Gibb A4 Query

[Motorcop]

I'm not so sure that Val F. would have done anything different than what he did. When you really think about it, he was a genius using recovered drill rifles to build these clone 03A4's. Many years ago before the rage of having an 03A4 really started, I took a 03A3 that I had and turned it into an A4 clone. When I told people what I had done you would have thought I had kidnapped their first born child. The usual comment was something to the effect,"How could you ruin that valuable piece of history by poking holes in it?" Well my response was, "valuable to who? And who owns the rifle? Me or you?" I wasn't shooting the rifle much because I just couldn't dial in the sights very well with my eyesight at the time. So drilling the receiver and installing a Redfield mount and Weaver K-3.0 scope on it seemed like a good idea to me. Since that time I have had a Weaver K-2.5 scope on it and a very nice Weaver 330 that I now have on my Gibbs 03A4 clone. I later took the scope and mount off that 03A3 and I D&T'd it for a Lyman receiver sight and globe front sight similar to match rifles back in the day. The rifle has been through a lot of transitions and has served me very well.
Later on when Gibbs came out with their 03A4 clones based on recovered drill rifles I thought "Wow what a stroke of genius!" Someone actually took rifles that probably would have been destroyed and created something that a lot of people could put to good use. Many of the people that purchased Gibbs rifles would never have been able to afford a real 03A4 and even if they could, most probably would have decided the rifle was too valuable to shoot. So until the Gibbs rifles appeared what choice was there? Shoot a very expensive piece of history or D&T a virgin 03A3? Gibbs solved that problem and gave people another choice and one that made a tremendous amount of sense especially with the onset of the Vintage Sniper Match.

Since these Gibbs rifles came on the scene I have had the opportunity of working on six on them including my first one. While these are not "perfect" rifles, they are very good foundations. None of the ones I have worked one had anything major wrong with them and all I have done is cleaned up some tapped holes, checked them for barrel pressure and in a couple of cases worked on the triggers. For the price these rifles are a great bargain and if you turn your nose up at them for being a recovered drill rifle you are truly missing out on a fun rifle. Personally I will never understand the dislike generated by some over the use of these recovered drill rifle receivers. There have been no reported incidents of major problems and if there have been issues they have been taken care of by the manufacturer. I should also note that everyone I have seen or worked on has shot pretty darn well.

Simply put, the use of these recovered drill rifle receivers is a "win-win" for everyone and if you don't give one try you are missing the boat.

Rick H.

Mr. Colt in some cases I'm sure you're correct, maybe it's even Most cases the rifles were ok, but I think Mr. Lucci has made a good point, that the receivers need to be checked to see if they're within specs, and that there are no defects in them. So far I've never heard or read here of a cracked receiver, bad bolt etc in any of them.........and if there were any, surely it would have been talked about long & hard here & on the CMP's own forum. I suspect even Val F. wishes he'd spent the extra money & bought Grade A receivers now, instead of getting the sweepings off the floor of the storage lockers of CMP.

[jgaynor]

The initial batch of Gibbs M1903A4 rifles which hit the market in about 2008 if i recall were built on rifles of at least actions sourced from parker hale. They initially used Pedersoli barrels made in Italy and reproduction scopes Made by FM Optics in China. The initial retail price was $999.00 and some of the big mail order dealers discounted that even further. At that selling price I would suspect the manufacturers standard cost before profit and markup would probably be about $300.- $400.

[BlitzKrieg]

If you want a sniper rifle to shoot, the reproduction 03a4 are the way to go.

If you collect sniper rifles , these just won't do. They are horrors of horrors.

Purists vs. Shooters.

Shooters don't want an original, they cost too much and you chance damaging the value.

Purists don't want reproduction sniper rifles to gain favor, for fear their originals lose value on the open market.

[chuckindenver]

Drill rifles.
heres why they were made up.
Daisy offered ROTC drill rifles at 15.00 each. War Dept, noticed they had some 90,000 1903 and A3 rifles in surplus stash.
they also noted, that they have a few privates that they feed and house..
so... they pulled some 60K 1903 and A3s from stock, had them changed up for drill use.
grinding off or removing the front sight blade.
plugging the chamber with carbon steel rod.
welding with stainless steel rod, barrel to the action.
cutting hole into the chamber area.
remove bolt.
grind off striker pin,
weld striker hole at the end of the bolt face.
replace said bolt.
with the cut off down, weld across the lever so it cant be moved.
some of these rifles were new, and had never even been issued.
before drill use mods.. all were in serviceable order..
keep in mind.
though a recovered drill rifle can be a great shooter..
the quality is suspect on the persons skill level who removed the welded parts..some are nice,,, some not so much.
also keep in mind.
the average person that buys a Gibbs rifle... doesnt care if it will shoot 1 inch groups.. he wants something that looks like a real sniper rifle, and likely will shoot beer cans at 75 yards..
some do shoot them, and with some changes can be made to shoot well.
you get what you pay for.