Before You Purchase that M1903 from the CMP

[Uncle Milt]

Ok People,
If You don't subscribe to the C.M.P. News letters ,You might want to take a moment to go to their websight ( www.odcmp.com ) and click on newsletter , then M1903s .

Lynn Merideth (their resident M1903 guru) has an article that You will find helpful on the condition and what to expect from the various choices of M1903 rifles that they are offering for sale.

I thought about quoting him and typing the letter (both pages) but I quickly came to my senses .

Not being a Remington Raider aka (typist),and an atrocious speller to boot I thought I would spare you all the grief of me doing it. :rolleyes: You guys can only take so much !

Check it out ,You will be glad that You did ! Unk Milt ;)

[Schuetzenman]

Ok I figured how to get it to copy and paste. The line spacing may be screwy but the text is there.

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As you can imagine, I’ve had about a zillion inquires about the CMP M1903 rifles. I
tried to personally answer all, but have gotten so far behind it looks like the only way to
catch up is to do a generic note and try to answer all the usual questions. Please excuse
the non-personal response to your questions, and, if this doesn’t answer them feel free to
contact me again.
General condition of the rifles – most are freshly rebuilt and have been in storage for
quite a while. They are heavily coated in cosmoline, grease, wax, dirt and all
combinations of the above. We will not clean the rifles – just the chamber and bolt face
to check headspace. Count on several pleasant evenings cleaning your wonderful rifle.
Most have a nearly new dull black finish on the metal parts. Some may have been bead
blasted and caustic blued. Others have a worn finish. Very few are rusty or pitted and
we will try to use these for spare parts.
Almost none of the wood is original to the rifles. There are many WW2 replacement
stocks and the finger groove stocks have almost all been heavily sanded. The typical rifle
has a replacement barrel and stock and the wrong bolt but will have a very good to new
barrel and good wood.
C stocks – the C stock is a full pistol grip stock similar to the M1 stock. It is original
only to the A1 National Match rifles and to some 03-A4 rifles. All other rifles fitted with
the C stock are technically rebuilds, regardless of the manufacturer or barrel date. All
M1903 rifles fitted with the C stocks are designated as M1903 A1 rifles fitted with a C
stock are still 03-A3s.
The C stock fits most shooters better than the S or scant stocks and looks better (to me,
anyhow). Almost all of the C stocks at CMP are WW2 replacement stocks – Keystone,
SA, etc. The very few prewar Cs are not in a good condition. None have original
cartouches. A few may have Raritan, Augusta, Red River, and etc. rebuild cartouches.
Very, very, few of the low numbered rifles will have original barrels. If we do see one, it
will probably end up on the auction. Some may have 1918 or 1919 rebuild barrels,
usually Avis. I’ve seen almost no WW1 or earlier stocks and they were in poor
condition. Don’t expect a collectable low number rifle.
Most of the high number RIA receivers will have SA barrels from the late 1920s or WW2
barrels. Maybe 15% will have a RIA barrel, which may or may not match the receiver.
The high number SA receivers usually have WW2 replacement barrels, although some
may have the original barrel. A few early barrels have been noticed on high number
receivers. Most mismatched was a 05 barrel on a 151XXXX receiver. Almost none will
have an original stock.
There are quite a few Remington M1903 with original barrels, but some will have WW2
HS or Sedgley barrels. Some have original stock.
The 03-A3 rifles sometimes have virtually all-original parts, but many will have an
incorrect bolt. Most of these rifles would be fairly easy to restore but don’t count on
getting a 100% correct new A3. Many are pretty well used.
If you order a rifle without a C stock, you may get a non-finger groove WW2
replacement stock or a scant stock. Most of the finger groove stocks are oil soaked and
dented. Very few will have any cartouche left and most have been sanded heavily. The
WW2 replacement stocks are usually in much better condition – some in excellent
condition.
All high numbered receivers will have curved back bolts; low numbered receivers will
have straight down bolts. The bolts usually won’t match the receiver but will headspace.
MK1 rifles will often have WW2 replacement barrels. Almost none will have any of the
special MK1 parts. I’ve seen a few MK1 stocks, but almost none were on MK1s. Don’t
ask about changing out stocks or finding parts. No MK1s originally were fitted with a C
stock.
I’m often asked which of the 16 options I would recommend. An easy question, since I
collect only late SAs in C stocks. But I’m prejudiced and you will probably be happier
with something else. Most likely to be in a restorable condition would be the A3s and
Remington M1903s. Best shooter would be any high number SA, RIA, or Remington in
a C Stock. Least likely to have any collector’s value are the low numbered SA and RIA
in the non C stock. But you might get lucky.
We are really swamped with orders and cannot possibly select a rifle for you. We have
received a huge response to our sales announcement already and ads will appear in
several national magazines in the next few weeks so things will probably get busier.
Hope this answers your questions. Please feel free to ask more but it will probably take a
few days to get a response.
Good luck with your rifle! Hope you get a great one.
Lynn Meredith

[Richard Simmons]

Thanks. Looks like the 03A3 "C" stock I requested is just what I wanted. Hope I get it.:)

[Uncle Milt]

Schutz,
Once again You showed the New Guy that it can be done !:)

Maybe if I stay on this computer long enough ,I will figure out the goodies that it has and be able to add Quotes etc. like the pro's.

Thanks for the effort on posting the letter from Lynn as I thought it answered a lot of Questions :confused: to what was available and the condition.

People may not realize it but they CAN order one of each example offered per year ( We are talking 15 ),until they are gone ! :eek: But we all know that won't last long.

In fact ,I got my full color C.M.P. Book today telling of all of the sales that are offered.

The only thing they didn't say was, that there won't be any M2 ammo left as Deal a Meal will have it all :cryeyes:

Unk ;)

[Richard Simmons]

For I am the Keeper of the Cartridge. 7.62x63 to me exact:D I know there are a few of you here that put me to shame but if I start heading back down to the four figure range on ammo I get a little nervous. I like to have enough to keep me at the range through times of high prices like we just saw back in September. Good as gold in my book. When I get the old reloader back up and running I'll be in deep Kimchee then. I've probably got 7-8K of brass I need to reload. Always something for a rainy day. ;)

[Uncle Milt]

Originally posted by Richard Simmons
For I am the Keeper of the Cartridge. 7.62x63 to me exact:D I know there are a few of you here that put me to shame but if I start heading back down to the four figure range on ammo I get a little nervous. I like to have enough to keep me at the range through times of high prices like we just saw back in September. Good as gold in my book. When I get the old reloader back up and running I'll be in deep Kimchee then. I've probably got 7-8K of brass I need to reload. Always something for a rainy day. ;)

Richard Has it right :)
Next step in his illness is the Dillon 650 like I have. 7.62.54 you can crank out 900/hr . But the 7.62.63 is much slower only around 650/hr due to the tubuler powder,rather than ball powder !
That still is better than my Rock Chuckers 60 per / hr which I at one time thought was great.. ..That is untill my illness told me
" UNK You need more AMMO" ! ;)

My sweet wife says if we ever have a fire @ our house that the fire truck will fall into the smoking crater from all of the ammo cooking off ! Wow Never thought of that !

One Last item , Now my Rock Chucker holds my Dillon case trimmer,which also trims @ around 900 /hr.

God help You Deal a Meal ! ,Unk:D: