Dad's other military rifle; 1903 Springfield.

[Idaho45guy]

My father was a USMC sniper. In fact, he said his bunkmate was Carlos Hathcock. He didn't like him and said he was a hothead and always getting in trouble.

He competed in BPCR matches, and then when he found a match series that utilized WWII era rifles, he signed up and found this rifle to compete with. Unfortunately, this was just a few years ago and his eyes and health were failing, so he didn't do as well as he liked and lost interest.

This is another rifle which I know very little about. The scope seems to be a reproduction of the original 8X Ertl. No idea of the history or value of this rifle or if I can shoot standard .30-06 ammo, or should reload for it, like the Garand.

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[Winger Ed.]

Way cool.

I'd reload for it for a few reasons.
As far as strength, back in the '50s, a lot of folks punched them out to .300 WinMag.
They are arguably one of the strongest bolt actions ever built.

The receiver is tougher than Chinese Algebra.
You need those really, really good drill bits to get into them for a scope mount.
Drill bits from the locked case at the hardware store will go blunt, and only leave a little shiny dot on one.

I found that out when I was going to put a scope mount on a unissued Remington I had.

I was sad to hear about your loss and how they came to you.
Of the weapons you have-- Sentimental value aside, they are among the best, and well chosen.
I hope you never find out, but selling any one of them will bring much less
than the cost of replacing or buying one like them.... even if you could find one that was comparable..

I've had the same issue with guns I have inherited.
Rather than selling them for less than I could ever buy one of them for-
I passed them on and just gave various ones of them to other relatives.

[gunther]

Looks like your rifle's serial number is where it can be read with the scope mounts in place. I Think that makes it an original sniper rifle. Way better than normal. Don't know about the Malcolm scope (Unertl originally), but it was not cheap. See if your dad developed any load data for the sight data on the butt. And compare that with current reloading manuals.
If you can contact Mike Venturino, see what kind of reaction you get. But hang onto that rifle. There ain't many like it.

[Wag]

Another great looking rifle. Every time I see one of these on line, I want to get one for me.

Post up a range report for us when you can!

--Wag--

[schutzen-jager]

re post # 3 [ As far as strength, back in the '50s, a lot of folks punched them out to .300 WinMag.
They are arguably one of the strongest bolt actions ever built. ]

post WWII burst testing done at Aberdeen Proving Ground on WWI +WWII proved that both the 03 + 03a3 were among the lowest in strength - the Springfield action strength was far exceeded by many others - surprisingly the Arisaka type 38 + early production type 99 were the strongest - P.O. Ackley + other smiths of the period refused to convert them to any caliber developing greater pressure than the 30/06 - to this very day the National matches strictly forbid the use of Springfields below a certain serial number - from Amerian Rifleman articule - all burst except the JAP action under severe testing
THE STRENGTH OF MILITARY RIFLE ACTIONS

By Parker O. Ackley
In the article he attempt to blow up various surplus actions - Japanese, German, English and US, thereby laying to rest the urban legend that foreign military actions are crap.

He had all the actions he tested chambered in .270 Ackley Magnum. All with new barrels.

This was his 20th attempt at blowing up a 6.5 Jap. Heavier and more outrageous loads each time.

10 gr. of 2400 and 60 gr. 3031 (notice - DUPLEX LOAD. Very stupid thing to do)
180 gr. Barnes

Barrel blown off just ahead of receiver. Action still intact. Some set back in locking recesses
indicated.

Damn.

[pworley1]

Nice rifle.

[Bent Ramrod]

I would guess that the scope is the replica of the Unertl that Leatherwood makes. The setup copies one of those the Marines used early in WWII. Leatherwood uses the Malcolm name on their more primitive outside-adjustment scopes for blackpowder rifles as well.

People complain about the reproducibility of the settings on the blackpowder scope mounts but say the optics are very good. I’ve read no complaints about anything related to the Unertl copy.

My 03 Springfield is a 1918 double-heat-treat action rebarreled with a 1942 Springfield 4-groove barrel, apparently at Benicia Arsenal, from the stock markings. I use the older loadings with 150-gr FMJ bullet at 2700 ft/sec so I can use the original sight settings. With the scope, and the rifle in good condition, you should be able to use any modern loading with any bullet (or boolit), noting the sight settings as you go.

[Idaho45guy]

If you can contact Mike Venturino, see what kind of reaction you get. But hang onto that rifle. There ain't many like it.

Mike and my dad were friends.