Value of 1942 vintage, 1903 Remington

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have the above rifle in excellent condition, very good bore. All forged parts and is complete with bayonet( it is about 9-10inches long and I have been told that is probably a 1943 M7 or somethinglike that, it s also in excellent condition. It is not an 03A3 but in the original 1903 specs.

I need to raise some cash and a friend wants to buy it and has been humping my leg ever since I picked it up a couple of years ago. I don't want to rip him off and I also don't want to rip myself off, if I'm not going to get a reasonable price for it, I may as well keep it.

The sights are a bit too fine for my liking, made for 19 year old soldiers.

Thanks in advance

[Nobade]

Worth quite a lot around here. $1100 - $1200 US. in condition like that. Too bad that's not the right bayonet for it.

-Nobade

[fouronesix]

If it's in original configuration, those early Remington 03s (as predecessors to the 03A3s) are considered by many, to be the best of both worlds. There's folks on here with way more expertise than I have on these- but I do like that particular model! Value of course is determined by condition and correct configuration but they aren't cheap. The value range might run anywhere from 500 to something north of 1000 USD??

The 10" bayonet model is M1. The M7 refers to one of the scabbard models for the 10" bayo. They came in three types. The 10" manufactured bayo will have the fuller only run to about the beginning of false top edge of the spear point, the other two will have started life as 16" M1905s. Many were refurbed and cut to the shorter 10" length at the beginning of WWII. They will have either a spear point or bowie point profile and the fuller will run out the end of the blade. They all seem to run somewhere in the 100-150 USD range if in good shape.

Oh, and if in fact the bayonet is an M7 then it is not correct for the 1903. It will have a slimmer spearpoint blade of about 6 5/8" and made for the M16. Its scabbard should be an M10. Value would be more in the 50 USD range.

[craig61a]

I would place the value somewhere between 700 - 1000. If I was to sell mine I'd at least want what I had into it. It's one of my favorite and best shooting rifles; and my 03A3 does pretty good too...

[Four Fingers of Death]

Thanks, I will discuss it with him. The feed back I am getting from a few gunshops is in the $1500 range, but Springfields are rare here and this is the only one I have seen since a bunch came in during the late 70s that didn't have a completely trashed barrel.

[fouronesix]

Yep, I'd go with the local market values there. Wouldn't doubt the 1500 value range if even 03s and 03A3s are uncommon. That particular model in good shape, the early Remington 03, isn't all that common here.

[Multigunner]

Is this one of the British Contact Remington 1903 rifles?
I've read that the British sent many of these to New Zealand where they were used as training rifles.

[Four Fingers of Death]

No idea sorry. I will have to sus that out.

[Multigunner]

Heres a site with the identifying markings of British contract rifles.
http://imageevent.com/badgerdog/cgnmilsurpknowledgebase/redstarremington03?n=0&x=1&w=0&p=48

Those intended for training use in the UK had a red band painted around the fore end. The paint was sometimes removed by buyers who did not recognize the significance.
The British supplied these rifles to the Free French forces as well, so those may not have been painted.

[Four Fingers of Death]

have two M17s, both with red paint, one almost worn off and the other pretty much intact. Thanks for the link.



My friend is going to take the Springfield, he offered $1500 and $200 for the bayonet, I said $1500 was a fair price in Australia and threw in the bayonet and a few hundred rounds of 1942 Lake City ammo. He is stoked!

[TNsailorman]

Fingers, Those 1903's are very well balanced rifles and shoot extremely well. I still have a 1903 and a 1903A3. They will be here as long as I am. I just wish that the "powers that be" would have converted them to a 20 round magazine like the BAR used. There were a few converted in the theater for that mag..It would have been a great improvement over the 5 round clip. The Marines on the canal would have loved it. Take care, james

[Multigunner]

I just wish that the "powers that be" would have converted them to a 20 round magazine like the BAR used. There were a few converted in the theater for that mag..It would have been a great improvement over the 5 round clip. The Marines on the canal would have loved it. Take care, james
A ten round mag perhaps, the WW1 twenty round trench mags used by the Germans and those developed by the British for the SMLE and the Americans for the Springfield , the last two never used, were found to be too bulky and made it more difficult to keep a low profile in the prone position.
Ten rounds seems the best compromise for a fixed box magazine bolt action rifle.
Semi auto rifles can benefit more from large capacity magazines.

There doesn't seem to have been any rush to produce magazines of more than ten round capacity for any full bore battle rifle of the day, semi auto rifles included.