At the time they had no collector value, and I am sure that Herschel felt that his rifle was upgraded as a target rifle with the bedding.Originally Posted by 2111
Senior Member
At the time they had no collector value, and I am sure that Herschel felt that his rifle was upgraded as a target rifle with the bedding.
Senior Member
That's for sure. Hershel said " "Being a shooter I wanted the best rifle for shooting so I paid an Army armorer $ 40.00 to glass bed it in about 1961 or 1962. Little did I know that the $ 40.00 glass bedding job would cut the value of the rifle in later years." But I am sure that, to him, that does not really matter as he enjoyed that rifle and used it for it's intended purpose. I would guess a lot of us that are in our mid to late 70's or more have "upgraded" a few military rifles to our liking. I remember a Smith Corona 03-A3 I bought in a NYC sporting goods store for $ 45.00. It was a mint rifle and shortly after I got it home I drilled it for a Lyman rear sight, added a Lyman front sight with hooded aperture and a Timmey Target trigger. I put a lot of rounds down range with that rifle and never regretted my "upgrading" it. Oh well, guess I am getting off the subject.
Like you said, these rifles were not "collectables".
Senior Member
Hi 2111
I did the same thing only mine was an SC bought through the DCM. for $14,50. I shot it many times up to and including 1000 yards. No one in those days ever thought that the 03A3 would ever become a collector's item.
Junior Member
I have good news to report :
The rear sight is NM marked on the right ear.
The gas cylinder is NM marked on the bottom.
The forward hand guard is glued to the band.
Barrel is marked with a diamond.
Pics to follow
Last edited by veloce; 09-09-2016 at 12:32.
Senior Member
Your rifle could have been a Type 1 rebuilt between late 1959 and early summer of 1960 to Type 2 configuration, or it could have been built new, during this time period, using a receiver on hand. In either case this build would include the 1954 barrel, the NM marked gas cylinder, rear sight Base marked NM, windage knob marked NM, rear sight aperture marked NM over 595 on shank, but NOT hooded. For 1960 the op-rod was NOT marked NM. For 1960 the last four of the rifle serial number was written on the vertical front face of the trigger housing. For 1961 through 1963, this was changed to the floor plate. According to an article by Bob Seijas, "The Type 2 N.M., Part 1" found in the Fall 2003 edition of the GCA Journal, the 1960 built NM rifle is rare as only "only 231 NM rifles were purchased by the public in 1960". There would be a limited number of others that were purchased by competitors following he Camp Perry National Matches, some former military team rifles that were released to CMP for sale and some rifles that were loaned to gun clubs and subsequently purchased by club members. It is to bad that CMP has no record of it's sale as DCM sales documents would certainly increase it's value by quite a bit.
You were very lucky to find this rifle, congratulations.
If you post the complete serial number or PM me with the serial number I will check in the SRS books I have.
Last edited by 2111; 09-09-2016 at 05:53.
Junior Member
IMG_3092.JPGIMG_3091.JPGIMG_3094.JPGIMG_3095.JPGIMG_3096.JPGWow!
You are absolutely correct. This rifle has all the markings that you mention!
Here are the detailed pictures.
Thank you so very much!
I had a gut feeling that this was a a correct Type 2, based on very bad photos.
Thank you for offering to check the SRS database. Another member also graciously offered to check the SRS database to see if this rifle is in it.
Serial number is 6088283
I will post an update as soon as I hear from him or from you.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Last edited by veloce; 09-09-2016 at 07:35.
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IMG_3116.JPGIMG_3101.JPGlast pics
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