I picked up a decent Rem. M1903A3 yesterday, all the parts are Remington marked with the exception of a Smith-Corona bolt sleeve. Great 4-groove bore.....It was made in April of 1943.
A bit more about the Rem. M1903A3.
In early 1942, it was determined that production could be increased even more if the rear sight base and related parts could be dispensed with, as these components required a great deal of time-consuming machining. Remington engineers modified the basic design of the rifle by eliminating the M1905 pattern rear sight and replacing it with an adjustable peep sight mounted on the rear of the receiver.
The handguard (now termed “barrel guard”) was lengthened to cover the gap between the receiver and the upper band of the rifle. The rear sight of the M1903A3 rifle was actually a better “battle sight” in many ways than M1905 pattern sight. In addition to the changes made in the rear sight, there was also more extensive use of stamped parts.
The substantially modified rifle was standardized as the “U.S. Rifle, Cal. .30, Model of 1903A3” on May 21, 1942. Remington began deliveries of the new variant in December 1942. There was a period of time when the company manufactured the M1903 Modified and the M1903A3 variants concurrently. The last of the M1903 Modified rifles were turned out in May 1943.
The new rifle was marked “U.S./Remington/Model 03-A3/Serial No.” on the receiver ring. The “03-A3” designation was a bit unusual as it was essentially a colloquial term rather than the official nomenclature for the rifle. As with the preceding Remington ’03s, the barrel had the “RA” and “flaming bomb” markings as well as the month and year of production. The left side of the stock was stamped “FJA” (for Col. Frank J. Atwood), “RA” (Remington Arms) and the “crossed cannons” Ordnance Department escutcheon. A circled “P” proof mark was stamped on the grip behind the trigger guard, and various cryptic Remington internal inspection markings were stamped on the stock forward of the trigger guard. The stock furniture (one-piece upper band assembly, lower barrel band, band spring, sling swivel, buttplate and trigger housing/floorplate assembly) were constructed of stamped sheet metal.
Typical receiver ring markings for the main three Remington ’03 variants are shown above (left to right): M1903; M1903 “Modified” and M1903A3.
The M1903A3’s stock was similar to the straight grip stock previously utilized with the M1903 Modified but was inletted to accept the “barrel guard ring” necessitated by the longer handguard. The ’03A3 stocks were also inletted for the M1905 sight as well. In addition to the straight grip stock, Remington also manufactured some stocks with semi-pistol grips, often dubbed “scant” or “scant grip” stocks today. The adoption of this pattern stock enabled Remington to utilize many of the stock blanks the firm had on hand from the abortive British rifle production contract. Most, if not all, of the “scant grip” stocks were utilized for replacement purposes, except for some that were used with M1903A4 sniper rifles (to be discussed later).
In October 1942, Remington was given permission to produce two-groove barrels for the M1903A3 as prior testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground revealed that satisfactory accuracy could be obtained with them. Two-groove barrels resulted in reduced manufacturing time and cost which further boosted the ’03A3s production rate.
With the adoption of the ’03A3, simplification of the M1903 was taken as far as feasible without adversely affecting the accuracy, strength or efficiency of the rifle. The rather rough-hewn ’03A3 could be manufactured much faster and at a lower cost than the earlier rifles, yet boasted a strong action and a more efficient “combat sight” than its predecessors.
Remington received ever-increasing orders for ’03A3s, and the Ordnance Department sought an additional source. To this end, the Smith-Corona Typewriter Company was granted a contract for production of M1903A3s. The Smith-Corona ’03A3s were essentially identical to their Remington counterparts except for markings. Smith-Corona was eventually assigned two blocks of serial numbers. Smith-Corona did not use all of the numbers from the second block. The serial numbers used by the company went only into the 4,870,000 range. Remington only used a relatively few serial numbers from the final block, stopping at the very low 4,200,000 serial number range. There were also some serial numbers used for M1903A4 sniper rifle production from this final block as well.
Remington (and Smith-Corona) turned out ever-increasing numbers of M1903A3s, and they provided valuable use for our rapidly expanding armed forces. Many of the rifles were utilized for training purposes “stateside,” but a number were shipped overseas for issue as supplemental service rifles. Although not used as combat rifles in extremely large numbers as compared to the M1903 or M1 Garand rifles, M1903A3s definitely saw combat use in several theaters of the war including the European and the China-Burma-India theaters.
Taken from:
www.americanrifleman.org
A bit more about the Rem. M1903A3.
In early 1942, it was determined that production could be increased even more if the rear sight base and related parts could be dispensed with, as these components required a great deal of time-consuming machining. Remington engineers modified the basic design of the rifle by eliminating the M1905 pattern rear sight and replacing it with an adjustable peep sight mounted on the rear of the receiver.
The handguard (now termed “barrel guard”) was lengthened to cover the gap between the receiver and the upper band of the rifle. The rear sight of the M1903A3 rifle was actually a better “battle sight” in many ways than M1905 pattern sight. In addition to the changes made in the rear sight, there was also more extensive use of stamped parts.
The substantially modified rifle was standardized as the “U.S. Rifle, Cal. .30, Model of 1903A3” on May 21, 1942. Remington began deliveries of the new variant in December 1942. There was a period of time when the company manufactured the M1903 Modified and the M1903A3 variants concurrently. The last of the M1903 Modified rifles were turned out in May 1943.
The new rifle was marked “U.S./Remington/Model 03-A3/Serial No.” on the receiver ring. The “03-A3” designation was a bit unusual as it was essentially a colloquial term rather than the official nomenclature for the rifle. As with the preceding Remington ’03s, the barrel had the “RA” and “flaming bomb” markings as well as the month and year of production. The left side of the stock was stamped “FJA” (for Col. Frank J. Atwood), “RA” (Remington Arms) and the “crossed cannons” Ordnance Department escutcheon. A circled “P” proof mark was stamped on the grip behind the trigger guard, and various cryptic Remington internal inspection markings were stamped on the stock forward of the trigger guard. The stock furniture (one-piece upper band assembly, lower barrel band, band spring, sling swivel, buttplate and trigger housing/floorplate assembly) were constructed of stamped sheet metal.
Typical receiver ring markings for the main three Remington ’03 variants are shown above (left to right): M1903; M1903 “Modified” and M1903A3.
The M1903A3’s stock was similar to the straight grip stock previously utilized with the M1903 Modified but was inletted to accept the “barrel guard ring” necessitated by the longer handguard. The ’03A3 stocks were also inletted for the M1905 sight as well. In addition to the straight grip stock, Remington also manufactured some stocks with semi-pistol grips, often dubbed “scant” or “scant grip” stocks today. The adoption of this pattern stock enabled Remington to utilize many of the stock blanks the firm had on hand from the abortive British rifle production contract. Most, if not all, of the “scant grip” stocks were utilized for replacement purposes, except for some that were used with M1903A4 sniper rifles (to be discussed later).
In October 1942, Remington was given permission to produce two-groove barrels for the M1903A3 as prior testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground revealed that satisfactory accuracy could be obtained with them. Two-groove barrels resulted in reduced manufacturing time and cost which further boosted the ’03A3s production rate.
With the adoption of the ’03A3, simplification of the M1903 was taken as far as feasible without adversely affecting the accuracy, strength or efficiency of the rifle. The rather rough-hewn ’03A3 could be manufactured much faster and at a lower cost than the earlier rifles, yet boasted a strong action and a more efficient “combat sight” than its predecessors.
Remington (and Smith-Corona) turned out ever-increasing numbers of M1903A3s, and they provided valuable use for our rapidly expanding armed forces. Many of the rifles were utilized for training purposes “stateside,” but a number were shipped overseas for issue as supplemental service rifles. Although not used as combat rifles in extremely large numbers as compared to the M1903 or M1 Garand rifles, M1903A3s definitely saw combat use in several theaters of the war including the European and the China-Burma-India theaters.
Taken from:
An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Remington M1903 Rifles
Though not as well known as the Springfield and Rock Island ’03s, the more than 1 million M1903-based rifles made by Remington Arms Co. during World War II included the primary U.S. sniping rifle of that epic conflict.
