Found a sporterized Springfield 1903 barreled in .308 Win dirt cheap at a LGS with a nice Bushnell Trophy 1.75 5x32 scope, which is a short range scope designed for shotguns and muzzelloaders. The stock looks very similar to my Remington 700. I generally stay away from sporterized ANYTHING, but the price was to good and it looked like a sharp clean well sporterized hunting rifle. So for the price I took a chance. Once I took the scope off, on top it says:
U.S.
Springfield Armory
Model 1903
1375377
The serial number appears to be hand stamped as the numbers are not in a nice neat row. A 1903 s/n lookup says early 1931 if I'm finding that data correctly. The black gloss almost mirror finish 21" barrel is stamped 308 WIN rather faintly on the side at the breech end. The mystery is that at the end of the barrel right behind the muzzle it is clearly and neatly stamped 7-43. I'm thinking that can't be the date of the barrel, .308 Win didn't come out till 1952. Do you folks concur? Was it re-bored for .308? Also, the bolt looks pretty SIMILAR to my 03-A3, but as you can see in the pics, different. Can anybody tell me what kind of animal I have here?
U.S.
Springfield Armory
Model 1903
1375377
The serial number appears to be hand stamped as the numbers are not in a nice neat row. A 1903 s/n lookup says early 1931 if I'm finding that data correctly. The black gloss almost mirror finish 21" barrel is stamped 308 WIN rather faintly on the side at the breech end. The mystery is that at the end of the barrel right behind the muzzle it is clearly and neatly stamped 7-43. I'm thinking that can't be the date of the barrel, .308 Win didn't come out till 1952. Do you folks concur? Was it re-bored for .308? Also, the bolt looks pretty SIMILAR to my 03-A3, but as you can see in the pics, different. Can anybody tell me what kind of animal I have here?
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