Smokeeaterpilot
03-01-2015, 04:57
Hey I've been trying to do some research to look for a very nice example of a USMC Service rifle rebuild. Now I'm currently working on one that maybe a candidate for restoration. But I'd truly like to find a nice example of an unmolested 1903 USMC service rifle.
I started searching around and found Dick Culver's article on here from some years ago that I found very informative. This article here seems to be "down and dirty" with pictures.
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/206267-traits-of-a-usmc-or-marine-rebuilt-m1903-with-pictures/
I love these characteristics. The green Parkerizing. The blackish serialized bolt. The vice marks on the barrel. The hatcher hole, etc.
Some questions I have are what would be the going rate for a rifle in a similar condition and configuration today? Since I don't see them often. I have no idea what they go for, what is a good price, what is average or over priced.
The second question I have is I'm trying to learn the pitfalls and traps. Whenever there is a demand for something people create a supply. Rifles become faked, humped, and the snowball of lies gets bigger from there. What are some things I should be careful of? Are there any marks of a "fake" you all have been introduced to over your collecting travels?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. A friend of mine showed me his USMC rifle which may be a true service rifle but either way it looks great and has just made me want one even more. I'm sure I'm not the only one to be struck with collector envy! In a good way.
I do have a barreled receiver that may be a possible USMC service rifle in its former life. It may be a candidate for restoration. The problem with that is, even if a barreled receiver is very likely to be a USMC rifle. When it's restored, it will look nice but it will be only a "put-together" and never a "true" rifle. So I guess while doing this project I'm hoping to learn some more and be able to find a "true" example of an unmolested one.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I hope my questions or goals don't seem vague. It's kind of difficult to describe the end goal, so I apologize if I left out some important piece of information that makes this thread more confusing.
I started searching around and found Dick Culver's article on here from some years ago that I found very informative. This article here seems to be "down and dirty" with pictures.
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/206267-traits-of-a-usmc-or-marine-rebuilt-m1903-with-pictures/
I love these characteristics. The green Parkerizing. The blackish serialized bolt. The vice marks on the barrel. The hatcher hole, etc.
Some questions I have are what would be the going rate for a rifle in a similar condition and configuration today? Since I don't see them often. I have no idea what they go for, what is a good price, what is average or over priced.
The second question I have is I'm trying to learn the pitfalls and traps. Whenever there is a demand for something people create a supply. Rifles become faked, humped, and the snowball of lies gets bigger from there. What are some things I should be careful of? Are there any marks of a "fake" you all have been introduced to over your collecting travels?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. A friend of mine showed me his USMC rifle which may be a true service rifle but either way it looks great and has just made me want one even more. I'm sure I'm not the only one to be struck with collector envy! In a good way.
I do have a barreled receiver that may be a possible USMC service rifle in its former life. It may be a candidate for restoration. The problem with that is, even if a barreled receiver is very likely to be a USMC rifle. When it's restored, it will look nice but it will be only a "put-together" and never a "true" rifle. So I guess while doing this project I'm hoping to learn some more and be able to find a "true" example of an unmolested one.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I hope my questions or goals don't seem vague. It's kind of difficult to describe the end goal, so I apologize if I left out some important piece of information that makes this thread more confusing.