Which 03 do i have

[catncarp]

64702646996470064701ON my gun on top it says Remington 1903, is that a a3-o3 or a 03, thanks, Jim

serial number 3097418

[fouronesix]

It's a Remington M1903 made in 1941. If the barrel is original to the receiver, it should have "RA/ordnance mark/date". The barrel dates should be from 11-41 to 3-42.

A Remington M1903 1st model (1941 production) with a slightly later "Modified" barrel, the front sight will have a keyed slot holding the front sight in place and the rear sight base (bolster) will have flat sides and not have the fullered "lightening" slots seen on earlier M1903s. The barrel dates should be 4-42 to 11-42.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Where is the rear sight? If it is a peep sight on the rear of the action, then it is an 03-A3. If it is half way up the barrel then it is an older 03 model.Robert

[catncarp]

It has been sporterized and the barrel replaced

[fouronesix]

It's a sporterized Remington M1903. The serial DOM for the receiver is 1941.

[supersniper]

looks like a bubba'ed 1903-A3

[fouronesix]

One more time

Receiver serial #3,097,418 dates to 1941 and is a Remington M1903

The Remington M1903A3 serial range began at #3,348,086

[catncarp]

thanks, and do you know what scope base might work right

[fouronesix]

Sorry no way to know. I'd bet whoever did the modification used common type bases, like Weaver. Your best bet would be to find a smith or a gunstore that has a fairly complete set of Weaver bases. Then take the rifle there and, maybe by hand, go through them to check for hole spacing, bottom contour and correct height. If the receiver at each base location has the same contour, hole spacing and height from bore line then it will simplify things. If you can find bases that will work but the hole spacing is off, it's a simple job to drill and countersink new holes in a base.

Otherwise a gunsmith is going to have to charge time and labor for doing the same thing or even making/modifying bases to fit = some $.

[Multigunner]

A fairly well done sporterized Springfield , while having less value than an unaltered milspec rifle, is still a excellent rifle for the hunt, and while it won't increase in value it should never lose value either no matter what alterations you might make in the future.

For those who may find a DT'ed receiver Springfield and find the barrel is unaltered you might trade the barrel it in to someone who needs one of this date for a restoration, and put the price towards a new custom barrel in another chambering.

When one shows minimal but irreversable alterations, such as shortened barrel but rear sight base and sight still on the barrel, one might trade the sight in to someone who needs one and use the price against the cost of a sight better suited to a sporter.
Cutdown fore ends can sometimes be restored by splicing a section, mating the pieces under a lower band. A bubba'ed stock might supply wood needed to repair a broken milspec stock.

Before I learned to do extensive stock repairs I passed up a honey of an 03A1 with metal finish like new and mechanically excellent, because a horse had fallen on it while it was in a saddle scabard and broken the stock at the magazine well. They were asking about one third what the rifle was worth because of the broken stock.

PS
When one finds a DT'ed military rifle be sure to check the position of the holes against the sort of mounts used on sniper versions of the model. I passed up what I strongly suspect to have been a No.I MkIII (T) with scope and mounts long since removed because I thought it had been DT'ed by Bubba. That rifle also had signs of once having a raised cheekpiece that had been removed, the butt and fore end otherwise untouched.
The fact that no alterations had been made to the wood (which showed heavy use) should have been a clue that the rifle was not altered for use as a sporter.
The scope may have been removed before the well worn rifle was sold out of service, or used to complete a rifle in better condition.