1937 Springfield 1903A3 30-06 In Bench Rest Stock With Lyman Peep Sight - $425 Plus S&I

[cash_tx]

Springfield 1903A3 in 30-06 built in 1937 (appears to be April 1937 based upon "4-37" date stamp on barrel), and barrel appears to be original. Barreled action is pretty clean with good bluing, and set in a nicely figured aftermarket walnut benchrest stock. Stock is bulky, but surprisingly light for what it is. Receiver is drilled and tapped, and currently has Weaver scope bases on it (exactly how I bought it). Rifle also includes Lyman rear peep and front hood sights. Bore, rails, and bolt face look good; action cycles smoothly, locks up tightly, and all seems to function properly. Someone did some trigger work in the past, as this has a very smooth pull of about 2 1/2 pounds (per my RCBS trigger gauge).

I bought this last November from another AH'er who had posted it at the time; simply because I had never owned an 03A3 before, and it was a good deal (some of you may even remember the post). At the time, my thought process was to play with it as-is; and maybe eventually re-use the action for something else. I've taken it to the range a few times since then; and with my modern clone of the M72 Match load (Sierra MatchKing 175's over 46 grains of IMR 4895), it prints right around 1" three shot groups at 100 yards. The rifle could probably benefit from glass-bedding and proper load development; but as it stands now, this rifle is about #4 or 5 in a line of project rifles, and quite frankly I'm more interested in the other rifles that I am working on. That being the case, I am willing to let it go for right around what I have in it. I got what I think is a pretty good deal on it from an AH'er, and I want to pass it on to another AH'er in similar manner. Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Asking $425 plus actual shipping (plus insurance if you request it) from private seller to your FFL in the CONUS, or am happy to deal with a local face-to-face buyer in the Dallas, Texas area. Will not ship to California, or outside the USA. Preferred payment methods are Zelle or Venmo; or if neither of those are available, we can talk about a check or other method. First person to post "I'll take it" below (followed promptly by a PM) gets it.

Here are some initial pictures, and I have a shared album with 48 detailed pictures at the bottom of this post:

More pictures: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xds5...ey=a9khydtfeyh3a5pbv065qfe3o&st=0uobv6y0&dl=0

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have been shooting an 03A3 since I started hunting in 1964. The action is similar to 98 Mauser ... but smoother. Both are "cock on opening" but both actually do the last bit of cocking on closing. Mauser lifts the striker about twice as far on closing. The bolt on my Springfield floats close compared to my 98 Mauser 404J (which is itself pretty darn slick). I cut off the knurled striker knob on my A3 to make accessible an aftermarket scope safety on left side of bolt shroud. From the right side it looks very Mauserish without the knurled knob. Be forwarned: the Springfield striker is actually two pieces although all schematics show it one piece. If cutting off the knob leave as much as possible below the knob. The striker rod is threaded into the knob and peened on the end. Most of the threads are in the end of the knob.

 

[cash_tx]

My apologies, but I accidently typed in the wrong price when posting the ad, and now the Edit link is gone.

The correct price is $400 plus actual shipping (plus insurance if desired). All the other terms as described above are accurate.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Appears to have military front sight. The second barrel for my rifle was sporterized military 4-land and it had a Williams sweat on front sight ramp that the "gunsmith" who attempted to mount the barrel ripped off. I found one broken off screw shaft inside the military sight dovetail slot. I was able to retrieve it and mounted a new Williams 2 screw ramp after tapping for second screw. The screws Williams provided threaded into existing hole. Curious if the military sight is screwed on?

 

[Lee in Texas]

I’ll take it. I always pay for guns with a Postal Money Order sent by Priority Mail, but Saturday is the only day I can get to the post office. (I work in construction). If that’s cool, I would definitely give this rifle a good home.

 

[cash_tx]

SPF to @Lee in Texas , and thank you!

Lee, I will respond to your PM directly to make arrangements.

 

[cash_tx]

Appears to have military front sight. The second barrel for my rifle was sporterized military 4-land and it had a Williams sweat on front sight ramp that the "gunsmith" who attempted to mount the barrel ripped off. I found one broken off screw shaft inside the military sight dovetail slot. I was able to retrieve it and mounted a new Williams 2 screw ramp after tapping for second screw. The screws Williams provided threaded into existing hole. Curious if the military sight is screwed on?

Yes, there appears to be some sort of stud that screws in from the front and holds the front sight in.

 

[Lee in Texas]

Thank you. I’m looking forward to it.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes, there appears to be some sort of stud that screws in from the front and holds the front sight in.

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Hmmm. Interesting. My military barrel didn't have a band. The slot was cut into the barrel. It looks like this is a setup for a windage adjustable front sight. I'm not into military stuff and don't remember what my rifle looked like before Dad reconfigured it in 1962. He cut more than three inches off the first barrel so unknown what sight setup was on it but this barrel is full 24". By the war's end when my 03A3 was made several manufacturing shortcuts were introduced. Mine had only two lands rifling and stamped bottom metal. Yours has machined bottom metal (which I thought was only produced with 1903 model). I'll do some research to satisfy my curiosity. Be interested to see what Lee does with it. I recently ran across a nice looking Mannlicher style stock for 1903 online and thought about picking up a donor action but I have enough other projects that need attention.

 

[mauserhunter]

Should be a good shooter with that NM star gauge barrel on there, my dad about 30 years ago fit a star gauge 03 barrel on his 1943 dyf mauser and that thing will shoot 3/4 moa all day long and 1/2 moa pretty often. I would have jumped on this but I'm broke right now.

 

[leslie hetrick]

if the rifle was left alone, it would have brought a pretty penny. don,t get me wrong at the time the work was done it was just another milsurp out of many thousands available. i sporterized many in the late 50,s-early 60,s, that i bought for well under 50.00 usd. i don,t think it was not a o3a3 as they were made in 1943 forward, i base this on the pin groove on the under side of the barrel to keep the rear sight base assembly on. the o3a3 had a rear reciever(peep) sight.

 

[cash_tx]

I believe @leslie hetrick is right, and I appreciate the correction. Tagging @Lee in Texas for awareness. Based on the Wikipedia entry for M1903's, this seems to be a M1903 NM (with the star stamped on the barrel crown). Per Wikipedia:

"M1903 NM (1921–1940): selected rifles produced at Springfield Armory for National Match shooting competition. Production barrels were measured with star-gauges, and those meeting specified tolerances were stamped with an asterisk shaped star on the muzzle crown. These barrels were fitted to selected receivers with hand-fitted and polished parts. The bolt was left unblued while the receiver and barrel were finished with a black Parkerizing process. Some bolts have the safety direction reversed to prevent it from striking the nose of a right-handed shooter and those made from 1924 to 1929 have the knurled cocking piece removed to decrease lock time. Early rifles used the type S stock until the type C stock became standard in 1929. Rifles made for sale to NRA members (priced at $40.44) were drilled and tapped for a Lyman 48 receiver sight and had either a type B (or NB) stock with no grasping grooves and a noticeable drop at the heel for a long pistol grip, or a special National Match stock with a high comb and pistol grip. Total production was 28,907. Most were issued to service teams and 25,377 were reconditioned at Springfield Armory after one year of match use. Reconditioned rifles have a large gas-escape port drilled into the left side of the receiver."

I appreciate the insight. Always something new to be learned...

M1903 Springfield - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I missed that it had star barrel. Definitely worth that price in my opinion. It should be a great shooter. It's already been altered so may as well make it into a nice 30-06 hunting rifle. I suggest 3-position Model 70 style safety. They can be had in the white for $380 (Myers?). Or find a bolt shroud for Model 70. They screw onto Springfield bolt. But you would need a machinist to make a striker. It's been done apparently. If I can find a donor bolt, I may give it a try.