Picked up a 1903. It's in pretty good shape besides quite a bit of play in the rear sight. It's a Remington receiver I Date to 1942.. barrel reads U.S.M.C 11-43 S. I know what all that means. I really like the feel of the rifle so within a year if like to get it a new barrel as the one on it saw quite a bit of use and I have yet to shoot it but I suspect it will not shoot well. Curious if I should go with kreger, criterion or NOS. I want it to be as accurate as possible. And before it's Said I will be putting it's original barrel to the side and saving it. As allways thank you.
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1903 barrel repacement
- Thread starter 7.62xfun
- Start date
The barrel markings indicate a Sedgley made replacement barrel for a USMC contract.
NOS GI M1903 barrels are tough to find, but they are out there. I've installed several NOS GI M1903 replacement barrels made by Springfield Armory and High Standard and they will produce 1.5 MOA accuracy with quality handloads and proper stock bedding. I've had a couple of Criterion Garand barrels which would shoot about the same, so accuracy should be on par with a NOS US GI barrel, everything else being equal. The rifle will retain its collectable value with a GI barrel.
Sometimes the rear sight can be tightened up with shimming, but trial fitting several moveable bases works best. Often the windage knob is excessively worn which leads to a sloppy fit. NOS GI knobs are available.
NOS GI M1903 barrels are tough to find, but they are out there. I've installed several NOS GI M1903 replacement barrels made by Springfield Armory and High Standard and they will produce 1.5 MOA accuracy with quality handloads and proper stock bedding. I've had a couple of Criterion Garand barrels which would shoot about the same, so accuracy should be on par with a NOS US GI barrel, everything else being equal. The rifle will retain its collectable value with a GI barrel.
Sometimes the rear sight can be tightened up with shimming, but trial fitting several moveable bases works best. Often the windage knob is excessively worn which leads to a sloppy fit. NOS GI knobs are available.
I know that Nick had a stash of M1903 parts, incl used barrels. I got a used 1918 vintage Rock Island barrel from his stock third hand a couple of yrs ago. The bore was nice with lots of shooting left. It was missing the rear sight sleeve which is a bit of a PITA to find and install.
There are ebay vendors in Greece who are/were selling NOS M1903 parts incl High Standard and Springfield barrels, bolts, extractors and sight components.
There are ebay vendors in Greece who are/were selling NOS M1903 parts incl High Standard and Springfield barrels, bolts, extractors and sight components.
