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Thread: USGI M1903 Remington (modified) - deals can still be had

  1. #1
    Senior Member Faulkner's Avatar

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    USGI M1903 Remington (modified) - deals can still be had

    I was on a weekend motorcycle ride in the Ozarks and stumbled across a heck of a deal on a USGI M1903 made by Remington in 1942. I'd stopped to visit a friend at his home and noticed the neighbors were having a garage sale across the street. My friend said he'd been over their earlier and they had a couple of rifles for sale. I walked on over to see if there was anything interesting and noticed the M1903 and asked if I could take a look. Looked to be all original with "R" marked parts including the bolt and bore was shiny and clean.

    I asked the fellow sitting in the lawn chair guarding the cash box what he wanted for it and he said, "make me an offer."

    I made him a low ball offer thinking this was the start of negotiations.

    "Sold!" he replied and held out his hand for the money.

    I paid the man and took the rifle back to my buddy's house and asked him to hold it until I could come back when I wasn't on my Harley. I finally got it home and confirmed it's a 100% original Remington M1903 (modified). I stripped it down and let the metal parts soak overnight in mineral spirits and commenced to strip down the stock, steam out the dings, and do a refinish with boiled linseed oil. Turned out to be a very nice '03.




    Stock completely stripped down to show the black walnut.




    Stock with one light coat of Chestnut Ridge Military Stock Stain




    Stock with several hand rubbed applications of BLO mix




    Finished project.

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  2. #2
    Team Gunsnet Platinum 06/2016 ltorlo64's Avatar

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    Nice looking '03! Have you had a chance to shoot it yet? I would have thought that by 1942 they had upgraded to a gripped stock.
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  3. #3
    Site Admin & **Team Gunsnet Silver 12/2012** Richard Simmons's Avatar

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    Very nice rifle and a great restoration!
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    Team GunsNetwork PLATINUM 10/2012 rci2950's Avatar

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    Those are the kind of deals that excite me! I never fired an 03' before. Hope its a good shooter. It sure turned out to be a good looking rifle.
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    Team Guns Network Silver 04/2015 mrkalashnikov's Avatar

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    Congrats on the score.

    I too, have a Remington '03... manufactured 11-42. It's in pristine shape & is the closest rifle I own to being a "safe queen". I paid around 600 bucks for mine about 4-5 years ago.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member Helen Keller's Avatar

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    thats pretty good.

    i got $1000 for my remington 03 and around $900 for the 03A3 , buyers didnt even blink or check the bolt/bore. Put up high to counter lowballs (wasnt expecting more than $600-700) but the US WW2 crowd is a rabid bunch when it comes to well cared for guns.

    The Garand and M1 Carbine I sold off went even faster than those. guys looked at the receivers and barrel dates and Poof! gone.
    Last edited by Helen Keller; 04-08-2017 at 01:53 PM.
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    Forum Administrator Schuetzenman's Avatar

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    Damn that's nice!

  8. #8
    Senior Member Faulkner's Avatar

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    Got a chance to try it out at the range last weekend. First couple of test shots showed my laser bore sight got it lined up on the paper, then a few more shots got the sights dialed in to zero. It holds a nice tight pattern from the bench. I also took an M1 along and it's amazing how much less the felt recoil is on a M1 rifle compared to the M1903 using the same ammo.
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