New 1903 Springfields

[Bass Ackward]

Some guys are starting to ask about availability of the new 1903 Springfield's made by Springfield Armory. I can find nothing on their site. Has anyone heard of this? Fact or fiction?

[Herb in Pa]

http://www.parker-hale.com/

Click on the firearms

[StarMetal]

Now ain't that something, a Limey 1903 Springfield. Why couldn't Springfield Armory here in the states make that one of their products. If they thought it wouldn't sell they are stupid.

Joe

[Bass Ackward]

Now ain't that something, a Limey 1903 Springfield. Why couldn't Springfield Armory here in the states make that one of their products. If they thought it wouldn't sell they are stupid.

Joe

Joe,

That's what they are telling me. Springfield Armory is going to add this to their line. I just don't find anything about it, but there is a line in my American Hunter that says "soon" to be released. What ever that means.

I hope they fix these because they are all defective. Would be nice to get one with the bolt on the "correct side".

[DOUBLEJK]

Amen Bass
We would give our left wrists a break n stop punchin' ourselves in the nose with the right.....;-)

[nighthunter]

My Dad bought 3 03A3's for $10.00 apiece in 1954. He gave one to me and one to my brother as our first deer rifles. He kept the third for himself. I did a school boy sporterization of mine. It is still a beautiful shooter of both cast and jacketed. My brother luckily kept his straight military and is worth a couple of times what it cost originally. Anyways ..... a reproduction will stir a lot of interest and I hope thet go for it.

[Buckshot]

..........Intricate pieces can be produced without a great amount of attendant manual work. That was one of the problems with the 1903 action. Remington got permission during the war to greatly reduce the number of machining operations to simplifly and speed production. That was besides the 2 groove barrel.

I would suspect that these actions might even be cast. Ruger is an acknowledged world leader in casting, and they do a lot besides firearms for many other companies. Casting in ceramic moulds can produce articles of extremely tight dimensions just as they come from the mould, with very little machining required to finish them.

Golden State Arms in California, in the 60's had Springfield actions cast and were assembled with surplus parts. However the castings were poor and also required a substantial amount of machine work to finish up.

The Parker-Hale reproduction rifled muskets (P53, P58, P61) and thier military LR match rifles (Volunteer & Whitworth) have achieved collector status. They're now priced well beyond what a merely high quality reproduction of the type would command. These are all classed as 1st Generation. The 2nd Generation repros had genuine P-H barrels, but locks, bands, and buttplates were produced in Italy from P-H forms and patterns and then the rifles assembled.

While still exceedingly fine shooters, the final fit and finish of the stock and furniture was of lessor standards. Several years ago on the Long Range Muzzle Loading e-list it was rumored that the old P-H barrel machinery had been sold to a company in Italy. If these Springfields are made to the old Parker-Hale standards, they should be very fine reproductions indeed.

............Buckshot