Saving a Remington 1903A3

rj1974 · Aug 18, 2017

Update it's been saved .

Got this from a friend at a great price well within the range to make it worth saving . It has a March of 43 barrel date and the serial number falls into the same time of production, without tearing it down yet it looks like all Remington parts so far aside from the front sight blade having a brass bead. The stock is a Fajen and no one put any extra holes in the metal .

If anyone has a stock set they would be interested in selling please let me know.

Doco Overboard · Aug 18, 2017

Nice one, it has a small trigger bow too. I fit a few CMP stocks and they are ok but sometimes need some additional work to get bedded correctly and the rear guard screws have been hit or miss for they way they are drilled. Sarco usually has some scant stocks that are as about reasonable as you can get. Thats a nice stock it sits in now.

TargetGrade · Aug 18, 2017

Still a nice looking rifle no matter how you slice it. Original sights, bring it back or leave as is it's going to shoot like a 03A3. :thumbsup:

todbiker · Aug 18, 2017

I picked up a 03-a3 a few years back and planned on the same thing. Just be careful buying a replacement stock set , if you want a USGI one especially. They're not cheap and if you buy one online, the pics can be deceiving. Also realize you'll have to take the front sight off to get the barrel band on. Speaking of barrel bands, you'll need some hardware to mount a correct stock.

Not saying you can't get it done, just know what you're getting into. :thumbsup:

rj1974 · Aug 18, 2017

todbiker said:
I picked up a 03-a3 a few years back and planned on the same thing. Just be careful buying a replacement stock set , if you want a USGI one especially. They're not cheap and if you buy one online, the pics can be deceiving. Also realize you'll have to take the front sight off to get the barrel band on. Speaking of barrel bands, you'll need some hardware to mount a correct stock.

Not saying you can't get it done, just know what you're getting into.

Yeah not the first one I've put back together . The hardware and bands are the easy and cheap stuff but finding the right stock is going to cost the same if not more than what I paid for the gun .

I have time though this one is going to be for dad for Christmas when it's done .

MDHokie · Aug 19, 2017

One up on gunboards right now, idk if that's a good price or not.

http://forums.gunboards.com/#/topics/825794

todbiker · Aug 19, 2017

MDHokie said:
One up on gunboards right now, idk if that's a good price or not.

http://forums.gunboards.com/#/topics/825794

That's a good price shipped , with the caveat the seller notes, it's a pre-cross bolt model and would probably be better suited for someone looking to make a rifle "correct" One of my many blunders was buying a complete rifle with the same stock set (wanted a good shooter) and apparently the pre-cross bolt stocks have a tendency to crack, that's why they were replaced.

rj1974 · Aug 19, 2017

MDHokie said:
One up on gunboards right now, idk if that's a good price or not.

http://forums.gunboards.com/#/topics/825794

Thank you ,Saw that one too it's also on ebay .

rj1974 · Nov 2, 2017

It's been saved.

TargetGrade · Nov 2, 2017

rj1974 said:
It's been saved.

Beautimus!!! :thumbsup:

todbiker · Nov 3, 2017

rj1974 said:
It's been saved.

Congrats, could you tell the story for other people looking to do a similar restoration?

BossmanPJ · Nov 3, 2017

rj1974 said:
It's been saved.

Very nice. That rifle deserves to be back to its original configuration.

K-43 · Nov 3, 2017

Good show!

fred333 · Nov 3, 2017

rj1974 said:
It's been saved.

Bravissimo!!

wreckdiver · Nov 3, 2017

Nice work RJ

rj1974 · Nov 3, 2017

todbiker said:
Congrats, could you tell the story for other people looking to do a similar restoration?

It was a fairly simple restoration aside from a few parts , everything was found on ebay .

The stock has all the correct markings on it although it has been lightly sanded , I did have to do a little fitting to get the hand guard to go into the receiver ring.

As far as the metal is concerned it's all blued,stamped and Remington marked as it should be . There is plenty of it out there .

Honesty the hardest part to find was the blued front bayonet band that wasn't a repro , I got into a bidding war on ebay for that .

The front sight I ended up replacing the band as well as the blade because the blade had a brass bead on it .The only "C" height Remington marked sight I could find was already in a band so I went that route .

Only thing I need to get for it is the front sight hood and the cleaning kit/ oiler for the stock .

All in all I think it turned out great and Dad will be getting it for Christmas .

And I have to get him a PAL bayonet for it , I've already gotten him a UFH and AFH .

rj1974 · Nov 3, 2017

wreckdiver said:
Nice work RJ

Thank you .

How have you and the family been ? The boy says Hi .

todbiker · Nov 3, 2017

rj1974 said:
It was a fairly simple restoration aside from a few parts , everything was found on ebay .

The stock has all the correct markings on it although it has been lightly sanded , I did have to do a little fitting to get the hand guard to go into the receiver ring.

As far as the metal is concerned it's all blued,stamped and Remington marked as it should be . There is plenty of it out there .

Honesty the hardest part to find was the blued front bayonet band that wasn't a repro , I got into a bidding war on ebay for that .

The front sight I ended up replacing the band as well as the blade because the blade had a brass bead on it .The only "C" height Remington marked sight I could find was already in a band so I went that route .

Only thing I need to get for it is the front sight hood and the cleaning kit/ oiler for the stock .

All in all I think it turned out great and Dad will be getting it for Christmas .

And I have to get him a PAL bayonet for it , I've already gotten him a UFH and AFH .

Thanks for the details, your dad's a lucky guy :thumbsup:

rj1974 · Nov 3, 2017

todbiker said:
Thanks for the details, your dad's a lucky guy

You're welcome .

Actually though I am the lucky one. He is my stepfather , my mother met him when I was around 5 or 6 and he stepped up and was the father he didn't have to be . He is my father as far as I am concerned , I named my son after him.

todbiker · Nov 4, 2017

rj1974 said:
You're welcome .

Actually though I am the lucky one. He is my stepfather , my mother met him when I was around 5 or 6 and he stepped up and was the father he didn't have to be . He is my father as far as I am concerned , I named my son after him.

Any man that's willing to raise someone else's biological son as their own deserves the title father more so than the actual one. More importantly you love and respect each other and want to do for the other.

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