1903 Springfield Sporter Questions

[tacticalhillbilly]

Hello I am new here and to the 1903 Springfield rifles. I had a Uncle pass away and his bother (my other Uncle) gave me one of his many rifles. This was used by their father (given to him by his father) that used it for hunting. I have been trying to figure out exactly what has been do to this rifle. My uncle didn't clean his rifles regularly and piled them in the safe. The bluing is worn and a couple of scratches on the barrel.

NO RUST OR PITTING!!! Thanks the Lord!


I removed the front sight and it had the Flaming Bomb and dated '6-39'. I looked up the serial # on the receiver and found that it was made in 1919? Maybe I am wrong as I am new to this! Did Springfield 'Sporterize' any of these 1903's or was this done by a gunsmith back in the day?

The scope is a Weaver 330 in a T-3 mount. Are these normal on the 1903's? The configuration is odd with the scope to the side but it works for me as I am right handed and blind in my right eye!

I plan on redoing the Bluing. Anybody know a good place and prices for this?

Also need to find a hood for the front sight!


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[brickboy240]

Wow...that looks VERY similar to the one I inherited from my dad many years ago. Dad's had an old steel tubed Weaver K-4 and I have taken tons of deer with the thing.

Yours was made in 1919 but re-barreled before we entered WWII. This was common for 03s that went into WWII.

I'd clean it up and shoot it. You might be amazed at how accurate it is.

I replaced the old K-4 on my 03 Sporter with a Leupold 3x9x40 and the thing has taken more deer and pigs than I can remember.

Enjoy it...you will be spoiled by the quality of the rifle.

-brickboy240

[D Golden]

Clean it up and shoot it. Looks like a Lyman 48 peepsight along with the scope. Both are period correct for a sporter of this time period. I wouldn`t change a thing. The scope is an antique but you should be able to use it if the glass isn`t fogged.

[C-grunt]

Man that's a beautiful rifle. I'd deifiitely clean it up and use it as is.

[tacticalhillbilly]

Thanks for the positive replies! I love the rifle and will never sell or trade it. Family guns go along way. I cant wait to shoot it now



Eddie

[okie john]

You've got a pretty straightforward example of a pawnshop '03 sporter. They started off as war surplus, and were then customized with varying degrees of finesse by local gunsmiths. The rifle itself was made with more attention to detail than anything coming off of an assembly line today. Yours just needs a little TLC and it will provide another century of good service.

The work on yours was probably done by someone who's been completely forgotten now, but whoever had it done spent serious coin for a Lyman 48 rear sight and a good front ramp. The Weaver scope is a classic. It's still usable but will probably fog if you carry it in the rain. Those mounts, as well as lots of other kinds of mounts, were common on the better examples of these old rifles.

The first thing I'd do is detail strip it and clean it. While it's out of the stock, I'd also:
1. Check to see that the bedding is sound and that there are no hidden cracks in the stock. Have a gunsmith fix anything you find.
2. Degrease every part of the action--sear, trigger, bolt guts, floorplate latch, everything. Lots of those guns were greased with stuff that has turned into concrete over the last 40 or 50 years. Get it out of there.
3. Apply a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax to every part of the wood and metal that you can't see from the outside. This will help fight rust for several seasons of rough use.
4. Give the bore a good scrubbing with a serious copper solvent like Sweets 7.62. Chances are it's never been cleaned properly and it should be.

Then I'd reassemble it, zero it, and go shoot stuff. When you do, you may find that the recoil pad has hardened. If so, have it replaced with a modern one. I'd also stick to standard pressure ammo--that rifle is nearly 100 years old, and there's no need to hot rod it. If you handload, try a good 180-grain bullet over 55 grains of 4350. If a 30/06 won't shoot well with that load, there's something wrong with the rifle.

The rear sight is a Lyman 48, which was the Cadillac of peep sights at that time. The front ramp is probably a Lyman as well, but it might not be. Sight makers back then used proprietary hoods. To find the right hood, figure out who made the ramp, then every time you're in an old gun shop or pawn shop, ask if they have any loose front sight hoods lying around. You'll probably find one sooner than you think.


Okie John

[brickboy240]

Mine is VERY similar to yours...right down to the bolt handle.

Although mine has standard Weaver type cleats and rings and an old steel tubed El Paso made Weaver K-4 scope mounted right over the receiver.

Dad bought it in the early 70s and used it forever to take deer and pigs here in Texas. When I turned 18, he bought a nice Weatherby MkV in 30-06 and "willed" me the 03. I then shot tons of deer/pigs with the thing over the years.

Mine shoots decently with the cheap old 150gr Winchester Power Points....the ones you get at Wal Mart in the silver box. From the 100yd bench, I get 5 shot groups that fit well within the top of a Coke can.

Maybe not outstanding but totally "minute of deer" for my needs. God knows I have put down many critters with the thing and the 150gr bullets don't beat me up in the process.

It might shoot tighter with better ammo like Nosler or Norma ammo, but with the cheap stuff, it does exactly what I need. Yours might do the same...a bonus if it shoots well with cheap ammo.

Another plus is that when the ammo panics crop up...you can still find 30-06 on the shelves while the 223 and 308 is long gone.

Be very careful when taking the bolt apart to degrease it....the cocking piece is under pressure and half of it might go flying across the room, if you are not careful. It is NOT like taking a 98 Mauser bolt apart.....I found out the hard way! LOL

Enjoy it....you might find that it's build quality will spoil you. There is just something cool about blued steel and walnut.

-brickboy240

[tacticalhillbilly]

I love this rifle. After getting the Joe Poyer bok 'The Model 1903 Springfield Rifle And Its Variations' (Along with a couple other sites) I find it has a Star Gauged Barrel. I would like to put the Weaver 330 scope that's on it in the safe and replace it with a modern 1" tube scope.



Eddie

[okie john]

There are two ways you can do that. If you don't want to drill new holes in it, then you'll need to find a version of the existing mount that takes a scope with one-inch rings. I'm not sure which Weaver model that one is, but a Google image search will probably unearth it without too much trouble. It may take a while, but I'm guessing you'll find the right one without too much trouble.

The other way is to have it drilled and tapped for modern mounts, in which case the sky is the limit.


Okie John

[brickboy240]

I'd drill it and tap it. Then, put on a 1 piece Leupold base/rings and put a real scope on the rifle.

It has already been modified so the "value" of it being an original M1903 is already gone. Might as well take advantage of a great action and make a great sporter out of the rifle.

As far as stocks go, have you looked at Boyd's laminated stocks? I don't think they look that bad and have often thought of putting one on my own 03 sporter. They are not very expensive and with a well done hand rubbed oil finish, the laminated stock might be pretty attractive. Then, put a Pachmayr Decelerator pad on it and you have a sweet deer getter.

-brickboy240