Remington 1903

[Trump260Z]

This gun was givin to me by my father. What can you tell me about its history?

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[StarMetal]

This gun was givin to me by my father. What can you tell me about its history?

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Remington only made a few 1903's before starting manufacture on 1903A3's. I think they are among the best 1903's made.

Joe

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If the gun is a 1903 and not a 1903A3 (You can tell by whether the sight is mounted on the barrel (1903) or on the rear of the receiver (1903A3), you have a relatively rarer variant of the 1903 rifle. The steel in the receiver is excellent, the rifle were well made and accurate. Depending on when the rifle was made, the barrel bands, etc. may be made of stamped steel or milled steel. Either is historically correct, depending on the time period. They were made early in WWII and at a time when the United States needed every rifle it could manufacture.

I own one myself and find it to be top notch as a shooter.

Regards,

Dave

[Vly]

Here is mine. It has a 11-41 barrel date. I think Remington serial numbers start at 3000000. Mine is in the first 6300. They are excellent shooters and will shoot cast very,very well.

http://www.fototime.com/E345EE4D58CFD8E/standard.jpg

[Bob S]

Remington made about 300,000 M1903's before transitioning to the 03A3; actually, they were produced concurrently for a short time. The last 03's to be shipped actually started out as 03A3's but were finished as 03's because the correctly-dimensioned 03A3 sights were not available in time. The vestiges of the 03A3 rear sight dovetail can be seen on the receiver bridge of those rifles. Most of these rifles went overseas to foreign allies right from the factory, noteably New Zeland. Many of those that were retained in US service went to the Navy; the Navy didn't get any M1's until well after VJ Day. When I retired in 1993, there were still some in "deep stowage" at Crane. AFAIK, all of those have been returned to the Army and sold through the CMP. Post-WW II many were provided to allies under MAP programs like Greece and China. Rifles provided to Greece have been returned and sold through CMP. Rifles provided to China have turned up in some "interesting" places over the years, like Vietnam.

All of the specialized machinery and jigs at Remington came from Rock Island, so the early rifles were clones of the M1903 as it was last manufactured at Rock Island in 1919. Almost immediatly, Remington started making changes to aid in producability, as many of the tools and jigs from Rock Island were well worn and the reject rate of some parts was initially unacceptably high. The stamped bands, follower, and trigger guard/magazine assemblies that we associate with 03A3 production were actually developed and transitioned into M1903 production before the 03A3 was standardized.

I currently own three and enjoy shooting all of them.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Char-Gar]

Some years back I knew a man who was a young Army Ordance officer stationed at Rock Island when WWII broke out. He supervised the transfer of the 03 production equipment to Remington. He told me when RI stoped 03 production, they just threw the main switch and walked out. Everything stoped as it was. Whatever work was in the machine was still there and there were bins and bins, stacks and stacks, and racks and racks of 03 parts and partially assembled rifles. He said it was real spooky walking through that place. It was like everybody had been on a lunch break for over 20 years. Remington took it all.

Remington uses this large store of parts as the basis for it's 03 rifles. Of course they had to make enough new parts to finish the run.

[opentop]

Rock Island shipped all thier parts to Springfield in the 20's. I have a Rock Island rifle with a Springfield SN. Springfield was the one to use up all of Rock Island's spare parts.

[Char-Gar]

Opentop... The story I related above was told to me in 1984 by a man whom I knew very well and knew him to be truthful and honest. He was a retired full bird Colonel in the Army. I was his pastor and he was a member of my church. I believe his word to be true.

[Bob S]

When the Remington engineers went to RIA to inspect the machinery in 1941, the only useable 03 parts that were found were a bunch of stock blanks in stores. All of the metal parts, both finished and unfinished, were sent to Springfield in 1926-27, and were integrated into limited 03 production and overhaul of the time. That is well documented.

Remington bartered a bunch of .45 ACP ammo for the stock blanks. That is also well-documented.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[TonyT]

I have a Remington 1903A3 which shoots both cast and jacketed bullets very well. It is a fun gun to shoot with reduced velocity loads.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a Remingtom 03 that was made in the early 40s. It is the only 03' that I have seen for sale in the last thirty years in Australia that had a good barrel. It also had a bayonet. I'm glad I got it because good ones are as rare as rocking horse poop in Australia. I can finally solve the M17/03 issue (with my 61 yr old eyes, which are good for my age and I don't wear specs, but I think the peep with have a big advantage). It will keep me busy for a few nights and afternoons anyway, even if it won't exactly be science :)