03 drilled and tapped for lyman

[BEAR]

Why is a 1903 rifle with a drilled and tapped receiver for a Lyman sight considered to be worth less than an non-drilled rifle in the same condition?

I saw a really nice SA 03 (1,400,000 range) at a gun show this weekend for $600. The owner said that if the rifle didn't have those screw plugged holes he would have asked a lot more.

Weren't these rifles used in marksman competitions by active and reserve units? Maybe not combat rifles but sharpshooter rifles that were well taken care of.

If I had the money I would have bought it.

[clintonhater]

Think they could be ordered from DCM that way, but how do you prove it wasn't done by the village gun butcher?

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Bear, if you're looking for a good shooter, maybe shoot a few Vintage matches, the collectability/value may not matter. A few years back, one of my juniors bought a beautiful Mark 1 drilled for a Lyman. Unfortunately, it didn't come with that sight but the holes were nicely filled with screws. All for the grand price of $400 and the rifle shoots well enough to get him silver pins and one gold pin at Springfield matches. He's thinking about getting some scope blocks installed and using it in Vintage Sniper matches and I doubt he'd do that if the rifle hadn't already been drilled. I built my vintage sniper on a 1.23M Springfield that had been drilled for a side mounted Weaver 330. That rifle cost $350 and came with the scope. I had some scope blocks installed, bought another scope and gave the Weaver to a buddy building an O3A4 replica.