PLEASE HELP! 1903 Springfield - Offered to me

[anton67]

Hi,
I was offered this 03 Springfield for $550.00.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
It was manufactured by Springfield Armory serial no. 1027376.
The rifle obviously went through a rebuild and the barrel is marked SA 6-27.
The muzzle gauges a 4 and is kind of frosty.
Not a perfect rifle by any means.
Comes with sling and oiler shown.
Unfortunately the bore is the most detracting part of the rifle.
Here is my gauge and the bullet test.
Lands and grooves not the strongest as you can see.
The stock appears to be original.
Comes with sling which appears original and oiler.

[anton67]

more photos

[anton67]

more pics

[anton67]

Pics of the bore

[Sako]

As you know it isn't going to shoot well but you can always put a new barrel on it for around two hundred and it is getting real hard to find a good 03 for less than $800.00. At $550 you should be able to get your money back out of it anytime you want to.

[Richard H Brown Jr]

Dear Anton67:

Answers: If you're gonna hang it on the wall or keep it in the gun safe: clean it and don't shoot it.
If you're gonna shoot it, try the '27 barrel at 100yrds from a iron sled, and see what the grouping looks like. If it's crap, by all means rebarrel.

ODCMP Sells Criterion '03 barrels and installs for another $175 (plus your shipping/ins both ways). See the web stie.

Criterion Barrels sells a parked '03 barrel in standard dimensions to ODMCP, Dean's Gun Restoration (sells $189.00, Install and reamed $95.00 more) , and James River Armory (no prices listed).

You could also ask in here for smiths that can supply the barrel and do all the work.

Have you pulled the action from the stock and looked at the barrel surface down by the reciver? If there are a series of deep grooves on the outside of the barrel, that's *sort of* indicative of it being a former USMC rifle. CplNorton on this forum, has been clooecting known serial nos, by way of NARA. So he might be able to tell you if it's a USMC rifle.

If you do decide to re-barrel, make sure you get the -27 barrel back, it can alwasy go back on if you decide to sell, or change it back to a display rifle.

Now all you need to get are all the cleaning bits and accessories. 8*)

R. Brown

[dave]

Pics are poor but many appear to show rust and light pitting under the blue (should be park). I doubt that is an arsenal rebuild. Spend a few hundred more and get a decent example. It is not like there is any shortage of them.

[Sunray]

"...under the blue..." Suspect it's cold bluing too. S/N 1027376 dates from 1918. Still a 'High numbered' receiver though. Frosting isn't a horrible thing for a shooter. Lots of frosted barrel shoot just fine. So shoot it first.
Trust the gauge not the cartridge. Using a cartridge is a field expedient.

[leftyo]

just because the bore is a bit crusty looking does not mean it wont shoot fairly well. not a great buy, but i dont think your getting ripped off either.

[anton67]

Thank you for all of the helpful input.
I was looking at the fact that the sling and oiler are probably worth $100 so I am really paying $450 for the rifle.
There is no rust or cold bluing. That just looks that way from the photos.