I went to a local show today and couldn't help but be reminded why I love this hobby, and how I "lived and learned".
Let me start from the beginning, its a little lengthy but bear with me.
I went to a local show today just to look around really, I brought some cash with me in case I found something but really didn't expect to. I took my time and talked with a few vendors as I meandered my way through the show.
One group of 3 guys (all older gentleman, 60+, more on this later) seemed to specialize in M1903 and M1 Garand rifles. They even had a display that showed all examples of M1 Garands from all the different manufacturers through the years including the weird ones Beretta made before they had the BM59s. On the other side they had one example of every Garand ever made under each of the 6 contracts by Winchester. Very cool stuff! I spent about half an hour just learning everything I could from these guys. Eventually I got back to looking around the rest of the show, one guy had a very similar display except it focused on SMLE rifles while another one had an impressive collection of Luger pistols. After a while I wandered into the back of the show room floor.
And then I saw it, a Remington M1903 that looked to be in pristine condition. Serial number put it as a 1942 production and it had a barrel to match. It had a scant stock and a Kerr sling, the finish looked excellent and it even came with with period correct cleaning kit and oilier in the butt stock. I asked what he wanted. The guy wanted $1,500. I laughed. He didn't. I walked away. Fast forward about an hour and as I'm leaving the show who comes up to me but M1903 guy. Apparently I was the only one who showed interest in his rifle. He said he could do $1,250 cash. Now at this point I'm thinking of all of the M1903s I've seen at this show, not one of which had an asking price of less than $900 and most of which looked like they had been rode hard and put away wet. I know just enough about the M1903 to get myself in trouble so I (try to) tread carefully. I also know that if I ever purchased one I would want to put a scant stock on it anyway. I countered with $1,150 and we shook on it.
Now here I am all excited about my new rifle that I feel pretty good about and promptly take it to the guys with the cool M1 Garand display to see what they can tell me about my new rifle. They take a look at it and agree that it is indeed a nice rifle. It is a Remington made rifle with all period correct Remington parts. They ask me what I paid for it and I proudly tell them. They shared a look that was somewhere between pity and humor. I ask them what they thought it was worth, they tell me probably no more than $750-$800 for the rifle alone, most of the M1903 rifles they have seen at this show are drastically overpriced.
My heart fell into my stomach and I think I actually had tears in my eyes when I realized my stupidity. They notice this and ask to see the rifle again. One of them, a gentleman of about 75 or so, takes a look at and tells me that there are a few things that are not quite correct with how it is put together. He goes over a small list of issues; the front band is on backwards, the screws on the wrong side of the rifle, and somewhere in the rifles life someone had used hardware from an M1903A3 to keep it together. As he keeps pointing things out my heart falls through my stomach to the floor.
And then something AWESOME happened. He looks at me and says "Yeah I can fix all of this for you". He went to a table close by and talked to the guy
he knew at that table who had various parts for M1903s and M1 for sale. He came back with all the correct screws and hardware, flipped the band around so it was facing the right way, moved all the screws to the right side, and put a new stack swivel on. Then he handed the rifle to one of the other guys who cleaned it with some Hoppes, inspected the bore, used a throat gauge to check erosion and proclaimed that the barrel looked almost like new. He asked me if I knew had to use the rifle; i.e. the magazine cutoff, battle sight zero, and ladder sights. I responded "Kind of..." He spent the next hour going over how all that worked and answered my questions with superb clarity.
After all was said and done they did not charge me for any of the work or hardware they used to fix up my rifle. I thanked them whole heartily but asked them why. They were very candid, one of them explained that we've all been there, overpaid for a rifle or pistol and instantly regretted it, although he alluded that between the Kerr sling and the fact that even if I had bought a regular M1903 I would have wanted to replace the stock with a scant or C-stock anyway I might not have done as bad as I thought. They went on to say that they were impressed with my inquires and interest when I'd stopped by the first time and were happy to see someone my age (I'm 28) with an interest in these old rifles instead of just black rifles and didn't want me to write them off due to one bad experience.
So there you have it, this is how my faith in fellow enthusiasts was wholly restored in a single day. So did I overpay for the rifle? Yeah, probably, but it is still a VERY nice example of the M1903. More importantly it brought together a group of complete strangers, strangers 3 or 4 decades apart in age, who have the same amazing hobby.
THIS is why I will continue to go to gun shows, the dedication, compassion, and knowledge of the people who attend them is truly unmatched.
Let me start from the beginning, its a little lengthy but bear with me.
I went to a local show today just to look around really, I brought some cash with me in case I found something but really didn't expect to. I took my time and talked with a few vendors as I meandered my way through the show.
One group of 3 guys (all older gentleman, 60+, more on this later) seemed to specialize in M1903 and M1 Garand rifles. They even had a display that showed all examples of M1 Garands from all the different manufacturers through the years including the weird ones Beretta made before they had the BM59s. On the other side they had one example of every Garand ever made under each of the 6 contracts by Winchester. Very cool stuff! I spent about half an hour just learning everything I could from these guys. Eventually I got back to looking around the rest of the show, one guy had a very similar display except it focused on SMLE rifles while another one had an impressive collection of Luger pistols. After a while I wandered into the back of the show room floor.
And then I saw it, a Remington M1903 that looked to be in pristine condition. Serial number put it as a 1942 production and it had a barrel to match. It had a scant stock and a Kerr sling, the finish looked excellent and it even came with with period correct cleaning kit and oilier in the butt stock. I asked what he wanted. The guy wanted $1,500. I laughed. He didn't. I walked away. Fast forward about an hour and as I'm leaving the show who comes up to me but M1903 guy. Apparently I was the only one who showed interest in his rifle. He said he could do $1,250 cash. Now at this point I'm thinking of all of the M1903s I've seen at this show, not one of which had an asking price of less than $900 and most of which looked like they had been rode hard and put away wet. I know just enough about the M1903 to get myself in trouble so I (try to) tread carefully. I also know that if I ever purchased one I would want to put a scant stock on it anyway. I countered with $1,150 and we shook on it.
Now here I am all excited about my new rifle that I feel pretty good about and promptly take it to the guys with the cool M1 Garand display to see what they can tell me about my new rifle. They take a look at it and agree that it is indeed a nice rifle. It is a Remington made rifle with all period correct Remington parts. They ask me what I paid for it and I proudly tell them. They shared a look that was somewhere between pity and humor. I ask them what they thought it was worth, they tell me probably no more than $750-$800 for the rifle alone, most of the M1903 rifles they have seen at this show are drastically overpriced.
My heart fell into my stomach and I think I actually had tears in my eyes when I realized my stupidity. They notice this and ask to see the rifle again. One of them, a gentleman of about 75 or so, takes a look at and tells me that there are a few things that are not quite correct with how it is put together. He goes over a small list of issues; the front band is on backwards, the screws on the wrong side of the rifle, and somewhere in the rifles life someone had used hardware from an M1903A3 to keep it together. As he keeps pointing things out my heart falls through my stomach to the floor.
And then something AWESOME happened. He looks at me and says "Yeah I can fix all of this for you". He went to a table close by and talked to the guy
he knew at that table who had various parts for M1903s and M1 for sale. He came back with all the correct screws and hardware, flipped the band around so it was facing the right way, moved all the screws to the right side, and put a new stack swivel on. Then he handed the rifle to one of the other guys who cleaned it with some Hoppes, inspected the bore, used a throat gauge to check erosion and proclaimed that the barrel looked almost like new. He asked me if I knew had to use the rifle; i.e. the magazine cutoff, battle sight zero, and ladder sights. I responded "Kind of..." He spent the next hour going over how all that worked and answered my questions with superb clarity.
After all was said and done they did not charge me for any of the work or hardware they used to fix up my rifle. I thanked them whole heartily but asked them why. They were very candid, one of them explained that we've all been there, overpaid for a rifle or pistol and instantly regretted it, although he alluded that between the Kerr sling and the fact that even if I had bought a regular M1903 I would have wanted to replace the stock with a scant or C-stock anyway I might not have done as bad as I thought. They went on to say that they were impressed with my inquires and interest when I'd stopped by the first time and were happy to see someone my age (I'm 28) with an interest in these old rifles instead of just black rifles and didn't want me to write them off due to one bad experience.
So there you have it, this is how my faith in fellow enthusiasts was wholly restored in a single day. So did I overpay for the rifle? Yeah, probably, but it is still a VERY nice example of the M1903. More importantly it brought together a group of complete strangers, strangers 3 or 4 decades apart in age, who have the same amazing hobby.
THIS is why I will continue to go to gun shows, the dedication, compassion, and knowledge of the people who attend them is truly unmatched.