Price Check Springfield 1903

[shootr]

I'll second that. nothing wrong with a parts gun - if done right. After all, unless you're buying a "Collector" or "Correct" grade from the CMP, they're all "parts guns."

FWIW, I have 3 "parts guns" built up from woodless Danes mostly. One is my Perry gun for the matches and was professionally built by a retired Army and then CMP armorer. It's a shooter. Interestingly, one of my others is an erzatz Winchester with a 3/3 VAR barrel. It shoots right there with my Criterion-barreled Perry gun.

All that said, IMHO - I would indeed be concerned if I did not know the quality of the parts and work done. These days some folks are building shooters out of de-milled receivers, and I would be extremely wary with one of those. Meaning: some of the de-milled guns weren't demilled as heavily as others. A skilled person can remove the weld, do some light machine work, rebarrel and return them to action. Others have too much weld glopped on and would require too much heat to remove it, then too much work to get it to look nice - just MHO.

Again - they're nearly all "parts guns" and the price paid seems pretty fair based on what I'm seeing. If it looks and shoots good - I'd say ya got a damn good deal.

FWIW, ammo can make a difference. The Greek CMP stuff shoots better than the LC stuff in my Garands and 03s, but seems a little hot in the 03s.

 

[Geno]

I agree. In my eye, it is worth every penny of $695.00. On the first outing, I used the Greek 150 grain ammo. The next time out, I will try the match ammo I bought.

You know, I always recalled the .30-06 having more recoil. Each time I squeeze the trigger on this 1903, or on my Garand, it's more of a push than a punch. Must be the difference of having fired .300s, .338s and .375s for so many years. Now everything seems more mild.

Or perhaps it is the stock design. Whatever the case, I'm happy with both of these pieces of history. I think I keep hearing them speak to me, "Let's go hunt hogs!"

Regarding the bit about "...one of the finest...", that is a debate that could last for weeks. I've walked around some of the Michigan gun shows. As a point of comparison, it's a durned nice rifle. You should see some of the rusted trash that the sellers are asking $800.00+ firm. I seriously doubt it would be easy to locate a 1903 that is 100% original. If you did, I would not want to see the asking price.

There is more here than the perceived value of a 1903's steel and wood. First, these rifles are American history. Second, they were owned by a war vet with 42 years service, who I respect very much. Third, they came from this vet's personal collection. None of these three variables can be quantified.