I realized the dark spot in the bore was actually a slight bulge I haven't shot it since then. This weekend I decided to clean out some dead projects out of the safe, and the 03A3 came to mind.

I guess I could screw on a new barrel, find a bolt, sights, stock & hardware & get it reparkerized as a restoration. It wouldn't be original, of course, and it still would have holes in the receiver for the sight.

The other option is to scrap all but the bolt & action and slap in a .338-06 or .35 Whelan barrel, finish it out as a bear/hogs/elk rifle.

The third option is to just stick it on the bulletin board at the local range and sell it, telling people what's wrong with it.

Opinions?

 

[Smokey Joe]

Springfield f******

IMHO, restoration is a waste of $$. It'll always be just a restoration. It'll cost much $$, which you'll never recover selling it. If you want an original, they are out there, mint condition, matching serial #'s, or lower in quality, depending on what you want to pay. But an original will always have the collector value. You mustn't shoot it, either, just keep it and cherish it and watch the street price on 'em go up. Only reason to restore is if you have a heavy sentimental investment in that particular weapon, and only then if you can well afford it.

A lot of '03s and '03-A3s got rebarreled in the '50s. They were cheap, vets were familiar with 'em, and there was not the selection of off-the-shelf commercial guns we have today. I've done some reading on .35 Whelen and apparently it is a VERY good cartridge for someone who wants a little extra oomph without going to the trouble and expense, not to mention heavy recoil, of a belted magnum. Great for hogs and bears, and not so much as to tear apart a deer on impact. No modification of the bolt of a .30-'06 needed; all you need is the new bbl. Very easy wildcat case to form: Neck size a .30-'06 case to .358 in and you're done. You might wish to read up on the .35 Whelen Ackley Improved before deciding. Just a little hotter shooting, not much pressure increase, according to my reading. Increased recoil, though, I bet. And the cases require fire-forming from a standard .35 Whelen round.

Depends how much time, effort, and $$ you want to stick in to the project. You'll never recover the $$ you spend sporterizing any milsurp, but it's a fun project that you can do some of yourself, and when you finish, you will either have the rifle of your dreams, designed by you, tack-driver accurate, and unique in all the world, or a butt-ugly inaccurate POS you'll almost have to pay to get rid of.

The collector value of your Springfield has already been ruined, so you need shed no tears about doing that.

Check out the serial numberÑSome of the really low-numbered ones were badly heat treated, and the receivers crack in time. There's got to be a website with the dangerous numbers listed. Those ones are ONLY collectors, and should never be shot for any reason.

If all the modifying sounds like too much trouble and $$ for you, then it is. You should have no trouble at all selling a usable Springfield action with a stock that fits it. Some other rifle nut will then start on the rifle of HIS dreams!

 

[hps1]

According to "Hatcher's Notebook" the following serial #'s will tell you what type receiver a 1903 has:

Springfield Armory mfg:
Started Double Heat Treating @ 800,000
Started Nickel Steel @ 1,275,767

Rock Island Arsenal mfg:
Double Heat Treat @ 285,507
Nickel Steel @ 319,921

All 1903A3 receivers are above these numbers.

I have, and shoot, several 1903A3's, one of which, I built a match rifle from. You will never make a model 70 or a 700 out of the A3, but they are good rifles. The action is not quite as slick as a well used Remchester and, from target standpoint, the biggest drawback is lock time which is considerably slower on the Springfield. I practice offhand with the Springfield to save wear and tear on my mod. 70 match rifles and find that the Springfield will CONSISTENTLY be one ring outside my call due to this slow lock time. You will not notice this on a hunting rifle, however, so go for it if you need a project!

I believe you can find more info on Springfield #'s & safety @ www.odcmp.com/ .

Regards,
hps

 

[Gewehr98]

Restored a sporterized 1903A3...

And restored a 1903A4 from a stub-barreled bare action. The finished product is definitely worth more than a bastardized bubba-job, both monetarily and in what the gun's worth to you as a piece of military history. Too many nice Springfields, Krags, U.S. Enfields, and (to an extent) Mausers were bobbed, chopped, or made into something else without consideration for future generations. Nobody cared, I did the same thing. Now, they're all but vanished. Remaining specimens in original condition command a pretty significant price.

Will your restoration bring the money that an unrestored original issue piece will? No. But you'll have a gun that looks and functions the same as the USGI original, and won't be afraid to shoot because of high collector's value, either. Then there's pride of ownership in having done the work, and the beauty of the finished product.

Original spare 1903A3 barrels, still in the grease paper, are fairly cheap. Stocks and handguards can be gotten from Boyd's, Gun Parts Corporation, and DuPage Trading Company.

Why not bring the old girl back to the way she looked after leaving Remington or Smith Corona? Your grandkids may not even know what a gun is some day in the future, if current gun laws keep multiplying. But were there an heirloom to be passed down...

 

[Handy]

If the rifle shoots an inch, does the bulge really matter? I'm assuming there is some danger you're concerned about.

 

[Art Eatman]

Used to be, stronger firing-pin springs were available to reduce the lock time. Probably still available, somewhere.

If yours is shooting around one inch, it's as good a hunting rifle as one would ever need. My father built up two sporters, almost 60 years ago. They were used to kill probably more deer than any other two rifles in Texas, and they're still shooting quite nicely. (He shot a lot of deer for the poker/whiskey "hunters", over a 30-year period. )

Art