O3A3 anyone?

G

guerilla1138

New member
anyone here have an o3a3?
hoping that some may be able to ubderstand my love for this rifle.
i have one that someone sporterized before my father bought it and gave it to me.
i actually like it that way. its a heck of a deer rifle, a little big for an all around rifle but i does get used that way.
no need for a scope on it, the sights are perfect the way they are.
so anyone else here have a great respect for these peices of history?

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while u are burying your head in the sand i will be out doing something about the problem, excuse me if i tramp upon your skull.
 
I do not have one YET. I was at a bolt action military shoot, open sights only, and the 2 03a3's i saw were very nice. and the 30'06 is a nice plus.
 
In addition to my father's Remington made '03A3, I have a spoterized one which I suspect was "unofficially" done at Springfield Armory. The orginal owner was a Maj. assigned to Springfield at the time and they gave him a loose front sight which reduced the gun to "unservicable" (aka $15). The nifty thing about it is that while it has a Lyman Model 48 Rear Aperture sight, it is fitted with a Griffin & Howe scope base and came with a M81 Scope (probably off an M1C Garand).
 
I like them. They are a good mass produced cheap battle rifle that often shoots well. They were obsolete before they were even designed though, with the introductin of the Garand. They were merely a just in case rifle if Garand production could not keep up.

Over an M1903, the ONLY improvement for shooting was the rear sight. For manufacturing, there were many, many shortcuts. Remember as GM or Ford said, parts left off cannot fail.

Unaltered, original guns are getting expensive, especially Smith-Coronas. Many 03A3's are in fact original as many were placed in reserve and never issued.
 
My first HP rifle was an 03A3. Got it for $25 bucks in my misspent youth but I promise that was 25 bucks that was damn well spent! I did some sporterizing on it and still have it. If things were to go to hell in a handbasket today it would still be a tossup between the 03A3, or my Garand, as to which one I would grab.

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Carlyle Hebert
 
Yep...I like em alot......Ive been looking for one that has sporterized so I can build up a rifle I want....anybody got one to sell?....would prefer one already ruined from factory condition...my shooting buddies have threatened me if I take one of the original 03a3's and change it....dont wanna upset the crew....fubsy.
 
My 1903A3 is not sporterized, but is in "as issued" configuration. Fun to shoot and accurate. My Remington M1917, as ugly as it is, is more accurate than my 'A3...at least with me behind the trigger. Really like them both.

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Mike

[This message has been edited by mbott (edited October 15, 2000).]
 
I bought a 1903A3 from a gal who's father carried at the start of WWII. It's all original with Bayonet, missing sling and sheath though. I started to clean the bayonet but the grime on it looked a little odd and I stopped when I realized it is posible this could be some German blood still on it. Some time when I get around to it, and money permits, I am going to take it in and get it tested. I've only put one box of shells through it. I mainly bought it because of the piece of history it represents and knowing who carried it.
 
I must say that I prefer the 03s from the 20s as shooting rifles. I do have a A3 in unissued condition but have yet to bring my self to shoot it even though I only payed 150 bucks for it 15 years ago. If I did not have a 1929 NM 03 I sure would be shooting that old 1943 remington though. :)
 
I have a like new DCM 03A3 that was purchased in the 60's and put in a closet for 25 years. I bought it a few years back for $125, one of the better bargains I've gotten in firearms. :)
 
1903A3's have better rear sights, that's a given, but how could a person pass up an original 1903A1?

1903a1.jpg
 
I have a CMP 03 and an 03-A3 and love them both. Love the feel and the history of old rifles. The workmanship in in the 03A3 is not as nice as the 03, but the my 03A3 sure will outshoot my 03.

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TOUJOURS PRET
Swamprat
 
MBott you have discovered what many doughboys learned in the Great War. The M1917 is a very accurate rifle. The main problem is the lack of a windage adjust. They have an undeserved rep for bad accuracy because when the factory zeroed the rifle, it was on target windage-wise. When rebuilt by arsenals, they were not as carefully rezeroed after the front sight blade was replaced, so if they were off, they remained off.

The M1903 is nicer looking than the big, long, heavy M1917 with its horned receiver, but that M1917 has a far better combat sight that is very well protected.

All that said, I have to agree with Gewehr. The M1903A1 is beautiful and will shoot very accurately and was a superbe target rifle. I have a mid-1930's vintage M1903A1 with "C" stock and the Lyman 48 rear peep from the Armory. It has a Lyman 17XNB (?) front sight. The black velvety parkerizing and wood make it look hand assembled and finished. It was an old DCM NRA sales model, so it was never used in the military. The first time I shot it in an informal shoot with a 100 yard match target, I shot 99-7X.

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[This message has been edited by 700PSS Shooter (edited October 18, 2000).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 700PSS Shooter:
MBott you have discovered what many doughboys learned in the Great War. The M1917 is a very accurate rifle.
[/quote]

Agreed, just ask Alvin York. :) Contrary to the movie, York used the M1917 during his heroics. Good samples of the M1917 are getting much harder to find because many were used to build custom guns. That M1917 action is extremely strong. Due to it's weight, it's a pleasant rifle to shoot.

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Mike

[This message has been edited by mbott (edited October 19, 2000).]
 
One note on the 17 Enfield....

It's an excellent design and usually well excuted, but...

The first batch was made under war criteria, and some of the P-14 bbls were used. These run .311-.314 inches,and give mediocre accuracy with standard 30-06 ammo. I had one as a young man that we couldn't get to shoot as it should,even after scoping and glass bedding. Sluggin the bbl revealed the problem and I loaded up some cartridges with .311 diameter projectiles and got 1 1/4" inch groups off the sandbags. Do NOT use these type loads in a standard sized bbl.
 
I love all of the 03 and 03/A3 variants. I have several of these in sporter and military garb, and shoot them in preference to all but my vintage model 70 Winchester.
GREAT rifles!
 
I just love that tiny little peep hole in the micrometer combat flip up and the skinny front sight on the NM or DCM 03A1s. Once you get used to them they make that good A3 sight look crude, and that takes a bit. All the old between war A1s where specialy built as match guns for the DCM or as NM rifles as far as I have been able to find out so a poor shooter is probably a rare one.
 
I grew up deer hunting with my dad's old original Remington A3/03 in 30/06. that peep sight was very accurate. I never really liked that roll over safety.It was too slow to sute me for making a quick shot sometimes.I often contemplated leaving it on fire when I was a young boy, but my dad always told me to leave it on safe and I always did till I seen game.He still has that old gun.
 
You guys will probably like this tale. Last year I saw an O3A3 in the cosmoline. The guy that had it said they were cleaning out his dads place after he had died and they found this in the back of a closet still in the grease. He also said there was a .30 cal carbine in the cosmoline standing next to it. I was sure glad I was broke or I would have had me a rifle and a mad wife.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dave McC:
One note on the 17 Enfield....

It's an excellent design and usually well excuted, but...

The first batch was made under war criteria, and some of the P-14 bbls were used. These run .311-.314 inches,and give mediocre accuracy with standard 30-06 ammo. I had one as a young man that we couldn't get to shoot as it should,even after scoping and glass bedding. Sluggin the bbl revealed the problem and I loaded up some cartridges with .311 diameter projectiles and got 1 1/4" inch groups off the sandbags. Do NOT use these type loads in a standard sized bbl.[/quote]

Dave,

Just FYI: My copy of "Hatcher's Notebook" references this and states that this is not so, per the Chief of Engineering and Design for Small Arms for the Army. See chapter II, "Brief History of the Enfield, U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, Model of 1917".

Regards,
Mike
 
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