I was at a gun show in Mesquite, TX. A dealer was informing a seller of a rifle what he thought of the rifle he was selling. The dealer had done a lot of memory work, to my benefit, the dealer was scared and refused to make an offer. I explained to the dealer he had first refusal and I felt obligated to ask permission to talk to the seller. The rifle was an 03 Remington before the A3 was added. The rifle was like new, magnificent in everyway. I purchased the rifle for $150.00, the seller threw in two boxes of R-P 30/06 ammo. He purchased the rifle with ammo from Sears and fired it twice.
I have the stock, trigger guard and barrel for an 03A4 that is chambered to 308 Norma Magnum, if the Remington A3 did not impress me at the range I was going to turn it into a 308 Norma Mag. The $150.00 rifle exceeded all expectation. It is the second most accurate rifle I have with open sights, the most accurate is a 1905 303 Ross.
While at the gun show I was informed of a special presentation Mauser. finally in the far back corner I found the dealer, a most happy man, someone informed him his cheap Mauser was very rare. He decided not to sell the rifle, I asked to see it. The receiver had what looked like a large circle with the AMERICAN EAGLE stamped on it.
Curiosity: I ask him what was the price at the beginning of the day, he told me and I said that was fair and almost too much. He then informed me what he was told by experts as in his go to guys. I informed him he had a national Ordnance Mauser. In all fairness I told him National Ordinance could have scrubbed the receiver. I also told him about the scary stories. I doubt he was taking notes but I took the time to inform him of bolts that were used. I have two with the lugs sheared off. I have never read of a problem with Mauser bolts used by Santa Fe/National ordinance etc.. There is a smith in the area that can pick them out of a bucket of bolts.
F. Guffey