M14 Forum

kenhil2 · December 17th, 2011, 09:58 AM

I just purchased a Remington receivered 1903A3 and had some questions. The guy I bought it from said that it is all original, but after doing some research the RRA mark on the stock means it was rebuilt at some point. The receiver and the barrel are both 1943 manufacture dates and only one month apart. It appears that every other part is marked with an R, I'm assuming for Remington. Although I can't find an R mark anywhere on the the bolt. So the questions are should there be and R mark on the bolt? Does it lower the value since it doesn't appear to be the original Remington stock? Is there something I am missing here?

I am not into owning a safe queen, I plan on taking it out and shooting it. Either way I only paid $600 for it, and it is in great shape. Been looking for a 1903 for a while. Sorry for the crappy pics, I'm not much of a photographer.

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CrippledPidgeon · December 17th, 2011, 10:40 AM

You want to look for Remington marks on the flat on the top of the bolt handle, where it meets the bolt body. If there's an R, it's Remington, if it's X, it's Smith-Corona, and there's the possibility that there'll be no mark at all. In any rate, if it's not R, then it's definitely been replaced, and if there is an R, it's probably not been replaced.

drshame · December 17th, 2011, 10:57 AM

When Great-Grampa was issued his 03's....they were usually maintained all together and I understand parts swapping happened all the time during mass maintenance.
They didn't care about what piece came from what particular rifle...only that they were clean and within spec.
If you got an all-matching 03A3, you're damn lucky or it never saw any real action or somebody replaced parts to get them all matching.
It doesn't really matter for a shooter. If you bought it to clean and bring back into original spec...you'll spend more $$$$ on the project than the "restored" gun is worth.

Shoot it with what'cha got.
It'll put a smile on your face knowing it did the same thing to Grand-Dad!

Hope he made it back from the front. Honored to be able to post his pic to remember a Hero.

Dave P · December 17th, 2011, 11:51 AM

For 600 $ you got a winner!

tnw50cal · December 17th, 2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave P

For 600 $ you got a winner!

Yea,I hate you.
Just kidding, nice rifle

Eagle 1 · December 17th, 2011, 01:28 PM

Sometimes the R is stamped on the underside flat of the bolt handle. Some SC bolts have no marks at all. Sounds like you did well! Enjoy it!

Eagle 1

Shooter88 · December 17th, 2011, 02:22 PM

I have a SC that has a Remington bolt. The "R" on mine is stamped on the underneath part of the bolt handle.

Dont beat yourself up on the originality. I say this because most of the WWI and WWII rifles were re-arsenaled, and many times they replaced the original parts with parts out of a bin not paying attention to, or trying to match up parts from each manufacturer.

I would imagine that a truly original 03A3 would be very rare, and cost more than $600.

Also, with stamp kits being available for anyone to buy, a rifle coud be very easily faked as an original. If the person who did it knew what they were doing and where to stamp the markings, it could fool a lot of people.

I have an M1917 that was made by Eddystone. Every part that I can tell has an "E" stamp, making it very tempting to believe its original. But, I'm not holding my breath about it for the reasons I stated before.

Original or not, $600 dollars is a great price. You did good.

GardenValley · December 17th, 2011, 02:51 PM

I would not be too concerned about the RRA mark. At the end of WWII the Ordnance Dept made an "all time" buy of spare parts for 03 and 03A3 rifles and at about the same time all the rifles went through inspection in preparation for long-term storage. All rifles, even brand new ones, were inspected and marked by the overhaul facility even though nothing may have been done to them.

mercman · December 17th, 2011, 03:13 PM

I have what I believe to be an unfired Remington O3A3. It has an OG acceptance stamp on the stock but through my research I found that a number of these were stored and then moved to the Ogden arsenal for long term storage where they received an OG acceptance stamp before being tucked away. It's that perfect and I paid comensurately for it. The seller was asking $1100 and it languished on the shelf for over a year and I finally snagged it for $850. I almost weakened several times..................

Oxmix · December 18th, 2011, 12:09 AM

The bolt is a short bevel safety lug SA. The stock P in a box was an indication of an Arsenal rebuild or check & inspection.

Regards

Ox

mercman · December 18th, 2011, 12:21 AM

After looking at your pics again I see that all parts appear to be parkerized. Originally several parts were blued and were parkerized when a rifle was rearsenalled. So it's been though at least one rebuild but is still a great deal for what you paid for it.

bd111 · December 18th, 2011, 08:13 AM

RRA was a great rebuild shop. My WW II DCM SA Garand came out of there in 1951 with a new barrel and post-war sights but they kept the rest intact. If your '03A3 has a good barrel, consider it a steal. Top-shelf A3 rebuilds are now going in the range CMP gets for a "special" Garand.

GardenValley · December 18th, 2011, 10:14 AM

I missed purchasing an 03A3 from the DCM, but in 1961 I purchased a brand new Remington 03A3 on the secondary market for $35. Sure wish I had kept that rifle and could sell it at today's prices!!

cplnorton · December 18th, 2011, 10:35 AM

The rifle has went through an overhaul. RRA stands for Red River Arseanal. Most RRA stuff was overhauled leading up to Vietnam.

It has been refinished, and the stock was sanded. But that was done during overhaul, so it's exactly how it left the military. So no one has monkeyed with it.

$600 is a great price for it. You could easily get your money back if you wanted. And maybe make a little more.

The original finish on an 03A3 was the barreled receiver was phopshate or parked, almost every other part was blued including the trigger housing, rear sight, bolt, bands, and bayonet lug.

It would have also have had an, RA, cross cannon, and FJA cartouche on the left hand side of the stock where the RRA is now.

Here is one with the original finish. You can see the difference if you compare them. This was one a DCM gun bought it 1961. And must have never been issued.

kenhil2 · December 18th, 2011, 02:32 PM

Thanks for all the info gents, I took it out to the range this afternoon, shot real well when I did my part. Was really impressed by the accuracy and action of an almost 70 year old rifle and barrel. Glad to own this piece of history, now I just need to track down a decent 1903 to pair with it.