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another 1903 a3 question or two

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Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 19, 2008
4,592
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SCRANTON AREA PENNSYLVANIA
a few months ago i had a bug to get one, but went in another direction, but grazing through gander mtn the other day i found one on the used shelf resparking my interest.

remington 03 a3, greyish finish (metal and finish not too beat up), sn 3481262 - from what i've found on the web, manufactured march 1943. appears to have a straight handle bolt, though i believe the high numbered ones supposed to have a swept back. still the top and bottom metal appears to be in very good shape, along with the bolt.

it had A36 stamped on the top of the barrel toward the receiver of the front sight sight, though searched for what that means, i couldn't find anything on it. i didn't notice any other barrel markings at the time, obviously to pursue this any further, i'll check again. i don't know if this was a replacement sporterized barrel.

the stock looked like a regular S type that the front was trimmed down to give a "regular hunting rifle profile - bubba sporterized". there is no handguard or other barrel bands.

the barrel also has a sort of step cut in it about 3"-4" from the muzzle. i looked at A3 "original" replacement barrels on the web but could not see this "step cut" on them in the photos. it is very slight, perhaps i just couldn't see the step cut in the replacement barrel photos.

so the question is, do the A3 barrels have these and is this for where the stock & barrel band should go if it had a full A3 stock?

sticker price is 499.00, if not a real A3 barrel and obviously not an A3 stock, perhaps i can do a little bargaining with the manager, and pick up a stock hardware kit and stock for it (not really concerned about value or being correct, will probably go with a C stock and shoot it regularly while retaining some of the original look). if the original barrel has this step in it, i hope i should be pretty much ok to mount a repro stock and hardware.

though i like the open sights, i also looked at a few "no tap removeable" scope mounts (b square) to add an optic. are these crap or do they actually work?
 
thanks, after yesterday's full day search on most things 1903a3, i will be heading down to GMtn to check for more markings now that i know more of where & what to look for.

the step in the barrel is now clearly a dead giveaway that all that's sitting there is a receiver, bolt, trigger group and BM, now i'm better armed to hopefully "make a deal", i'm thinking 300.00 - 350.00 ish should be fair. just wanted to check with the hiders to see if this barrel was something special.

thanks guys, perhaps more to come on a build if the manager will play ball.
 
This may be a "bannerman special". Bannerman in NY was a surplus dealer who was in business for many years after the civi war. The used to piece together rifles and sell them cheap. There was a NRA article about one similar to your description in the past few months. Be sure you know what you are getting.. Good luck
 
turns out my inexperience with those things - what i was describing as a step cut and thought was a modification is something that is originally there under the handguard.

i had an interesting trip to Sarco's in Easton, got to see some barrels they all had 'em.

neat place, they have everything from garands to A4's to mosin sniper rifles. it was great to fondle 98's, 03a3's, enfields, etc. for me the 03a3 definately had the best feel and balance.

went back to gander, someone bought the one there, but sarco's had a nice one in a C stock for 650.00....but the ride there gave me some time to think over that .3006 and my aging shoulder may not make a good combo for a weekly plinker.

thanks for the input guys.