What can I do with this 1903A3?

[71Commander]

I have a Springfield 1903A3 that has a wrecked barrel. It's pitted inside and is not repairable. The receiver itself is within the acceptable serial number range showing that it is not one of the badly heat treated receivers.

Can I chamber this receiver for a new caliber since I will have to replace the barrel anyway?

Any sugestions?

 

[Chipperman]

You have a few options.
1. Replace the barrel with another 03
2. Rechamber and rebarrel as you mentioned
3. Keep it or sell it as a parts gun

Which you choose would depend on money and your goals.
Do you already have an 03A3? Do you "need" a rifle in another chambering for target/hunting? How much money do you want to spend on it? Would it be easier just to sell it off for something else you want?

 

[71Commander]

I don't have any bolt action rifles save a 98 Mauser. I was thinking that I would like to sporterize the gun with a new stock with a new, modern barrel. How difficult/expensive would it be to chamber it for a .308?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't have any bolt action rifles save a 98 Mauser. I was thinking that I would like to sporterize the gun with a new stock with a new, modern barrel. How difficult/expensive would it be to chamber it for a .308?

You can't chamber it to .308 -- the .308 is basically identical to the original .30-06, but half an inch shorter. You would have to rebarrel.

If you don't want to rebarrel, the cheapest approach would be to send it to someone like Cliff LaBounty to ream out and re-rifle the barrel. You could then choose .338-06 (which is the .30-06 case with the neck expanded to .338) or the .35 Whelen (which is the .30-06 with the neck expanded to .358.) These are both excellent hunting cartridges.

I think you will find, though that if you put a new Springfield barrel on the rifle -- or even leave it as it is, it will be worth more than if you alter it in any way.

If you choose to rebarrel or rebore, add a stock, have the receiver drilled and tapped for a scope, and reforge or weld on a new bolt handle, and put on a scope-compatable safety, you will wind up spending more than if you just bought a brand-new sporting rifle.

 

[Chipperman]

Vern, he said the barrel was beyond repair, so I believe that precludes the reaming option. He has to rebarrel no matter what to make a functional rifle.

Changing to a .308 is a popular option, and prolly would not be too expensive, relatively speaking. The other mods mentioned by Vern would drive the cost up quickly, though.

 

[oneshooter]

As another option you could always send it to me. I promise to take real good care of it!

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

 

[cracked butt]

There are lots of 'new in arsenal wrap' 03A3 barrels out there in circulation, in fact AIM had them for sale for around $70 a few months ago. You can almost always find them on E-Bay, in fact there is one on there now http://cgi.ebay.com/Springfield-03-...goryZ585QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I did this with my 03a3 a few years ago. I had a friend who was a gunsmith show me how to install it- Pretty much unscrew the old barrel, chase the threads on the new barrel to remove the parkerization then screw it in and tighten until the index marks are aligned, then finish ream the chamber. In the process you can have the bolt lugs lapped to the receiver before the new barrel is installed. You then unpin the front sight and install it on the new barrel.

Total cost for me was $100 for the barrel and a case of beer for the smith. It probably shouldn't cost much more than $100 to pay a smith to do it.

As far as I know, all of the replacement barrel out there are remington 2-grooves, are stamped with the flaming bomb acceptance stamp, are are likely to be dated 1944. Don't let the 2-groove barrels scare you, a new barrel properly installed will make an outstanding shooter.

 

[alamo]

I have a Springfield 1903A3 that has a wrecked barrel. The receiver itself is within the acceptable serial number range showing that it is not one of the badly heat treated receivers.

The heat treated receiver problems were with the early Springfield 1903s, not the 1903A3s that were made during WWII. If yours is a 1903A3, it should be made by Remington or Smith Corona.

 

[cracked butt]

I have a Springfield 1903A3 that has a wrecked barrel. It's pitted inside and is not repairable. The receiver itself is within the acceptable serial number range showing that it is not one of the badly heat treated receivers.

oops. Is it a 1903 or a 03a3? The comment on the serial number range has me scratching my head. If its a 1903, the appraoch I mentioned in the last post might not work because I'm not sure the 03a3 barrels will accept the 1903 rear sight base, but then again they might. There are some 1903 barrels out there, but they cost more. look here for example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Model-1903-Spri...oryZ4721QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[71Commander]

The heat treated receiver problems were with the early Springfield 1903s, not the 1903A3s that were made during WWII. If yours is a 1903A3, it should be made by Remington or Smith Corona.

Now I gotta look again. I could have swore it was a SA or at least had a Springfield stamping on it. It is a O3A3 though.

 

[USSR]

If the rear site is forward of the receiver, it's an 03; if the rear site is a peep sight mounted on the rear receiver bridge, it's an 03-A3. Alamo is correct, there were never any heat treat issues with the 03-A3.

Don

 

[alamo]

I'll be curious to see if it is an '03 or '03A3. Let us know.

 

[Gewehr98]

Heck, if the receiver's still good, either as a 1903 or 1903A3...

Then it's still a prime candidate for restoration back to full military condition.

I wouldn't sporterize it unless the receiver has been garfed by somebody with a drill and tap. Even then, it could probably be made into a faux 1903A4 sniper without too much difficulty.

Let us know what the receiver reads, and who made it. Then we can help from there.

I restored a derelict 1903A4 from a stripped receiver a few years ago, and now the replacement Springfield stocks and handguards are even more common. I used one of those new in the wrapper 1903A3 barrels with no problems, and finished the chamber with a pull-through match chambering reamer.

If you have somebody contour a barrel blank for you, you could also make it into a .308 Winchester, or an 8mm Mauser, or whatever your heart desires based on the .473" cartridge case head. That would be neat, a 1903A3 Springfield in 8mm Mauser!

(9 to go...)

 

[mete]

With a long receiver stick to long cartridges , 25-06, 270, 280, 30-06, 35Whelan .

 

[71Commander]

Will take a pic tomorrow. It is a 03A3. I do know that for a fact. It's also a Remington.

 

[jerkface11]

Mine was rechambered to 300 winmag. Doesn't eject loaded rounds very well. But it feeds and shoots just fine.

 

[CaptainCrossman]

hat can I do with this 1903A3?
I have a Springfield 1903A3 that has a wrecked barrel. It's pitted inside and is not repairable. The receiver itself is within the acceptable serial number range showing that it is not one of the badly heat treated receivers.
Can I chamber this receiver for a new caliber since I will have to replace the barrel anyway?
Any sugestions?
__________________
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USPSA CRO
US Army 70-72
Patriot Guard rider



HERE IS ANOTHER OPTION- old thread but worth reviving- remove the barreled action and bolt from the stock, pack it up (keep the stock), and ship it to CLASSIC BARREL WORKS in Arizona, he has an original old rifling cutting machine, and can rebore and re-rifle an original vintage barrel, there may be only a handful (less than 6) of these machines left in the world still operating, as they cut the rifling, compared to modern machines that use button rifling technique. An old barrel cannot be button rifled, as when the button is run through the barrel, the barrel expands and gives, and the button doesn't recut the rifling. Old barrels must be cut with an actual bit cutter, tiny amounts of material at a time, around .002" per pass, so as to not deflect the barrel while cutting it.

He can rebore that old Springfield barrel to the next oversize, (just like they rebuild old car engines by going .030" over) In your case it could be taken from 30-06 to 8mm-06 or 35 Whelen, depending on how much material is left in the barrel. He could also set back the barrel into, cut it off at the threads, rethread, and chamber it for any caliber you wish- USING THE ORIGINAL BARREL.

This guy salvaged a Mauser K98 barrel for me, took it from 8x57 to 358 x 57 (now it will shoot both 9x57 and wildcat 358 x 57 handloads). His name is DAN PEDERSON and his prices are reasonable considering almost NO ONE still does this barrel salvage work. I'd much rather salvage an original barrel, then screw in a new corporate cookie cutter barrel. Keeping the original barrel retains the original look. Back when I had it done, the charge was $275 plus shipping both ways, well worth the price IMHO, the gun is now a TACK DRIVER with open sights. Here is his website address. http://www.cutrifle.com/

 

[Vern Humphrey]

What can I do with this 1903A3?
I have a Springfield 1903A3 that has a wrecked barrel. It's pitted inside and is not repairable. The receiver itself is within the acceptable serial number range showing that it is not one of the badly heat treated receivers.
Can I chamber this receiver for a new caliber since I will have to replace the barrel anyway?
Any sugestions?

Re-barrel it in .30-06. You can find Ordnance barrels -- orginal Springfield barrels -- on the internet. If you do that you will have a rifle worth around $600 at minimal cost.

If you rebarrel it to some other caliber, you will have laid out the same amount of money (at least) and have a rifle worth around $300.

 

[Tim the student]

Captain Crossman, don't you think the OP has figured out what to do? It has been since 2005 when he wrote this.

 

[PCGS65]

If it's an O3A3 it will be stamped on the receiver above the serial number like this one.
I would not rechamber the rifle. That would devalue it and cost more to do so. There are plenty of O3A3 barrles out there. Rebarrel it and save a piece of history.

 

[dprice3844444]

sarcoinc.com has orig 2 grooves in cosmoline

 

[Murphy4570]

Speaking of M1903's, does anyone know what barrels were 2 groove and what ones were 4 groove?

I have a 1927 Springfield M1903 with a SA barrel dated 8 - 44, and some other parts are mismatched, likely from the rearsenal it went through at Raritan Arsenal in Raritan, NJ. The barrel looks brand new, and I swear it looks like it has 4 grooves in it.

A (bad) photo of my rifle:




Would trying to find matching parts for it be worthwhile? It needs a 1926 or 1927 dated barrel, correct bolt (current one is an R 1, dates to 1942), correct buttplate, and correct rear sight assembly (I dropped the rifle onto concrete and broke the original one, I am an idiot!).

 

[Art Eatman]

Odds are, the original thread-starter isn't interested any longer. Not after five and a half years...