1903 Remington

[GunnyUSMC]

Friday is the start of my weekend, and like most Fridays I head out in the morning to get breakfast and do a little gun hunting. At one of the shops that I stop at I help out if they are a little busy and sell a gun or two. Well one Friday when I stopped by I stepped behind the counter to help out and sold some ammo and then started looking at guns. I spotted something that cought my eye. It was dirty and on the lower rack with the old military guns that Bubba had had his way with.
I picked it up and smiled when I saw that it was a 1903 Remington. The only thing missing was the stacking swivel and one of the handguard clips. There was a little surface rust here and there, the worst was on the bottom of the front sight.
I smiled even more when I saw that it was marked $429.95. For those of you that know me, you know that I always try to get a better price on a used gun no matter how good the marked price is. I will just say, I did good on this one.
Here are a few pics.




















The front sight is Remington marked.
Front band/bayonet lug is Remington marked.
The follower is Remington marked.
The bolt is Remington marked.
The rear band is unmarked.
Floor plate is unmarked.
Trigger guard is unmarked.
The butt plate is unmarked.
Other then the small spot on the nose of the stock, it is unmarked.

The Remington M1903 was originally developed for the British in 1940. The order was taken over by the US Government in mid-1941, before any rifles had been made.

[highpower790]

Very nice and a good buy!Makes me wish I had not returned a 03 to cmp ,because it was not what I ordered.

[Rickrock1]

Is very nice and a great deal. Congrats

[Enfield47]

What a nice find. I'm guessing you got a screaming deal from the sound of it.

[highpower]

Nice to see a Remington '03. I have a late (9-42) Remington '03 that I got from a friend of mine several years ago and is a very nice shooting rifle.

A little history on Remington 1903 rifles:

Since Remington bought the machinery to produce them from the US arsenal at Rock Island, the earliest Remington '03's are virtually identical to late production Rock Islands. As time went by, the engineers at Remington saw ways to simplify production and implemented changes as they were approved by the Ordnance Board.

First to go was the finger grooves in the stock and next was the scallops on the rear sight base. Soon, stamped parts were being substituted for many of of pieces that were formally milled. After a while there was so many changes that the nomenclature of the rifle was changed to "US Rifle Model 1903-A3".

The stock on yours has been changed out at some point as the scant stock was never used on a production rifle. And, since Remington is famous for having put an "R" on just about every part they made except for the screws and a couple of other small parts, it is likely that the triggerguard, lower band and buttplate were changed out at the same time as the stock.

[Jeff L]

Nice find! How is the bore? According to vishooter's page The serial number is April '42.

[highpower]

Nice find! How is the bore? I think the correct butt plate would be stamped and checkered. According to vishooter's page The serial number is April '42.

All the parts on an April '42 Remington would be milled.

[JustEd]

Congrats on a nice find. Now go put some rounds through it!

[GunnyUSMC]

The thing with US rifle that have all correct parts is that they have most likely had parts changed by someone to make them matching.
Just about every US rifle went through some type of refurbishment.
Armorers didn't wory about who made waht part. If the rifle need a new part, it got what was on hand.
Now this rifle, who's to say that it ended it's service life as it is, or if someone put it back together from parts. It really doen't matter to me, I think it's pretty cool like it is.

Nice find! How is the bore?

It has a nice bore.

[aghauler]

The thing with US rifle that have all correct parts is that they have most likely had parts changed by someone to make them matching.
Just about every US rifle went through some type of refurbishment.
Armorers didn't wory about who made waht part. If the rifle need a new part, it got what was on hand.
Now this rifle, who's to say that it ended it's service life as it is, or if someone put it back together from parts. It really doen't matter to me, I think it's pretty cool like it is.


It has a nice bore.

Very nice 03! Was rebarrelled during rebuild and the "Hatcher Hole" may have been added at that time.
Got ya beat though
My RIA 03 came via the old CMP Lottery $165.00 plus $20 shipping. It has the Hatcher Hole, and a USMC Sedgley Barrel, I never get that lucky!!!

Gunny you scored well congrats!

[Father Ted]

Nice rifle and price. I love my Rock Island, although out of every rifle I own it seems to be the toughest one on my shoulder.

[SonofWWIIDI]

I kick myself for not jumping on a beautiful example in the marketplace as soon as I saw it.

I sought advice from a more seasoned C&R collector, and when I attempted to pull the trigger (so to speak) 10 minutes later...it was sold! . And that was at $750.

I guess what I'm really saying is that I'm jealous.