Springfield M1903 barreled action; is it worth restoring?

glang1

glang1

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A family member saved a Springfield M1903 barreled action from being thrown away. He gave it to me as he knows I collect milsurps. My question is: Is it worth trying to restore it? Is the hardware & wood furniture available? or will I have to fabricate them? The bore is clean with well defined rifling. The front sight has been filed down. It has a Redfield peep sight. Not sure if this is original or not.

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That's a very early production receiver. It is what is known as a "low number",which most people choose not to shoot because of the type of heat treatment employed in manufacturing them. The rifle has already been boogered as restorable collectable because the receiver has been drilled for the commercial rear sight. The cocking piece/striker has also been modified-not a good idea.Has the barrel been shortened? I'd be inclined to part it out and salvage what I could.
 
That is a REALLY early 1903. If it hadn't been sported, it would be very valuable.
I bet there are those who would love to have a go at restoring it.
 
tiriaq said:
I bet that rifle was originally in .30-03, and had a ramrod bayonet.
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Tiriaq,

Thats very interesting. I just assumed it was a 30.06. I'll have to investigate further. I did notice a crack in the receiver just where the bolt locks down. I circled the crack with a black circle in the photo below.

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Has the rifle been rebarrellled? It's got a couple of vise marks just ahead of the receiver. How long is the barrel? Do you know the caliber? Is the bolt face pitted.

Restoration is a tough choice. In your case the action is Drilled and tapped however repairable. Lots of expensive parts required. Parts for the Springfiled are available in the USA.

I'd be inclined to either sell it as is. Or if sentimental value...restore as a sporter.
 
rgg_7 said:
Has the rifle been rebarrellled? It's got a couple of vise marks just ahead of the receiver. How long is the barrel? Do you know the caliber? Is the bolt face pitted.

Restoration is a tough choice. In your case the action is Drilled and tapped however repairable. Lots of expensive parts required. Parts for the Springfiled are available in the USA.

I'd be inclined to either sell it as is. Or if sentimental value...restore as a sporter.
Click to expand...

Don't know if it has been rebarreled. Don't think the mark you see is a vise mark.
The barrel appears to be 23 1/4" long. I was able to chamber/extract a spent 30.06 cartridge. Here is a pic of the bolt face.

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From memory 30-03 was used in the early Springfield. Cartridge is simlar to the 30-06 however .010" longer in case length. Many of these had very poor heat treating and were prone to cracking. I'd not recommend that you fire this rifle without magnafluxing for cracks.
 
You've already found a crack in the receiver which reinforces my advice to not fire this rifle. What are the markings(if any) on the top of the barrel just to the rear of the muzzle? It is a military barrel as determined by the spline cut for the rear sight base over the chamber area.An original uncut military barrel with a sound bore has value to others if you decide to part this out. Original .30-03 barrels were 24.2006" long. Unmodified original .30-06 barrels are 24.006" long. The bolt face appears servicable. I note from the swept back bolt handle that this is a later post-1918 replacement bolt.
 
It was a 30-03 and in 1906 it went back in and had the barrel set back one turn and was rechambered in 30-06. Anything in a serial number below I think 27000 should not be chambered in anything with higher pressure than the origional 30-06 because it will most likely fail. They were heat treated by eye in factory. On a bright day the sun would shine in the window and you would have to heat them hotter to make them look orange for heat treating and on a dull day they look orange at a lower temperature. They are not recomended for anything but what they are. The higher serial number ones work great for all sorts of chamberings though.
 
Very interesting post. Had a chance to review what has been written so far. The originator has chimed in a couple times and provided some useful information.

If barrel is less than the 24" ( or as stated in purple's reply) it's been cut back or maybe set back and rechambered...in either case the barrel is unstuitable for a restoration part. Magnafluxing would be a very good investment and may show additional cracking or metal fatique. The bolt has hammerred the contact area of the rear receiver.

It may be a good assumption that 30-06 factory loads were fired in this rifle. It most likely causing the damage.

The relative that gave you the barrelled action may have some history. It would provide some additional clues.
 
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I, too, have a cracked low number receiver. Didn't take much of a bang to crack it.
The grooves on the breech of the barrel are the remains of the machining for the rear sight base.
The rifle would have been reworked from -03 to -06, and likely was rebuilt again at a later date.
Probably not a shooter, but a very interesting relic.
Restoration with original, early parts would be difficult and expensive. It could be restored to resemble a rebuilt rifle, for less. Or, it could be left as is as a curio.
 
A further comment on the receiver crack aft of the bolt safety lug. There should be measurable clearance between the rear face of the safety lug and the receiver in order to prevent recoil forces being taken by the safety lug,rather than by the 2 forward bolt lugs. If there is hard contact between the safety lug and the receiver then the forward bolt lugs cannot function as intended. I suspect that this is why the crack is there. Again,this reciver should not be fired,but it would be interesting to check the bearing of all 3 bolt lugs. I suspect that the forward lugs may either prove to be worn or that the corresponding lug seats in the receiver may be worn or set back.
 
As others have said, that is a very early production rifle.
Hatchers Notebook gives the serial numbers of the M 1903 Springfield from production start up, until WW One.
In fiscal year 1904, (from July 1, 1903 until July 1 1904,) they built 30,503.
So yours was probably built before the end of 1903.
 
IMHO Strip it down put all the removed parts in a box, and toss that cracked receiver.
BTW that Redfield receiver sight would probably sell quite fast.
 
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If the older milled trigger guard isn't pitted too badly, it would have some value to someone with a sporterized 03A3, that would like a more elegant TG with separate floor plate. The receiver should be scrapped, even though the early ones were jewels WRT their silky smoothness.
 
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