Just Got a Diamond in the Rough - Sporterized M1903A4

[Glynn863]

Cross-posted in CMP forum as well.

Well, as the title states, I just got a sporterized M1903A4 for a good price. Found it last night on a Facebook page of all places, and just made a 90-mile round trip this morning. It has been polished / blued, barrel shortened about 2 inches, has a Tasco scope and rings, and sits in a Fajen stock. However, it has the original bolt (polished only) and original Redfield base. All of the remaining USGI parts have "R" stamps. The S/N is 3411908, which sits in the first block of M1903A4s. The guy I bought it from said he bought it at a sporting goods store about 6 years ago, and has been hunting deer with it. He sold it to help get up a down payment on a new truck. I have some stock photos from FB that I will upload as soon as I can.

I know to restore this I will need to replace the barrel and other missing USGI parts and refinish as well. I will probably get a C-stock from CMP or The Collector Source. I have an older Weaver K10, but may try to get something else until I can get a correct or correct repro scope.

Now the fun begins.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/11169847_988741854482762_7180139775180677678_n.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/11169847_988741854482762_7180139775180677678_n.jpg .html)
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/11193374_988741801149434_3497291127350532820_n.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/11193374_988741801149434_3497291127350532820_n.jpg .html)
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/11201627_988741837816097_5679035891923472635_n.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/11201627_988741837816097_5679035891923472635_n.jpg .html)

[bigskybound]

I keep hoping to stumble onto one of these, but no luck so far. Great candidate for resto.

[cplnorton]

If you need a real A4 stock for it. I have this one I would sell. Nice find by the way.

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=151167

[Glynn863]

Thanks. The link to pictures of your stock is missing. I would love to get the correct stock, but I already need to sell some excess parts myself to recoup my cost today. I didn't have another rifle in my budget right now, but this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. If I decided I wanted it, would you take installment payments, ha ha?

[the_1st_sgt]

Over the years I've only seen one sporterized 03A4. The guy knew what he had and wanted a small fortune for it. I should have bought it but money was a little tight back then. Nice find though, can't wait to see pictures when it is restored.

[jgaynor]

For your serial number a "C" stock would be a better choice than a "Scant" grip. To do a truly righteous restoration this will be an expensive project.
BTW how is the eye relief with that scope? Seems to sit awfully far back.

[bruce]

Congratulations! You will have fun building/restoring your rifle. Then... at the range... you will have fun shooting your rifle. Excellent. Sincerely. bruce.

[Glynn863]

Thanks for the replies. I took it completely apart to check things. I added a safety, since it was missing. I swapped the Tasco scope for a Weaver K10 I had, and the safety clears. With a strong light, I saw the faint markings on the barrel, RA 3-44, so it was re-barreled somewhere in its lifetime.

Looks like this rifle was probably built in June / July 1943. According to Remington Society Production Data and Serial Number Schedule letter I found online, I'll need a Feb to Sep 43 barrel for a correct restoration. It doesn't specify 2 or 4 groove.

As far as finishes for restoration, I know the buttplate, rear sling swivel, trigger guard (small loop? or large loop?), follower and spring, upper & lower bands, handguard ring and clips, bayonet lug, screws, bolt assembly should be arsenal blued, right? Receiver, barrel should be parked. What about Redfield mount, screws, and rings, blued or parked? Rings I have now are horizontal and appear to be 1".

Lastly, does this S/N (3411908) have any SRS info on it?

Thanks again.

[jgaynor]

Thanks for the replies. I took it completely apart to check things. I added a safety, since it was missing. I swapped the Tasco scope for a Weaver K10 I had, and the safety clears. With a strong light, I saw the faint markings on the barrel, RA 3-44, so it was re-barreled somewhere in its lifetime.

Looks like this rifle was probably built in June / July 1943. According to Remington Society Production Data and Serial Number Schedule letter I found online, I'll need a Feb to Sep 43 barrel for a correct restoration. It doesn't specify 2 or 4 groove.

As far as finishes for restoration, I know the buttplate, rear sling swivel, trigger guard (small loop? or large loop?), follower and spring, upper & lower bands, handguard ring and clips, bayonet lug, screws, bolt assembly should be arsenal blued, right? Receiver, barrel should be parked. What about Redfield mount, screws, and rings, blued or parked? Rings I have now are horizontal and appear to be 1".

Lastly, does this S/N (3411908) have any SRS info on it?

Thanks again.

Most of the rifles in your serial number range have barrels dated Feb, Mar, Apr, May 43.
Early A4's tended to have 4 groove barrels.
Early A4's had Magazine box assembles with small bow trigger guards,

SRS used to have the index to their records on line. They stopped doing that maybe six or seven years ago. At that point they had a little information on about 250 A4's. They may have unearthed more in the mean time. You may with to subscribe to their service and make an inquiry. There was nothing on your s/n as of several years ago.

[Glynn863]

Thanks. As I stated earlier, I have posted most of this on CMP and see where a lot of you guys respond there too. This is my first exposure to a real M1903A4, outside of a museum or gun show exhibit, so thanks for your patience in my questions. I already have a Remington M1903 and Remington M1903A3, so I'm not totally ignorant on the basic rifle. I guess now I have the trifecta, huh? I don't expect to get it restored quickly, but I like to do my research in the meantime. I will probably post some of this on Milsurps to get some info there as well. Thanks again.

[Glynn863]

Bolt pics:
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/IMG_0640.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/IMG_0640.jpg.html)http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/IMG_0644.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/IMG_0644.jpg.html)http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Glynn863/IMG_0643.jpg (http://s50.photobucket.com/user/Glynn863/media/IMG_0643.jpg.html)

[Shooter5]

Nice! Good find.

[Sunray]

Suspect it'll cost a lot more than you think to restore. You have a receiver and nothing else. Hardest part to find will be an '03A4 barrel.
Gunparts lists some stock parts, but no barrels. $190.95 for a Type C stock. $33.75 for a hand guard. It's the little metal bits that'll hurt most(over $3 for some of the assorted screws) and you need 'em all.

[JAYFMT]

It can be a fun project. Below is a link to mine I did back in 2009.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?88830-Undoing-Bubba’s-Work-on-a-Classic