My father bought this rifle for me when I was 15 in 1961 for $19.95 thru his NRA life membership. In 1973 I put a sport stock on it. I have no idea what happened to the original stock. I’ve been thinking or finding another original 03-A3 stock for it as I decided to return it to it’s original configuration. I recently found a stock for a good price and got the action installed into the stock this week. All I ever did to the rifle was to put the sport stock on it. I never blued it or did anything else to it, so returning it to its original configuration was pretty easy to do. Before and after photos below.

They just seem more at home in their original stocks don't they? That's a nice looking 03. Bet it shoots good too.

My Uncle had a 1903 30-06 in original condition which went to one of his son's - looks just like the one on the right.

Well done!

Very nice conversion/reversion/whatever it is. It looks great!

That’s just pure sex...

I believe it's a '03 A3. Want to make it a bit more complete? Ebay or GunBroker you can find its original front sight hood. I had a mint '03 with the earlier rear sight and never got to fire a round through it prior to reselling. Bought mine at a local show and was carrying it on my shoulder via sling and ran into the dealer whos table I bought it off. Aside from him asking me where I was going with the '03, he pointed out it wasn't for sale and, he had just taken it in. Kinda too late as it was paid for and 4473 completed. Aren't they a good feeling rifle to shoulder in their military stock? Your rear sight tells me its a A3 but I might be confused with the straight stock vs pistol grip version.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Your rear sight tells me its a A3 but I might be confused with the straight stock vs pistol grip version.

You are correct. The straight, or scant stock is correct for that rifle. AFAIK the pistol grip was most often seen on the 1903A1.

Well done.

Honestly, the sporter stock doesn't look all that bad. But you can never beat an original for the looks.

Thanks for sharing your story.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
You are correct. The straight, or scant stock is correct for that rifle. AFAIK the pistol grip was most often seen on the 1903A1.

Pistol grip stocks were originally used on M1903A1s competition rifles in the late 1920s and 1930s, for National Matches or other competitions.



Some of these accurized M1903A1s were converted into sniper rifles early in WW2, with the additional of scopes.



This carried over to the later M1903A4 sniper rifles, many which were also outfitted with pistol grip stocks.




All standard M1903s and M1903A3s originally left the factory in straight stocks. But some M1903s and M1903A3s ended up with replacement partial pistol grip "scant" stocks after being rebuilt or refurbished.

Thanks for the positive comments. I do plan on adding a front sight hood and maybe a sling. Them hoods aren’t cheap either.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
You are correct. The straight, or scant stock is correct for that rifle. AFAIK the pistol grip was most often seen on the 1903A1.

Pistol grip stocks were originally used on M1903A1s competition rifles in the late 1920s and 1930s, for National Matches or other competitions.

All photos I’ve seen of these rifles shows the sling attached to the middle swivel ring and never to the front one. Is there a reason for that?

The front swivel isn't for a sling. It's a stacking swivel, designed for stacking rifles in a teepee pattern when out in the field. The idea was to allow for a way to minimize contact with the ground and all the associated dirt and mud (especially for the muzzles), as opposed to simply dropping the rifle on its side on the ground.

Hence the gap in that particular swivel.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The front swivel isn't for a sling. It's a stacking swivel, designed for stacking rifles in a teepee pattern when out in the field. The idea was to allow for a way to minimize contact with the ground and all the associated dirt and mud (especially for the muzzles), as opposed to simply dropping the rifle on its side on the ground.

Hence the gap in that particular swivel.

Cool, I did not know that. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It's a stacking swivel ....

Soldiers of my father’s generation had an expression, “grab him by the stacking swivel,” meaning grab someone by the throat—usually a subordinate, back when sergeants could get away with that—to get his attention.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:
Thanks for the positive comments. I do plan on adding a front sight hood and maybe a sling. Them hoods aren’t cheap either.

There are a bunch of the sight hoods on Ebay now and they aren't very expensive. It makes the muzzle end look real bad ass. Oh, dont forget to pick up a bunch of stripper clips so you can experience loading that rifle GI style...

If you can't find actual USGI stripper clips, which are prone to breakage and tend to command a premium, Swedish Mauser stripper clips works just fine with .30-06 in USGI bolt rifles, and they're rugged and readily available.

That's what I use in my M1903s and M1917s.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
If you can't find actual USGI stripper clips, which are prone to breakage and tend to command a premium, Swedish Mauser stripper clips works just fine with .30-06 in USGI bolt rifles, and they're rugged and readily available.

That's what I use in my M1903s and M1917s.

Would these be them? https://www.libertytreecollect...d.asp?idproduct=6336 To be honest, I did not know this rifle would take stripper clips, but I see the cutout for them. Cool.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
If you can't find actual USGI stripper clips, which are prone to breakage and tend to command a premium, Swedish Mauser stripper clips works just fine with .30-06 in USGI bolt rifles, and they're rugged and readily available.

That's what I use in my M1903s and M1917s.

Would these be them? https://www.libertytreecollect...d.asp?idproduct=6336 To be honest, I did not know this rifle would take stripper clips, but I see the cutout for them. Cool.

Those are the ones. The web gear of the time was designed to hold loaded stripper clips.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The front swivel isn't for a sling. It's a stacking swivel, designed for stacking rifles in a teepee pattern when out in the field. The idea was to allow for a way to minimize contact with the ground and all the associated dirt and mud (especially for the muzzles), as opposed to simply dropping the rifle on its side on the ground.

Hence the gap in that particular swivel.

Cool, I did not know that. Thanks.

As an aside, rifles displaying the use of the stacking swivel are depicted in The Sands of Iwo Jima. During a training scene, an errant grenade explodes knocking two groups of stacked rifles to the ground.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:
Would these be them? https://www.libertytreecollect...d.asp?idproduct=6336 To be honest, I did not know this rifle would take stripper clips, but I see the cutout for them. Cool.

Yep. Those are the ones. (Although I see that prices have jumped significantly. Just a few years ago, you could get a 40 pack box of Swedish Mauser clips for like $10 online.)

Swedish Mauser stripper clips use a strong steel leaf spring along the inner spine of the clip to retain the rounds, and can be used and reused nearly indefinitely before they wear out. The similar basic design was used for nearly all of the various Mauser rifles' clips (though they're all slightly different, so most other Mauser stripper clips won't work with USGI rifles).

Whereas USGI stripper clips have tiny little tabs of metal at the ends, which are bent up to retain the rounds, and then bend down when the clip is used to load the rifle's magazine. (Similar to modern USGI 5.56 stripper clips.) These flimsy tabs tend to break off after several cycles of reuse. Stripper clips were originally designed to be disposable, being loaded once, used once, and discarded. So they weren't really worried about durability or re-usability.

And considering that nearly all USGI .30-06 stripper clips are 75-100+ years old, the number of usable ones still in decent condition is dwindling, and the prices are rising.




You might also be able to find some Greek M1903 stripper clips out there on the market, which are somewhat similar to the Mauser design with an internal leaf spring, and which are similarly reusable. Some of the Greek surplus M2 Ball ammo that came into the country in droves in the last couple decades was packed on 5 round stripper clips, although most was either on 8 round Garand enbloc clips or in boxes.