A silly question about 03-a3?

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ctstannard

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Hi All,

Now that I have my license I recently inherited my father's Remington 03-a3 and it is quite a nice piece of history. It is in decent shape and from the research I have been able to do on it the barrel was made in July 1943 and the receiver's serial number matches to July/August of 1943. After the war the stampings on it suggest it was refitted at the Raritan Arsenal before being put in storage and eventually sold off as surplus. A family friend of my father gave it to him around 35 years ago when he moved from the U.S. up to Canada and it remained in storage until recently. It has not been sporterized and looks to be in fair shape with no major cracking in the wood and no sign of rust on any of the metal. I do quite love it as I, like so many others here, am a big fan of military history.

So first the silly question, forgive me if this has been asked before or is too ridiculous to ask but I am still a bit of a newbie at this hobby/interest. I can't seem to find the caliber stamped on it anywhere and my father never actually fired it so he doesn't remember. Am I missing it some place? It sounds like most of the 03-a3's were 30-06 but I just want to be sure. Even reading this back to myself sounds silly but I would rather be safe and ask those here who are much more knowledgeable than I am than try to simply guess.

Which leads me to my second question. I keep more out of historic interest and as such I don't intend to fire it much but it would be nice to take it to a range at some point in the future. Since it hasn't been fired in at least 35 years I think it would be wise to have it looked at before doing so. Again I am a bit of a newbie to this and don't quite trust my own judgment. Can anyone recommend where I should take it in Calgary to have it looked at? I do not plan on doing this any time soon so it would be in the next several months (possibly even the spring). I would of course be willing to pay someone for their time but I would only want their opinion on whether it is safe to fire or not and not to do any actual work on it. If it isn't safe to fire I would simply put it away for now and wait until a future date to get it refitted/serviced.

Thanks again for the input!
 
The U. S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903A3 was chambered for the Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model of 1906. Or as civilians call it the .30-06. Since your 03A3 appears to have the original barrel intact it is chambered in .30-06. The Model of 1903 series of rifles did not have the caliber marked on them.
 
Thanks Wizard,

I don't suspect the barrel has been changed so it is good to know that it is the .30-06. It is also good to know they were never marked and it isn't just that I can't find the marking. Thanks again!
 
So first the silly question, forgive me if this has been asked before or is too ridiculous to ask but I am still a bit of a newbie at this hobby/interest
Click to expand...

That is NOT a silly question.
Sounds like a nice rifle. Enjoy it. It is a piece of history.
 
Its always a good idea to check for proper headspace before shooting. Anyone with a set of .30-06 headspace gauges can do this for you. Any 'smith will have a set. The Springfield is a basic Mauser-type action which any 'smith can function check. After that give the bore a good cleaning to remove any crud or excess oil/grease and proceed to the range with a box of .30-06 factory ammo.
 
Thank you for the replies. I appreciate the assurance that it wasn't a silly question. I just prefer to be safe rather than sorry so I don't mind asking those sorts of things.
 
purple said:
Its always a good idea to check for proper head space before shooting. Anyone with a set of .30-06 head space gauges can do this for you. .
Click to expand...

Just a quick addition RE: head space. On US military rifles, gauge using USGI head space gauges not saami, U.S. Military & saami head space dimensions are totally different. The bolt
can close on a sammi No go gauge, while pass (not close) on a USGI no go gauge.
 
From a practical point of view the difference between US GI and SAAMI commercial headspace gauges is negligible. If a military .30-06 rifle qualifies on a set of SAAMI headspace gauges it is good to go. US GI .30-06 headspace gauges are very tough to find. I have a US GI "go" gauge, but have never been able to find either a GI .30-06 "no-go" or "field" gauge. FWIW the US CMP uses SAAMI spec commercial Clymer .30-06 headspace gauges when doing headspace checks on the Garands , M1903s and M1917s that it releases for sale. Both the Clymer and Forster headspace gauges are available from Brownells by mail order.
 
My point is the rifle was set up on a different system what gun plumbers use now. I agree if it passes a sammi spec gauge, awesome!

As a point of interest, see below.

My USGI spec gauges are made by Forster, they read

1.940 = Go Gauge
1.946 = No Go Gauge
1.950 = Field Gauge

Sammi had a different datum point and seems longer.

2.0487 = GO
2.0547 = NO-GO
2.0577 = FIELD

An interesting point I found is that Forster gauges are less tolerant that a Clymer gauges. A rifle that will fail with a Forster will very often pass with a Clymer.
 
What I would do is, clean and inspect the rifle. Fire a couple rounds and inspect the spent casings. As long as they don't look stretched or are cracked I would say all is well. However this is just what I would do. Your mileage may vary.
 
A 0.060" difference between "Go" and "No-Go"?

Pblatzz said:
My point is the rifle was set up on a different system what gun plumbers use now. I agree if it passes a sammi spec gauge, awesome!

As a point of interest, see below.

My USGI spec gauges are made by Forster, they read

1.940 = Go Gauge
1.946 = No Go Gauge
1.950 = Field Gauge

Sammi had a different datum point and seems longer.

2.0487 = GO
2.0547 = NO-GO
2.0577 = FIELD

An interesting point I found is that Forster gauges are less tolerant that a Clymer gauges. A rifle that will fail with a Forster will very often pass with a Clymer.
Click to expand...
 
Its' a .006 difference. The 1.940 "go"/or minimum headspace gauge was intended to ensure that the bolt would close freely on a chambered round. This is a bit more critical in an M1 Garand or a .30 BMG which do not have the camming power to close on a short chamber or long round as does a bolt gun like the M1903 or M1917. At the other extreme the 1.946 "no-go" and 1.950 "field"/max headspace gauges are intended to control excessive headspace which might cause case separations/stoppages, which are a very unwelcome event in a combat weapon.

The 1.946 "no-go" gauge was used at arsenal level to control headspace on newly re-barreled or overhauled rifles. The 1.950 "field" gauge was used to verify max/safe headspace for rifles in the hands of troops. If a .30-06 rifle qualifies on both the "go" and "field" gauges it is good to go. When re-barreling Garands and M1903s or for rifles in use I use the "no-go" gauge as a max. This prolongs case life when reloading by minimizing case stretch on firing and FL resizing. In a bolt rifle with headspace on the longer side, but within the 'field" dimension, you can neck size after initial firing in order to avoid excessive case stretching. Always FL resize for a Garand though.
 
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