This Remington Model 03-A3 is chambered in .30-06 and carries serial 40265xx. The receiver is marked U.S. REMINGTON MODEL 03-A3, and the barrel is a Remington barrel stamped RA beneath the ordnance bomb and dated 8-44, August 1944. The bolt carries Remington’s R mark. The number 1569 is cut deeply into the left side of the butt. The bore is mirror bright and the rifle is in excellent mechanical condition. It comes as it arrived from the Civilian Marksmanship Program, still in its CMP carton and still with the papers that came with it: the shipping check list, the M1903 manual, the CMP rifle safety manual and the CMP card, together with a web sling and an unopened cable lock.
The M1903 was adopted on 19 June 1903 and carried American troops through both world wars. By 1941 the Army needed rifles faster than the old pattern could be built, and Remington took up production that September at serial number 3,000,000, working from Rock Island Arsenal tooling that had been sitting in storage since 1919. Remington then set about simplifying the rifle to speed manufacture, replacing milled parts with stamped ones, and at around serial number 3,330,000 the Army agreed that the result had changed enough to deserve a new name: the M1903A3. The most obvious difference is the sight. The barrel mounted leaf sight of the older rifle gave way to a small aperture sight at the rear of the receiver, designed by Remington and put there so that soldiers already trained on the M1 Garand would find it familiar. Smith-Corona, the typewriter company, built the rifle alongside Remington.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program sells surplus United States military rifles directly to eligible American citizens, and ships each one in a plain carton with its paperwork. This rifle has not been taken out of that state.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Remington Arms
Country of origin: United States
Model: U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1903-A3
Action: Bolt action
Caliber: .30-06
Serial: 40265xx
Barrel: Remington, marked RA beneath the ordnance bomb, dated 8-44
Bolt: Remington, R marked
Sights: Receiver mounted aperture rear sight
Stock: Walnut, the number 1569 cut into the left side of the butt
Bore: Mirror bright
Mechanical condition: Excellent
Provenance: Civilian Marksmanship Program
Included: CMP shipping carton, shipping check list, M1903 manual, CMP rifle safety manual, CMP card, web sling, cable lock
