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Sportarized 1903

1K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  twa2471 
#1 ·
I was at my local gun store yesterday and they have a restocked 1903 Springfield with a scope on it. Unfortunately I did not note the brand of the scope. The rifle has been reset into a black synthetic stock.


It seemed to be in nice shape with a smooth action and a clean bore. They are asking $395 for it. Does this seem like a good price or do I need to get more info on the scope for a reasonable guesstimate?


Thanks for the help.
 
#2 ·
Not bad if it's a real nice scope & the rifle is not badly bubba'd . Has the barrel been chopped or is original front sight still there? If chopped, check the crown.
I'd ask the shop to confirm headspace. Ask if they have a guage for the throat & muzzle also.

I'd bet the shop did not give the guy more than $150.00 for it.
 
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#6 ·
Like the others said,check the crown and guage the throat and muzzle.
If the scope and rings are decent,its good for that price.
I picked one up many years ago that just had the rear sight band de soldered and tapped for the rings.It was set in a beautiful Fajen stock.
Picked it up for $150. The sad thing was it was a 42 dated Remington 03 not an A3.But for the price it was worth it.To buy something new like it would have cost me well over$700.
 
#10 ·
if the barrel has been cut and re-crowned and that scope mount is tapped into the receiver, restoring it will not help, no collector worth 2 cents will buy it as a collectable 03

there are still plenty of original 03 parts around, no need to buy repro crap including slings, bayo's they are around

but again if not budda'd these are great deer /hog rifles and heck range rifles
 
#11 ·
I am intrigued by the fact that the action is a an 03 Springfield. The fact that it is no longer in its original stock doesn't bother me that much. I may look for an original stock at some point but I think the restock is tasteful and looks good and it fits me great.
 
#13 ·
This is the one I did up about 1 1/2 years ago,BackAgain, it was a shot out Bubba Master too when I got it.

New barrel in 06 , trued the action, refinished and bedded the stock (that's a doggie hair in the picture, not a scratch on the stock), re-blued, polished and jeweled the bolt, added a Timney trigger and added a Bushnell 2.5-10x 45mm scope.

It came out pretty good over all and shoots great. I'd posted these back when I did it up , but not sure if you'd seen them before, seems some of the old pics got lost in modifications done to the site.
 

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#17 ·
Ditto, that is a work of art!!!! I never knew an -03' could be so sweet!
 
#15 ·
Thanks stalker1,,,I'm kinda stuck on that 60's Weatherby style rifles and jeweled bolts for some reason. Old school cool I guess.

And actually that's my first attempt at a jeweled bolt. The old guy I borrowed the jig from said it came out perfect,, but it probably wouldn't have with out his sage advice and guidance I'm sure, he'd been a gun smith all his life and must be Damn near 90 by now. It's a quite simple process actually and it just takes some patience to do, especially if you have someone looking over your shoulder showing you the trick of it. Go slow and gentle and space the swirls even and that's about it. Pretty slow going but quite simple. You just need the ,,,Patience,, of Moses!!!!

That stock was seriously rough when I got the gun and it took some kinda work to bring that back around. But it was worth it after all was said and done, there was some pretty nice tiger tail wood grain hiding under the ugly brush marked flaking varnish and serious scratches that was on it. Looked like it had been done with a 4" barn brush,,,a worn out one at that !!!!! Very bubba-ed indeed ,,,when I got it. So much so,,I almost shit caned the stock.

I sorta had to diamond shape the fore end some to eliminate some deep gouges on one side, and under cut the roll over cheek rest more,,, it looked like it had slid a hell of a long ways down a rock ledge or something at one time, and it had deep rock scratches all down one side of the stock ,,1/8 " deep or better in some places, hence the more extreme than normal roll over on the cheek rest, and flat bottom diamond shaped fore arm. Feels good and that lightened it up some too.

I'm happy with it, and it shoots <1 MOA groups all day long. And I don't really have squat into it actually,a couple hundred bucks maybe sense I had the barrel and trigger ass'y already. Mostly the hot re-blueing,and finish reaming costs is about all I have into it dollar wise. Plus what little I had in the gun itself which was minimal, it was trading material when I got it. So maybe 250 -300 total in it.

I Love resurrecting old Springfields, Winchesters and Mausers, and mostly what I like to do up.
 
#18 ·
Thanks guys,,I appreciate all those kind comments. I like it and it's a new "keeper" for my collection,,,,

I took my first deer with it 2 days after I'd finished it up and sighted it in , so there's another plus ,,,already,1 shot at about 150 yards and down he went,,

back straps for supper,,,YUMMY !!!!!
 
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