Springfield 1903 c. 1918

[c33m0n3y]

Just had this delivered by the BBTOH today: It's a Springfield 1903, from 1918, with a 1944 replacement barrel. The gun is in amazing shape, with dings in the stock but otherwise the metal looks great. The bore is shiny and bright, with no fouling visible at all. Here are the pics:

I'm thinking about cleaning and recoating the stock with DNA and BLO, but I may just leave it as-is. It came with the cleaning kit still in the buttstock

By the way, I have to say that Empire Arms again came through. Ordered the rifle Wednesday afternoon, was shipped the same day and arrived at my door today, Monday. Dennis Kroh knows what customer service is all about, and I'm recommending EA to anyone who is looking for quality C&R firearms. You may pay a little more, but from my repeat experience, it's worth it.

 

[Petar]

Looks great!

 

[Machodoc]

That's one that is on my short list of long rifles. Good find!

Just a bit of trivia:

After the school year of 1964-65, a certain military school lost its "ROTC Honor" status because it chose to not integrate. As a result, the U.S. Army pulled out its four Professor of Military Science advisers, and also took back their Garands. The next year, the father (a retired officer) of one of the more senior-ranked cadets of that school arranged to replace the Garands with surplus 1903 Springfields. These were bought for $17 each. The same father and son, many years later, founded a manufacturing company known as Bushmaster.

 

[BlackBart]

LEAVE THAT STOCK ALONE! It's gorgeous! Great find.

 

[Drmsparks]

He's not talking about harming the stock- DNA and pure tung oil are the milspec finish.

make sure it's pure oil not finish:

http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

 

[M1842]

Denis Kroh is a great guy, dealt with him several times and has always been the best in customer service.

 

[BlackBart]

He's not talking about harming the stock- DNA and pure tung oil are the milspec finish.

make sure it's pure oil not finish:

http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

OK, my apologies.... he has a true classic, sacrilege to modify and I am envious. Next neatest thing to a Garand IMHO.

 

[Brads]

This is a very nice gun. I would leave the stock alone and keep this history

 

[Mooseman]

Very nice.

 

[j8064]

That's a beauty. Congrats!

 

[jimbobborg]

I'd love to shoot one of these back to back with my 1917 Enfield.

 

[BlackBart]

I'd love to shoot one of these back to back with my 1917 Enfield.

They'll both feel about the same but the 03 is a beautiful weapon, the 1917 not so much but built like a tank.

 

[Major03]

Very nice rifle...eager to see a range report.

 

[Sirex]

Beautiful rifle! I have always wanted a 1903. Maybe in the future.

 

[mawkie]

Good find! There's a reason why Dennis is so popular with collectors; good service. I'm curious, who's the barrel manufacturer? I've got a Rock Island rebuilt for WW2 with a great shooting High Standard (HS) barrel.

 

[amoebicmagician]

the stock does not matter for anything other than aesthetics.

Honestly, seeing how good that rifle looks I can not even bring myself to notice the stock at all. It is so freaking beautiful. You'll be literally AMAZED at the groups you can squeeze out of that gun at range with just the irons.

 

[amoebicmagician]

That's one that is on my short list of long rifles. Good find!

Just a bit of trivia:

After the school year of 1964-65, a certain military school lost its "ROTC Honor" status because it chose to not integrate. As a result, the U.S. Army pulled out its four Professor of Military Science advisers, and also took back their Garands. The next year, the father (a retired officer) of one of the more senior-ranked cadets of that school arranged to replace the Garands with surplus 1903 Springfields. These were bought for $17 each. The same father and son, many years later, founded a manufacturing company known as Bushmaster.

Before bushmaster got bought out, back when their emblem was the bushmaster machine pistol inside the snake, their ARs were freaking INCREDIBLE.

I bought one of them used for a bit of a premium and have never regretted it, shoots the tightest groups of any AR I've ever owned. Never had a misfeed- ever. Never had a FTE- ever.

 

[c33m0n3y]

Good find! There's a reason why Dennis is so popular with collectors; good service. I'm curious, who's the barrel manufacturer? I've got a Rock Island rebuilt for WW2 with a great shooting High Standard (HS) barrel.

The barrel is a High Standard 4-groove 1944 replacement.

The bolt is non-matching so I would like tho check the headspace before shooting, so I'll likely order some .30-06 no-go and field gauges.

A question about this: when checking headspace with a modern gauge that has the correct groove around the base and primer opening , does the extractor/firing pin need to be removed? If so, why?

 

[smdub]

I recently bought some manson gauges in 5.45x39, 7.62x39 CIP, and 5.56x45. I was able to test a SKS, VZ58 (sort of like an AK), and ARs w/o removing the extractors. If course I open them very slowly so it doesn't shoot the gauge out across the room. They also have a notch in them that if you line up the the ejector pin (in an AR bolt), it wont flip it out. I'll be buying them in 30-06 and 308 when I get rifles of those calibers.

 

[mawkie]

I prefer to disassemble the bolt totally when checking HS. Most HS gauges don't have an extractor cutout and I like to be able to feel the resistance of the bolt against the gauge. Hard to do if the FP spring is being compressed at the same time on all "cock on close" actions.