White painted M1903A3?

[Hal O'Peridol]

Purchased a 1903A3 from a local gun store, Looked it over good, no distortion or discoloration around cutoff, excellent bore. Sock sanded heavily.

Got it home and disassemble for cleaning/oiling. Found the inside of the stock and handguard had been painted white, and some traces on the outside. Examining the metal carefully, found traces of black pain in the nooks and crannies of the action. No weld or trace of weld at barrel to receiver joint.

Rifle is a SC, with SC barrel and most other parts are Remington.

Prbably an ex drill rifle? Everything looks and checks out well as functional, other than the sanding and paint.

Has anyone seen a rifle as above somewhere else?

[clintonhater]

Has anyone seen a rifle as above somewhere else?

Quite a few times, actually, in old photos or news reel clips of parades of various kinds in which such quasi-military groups as ROTC or VFW units participated. Hard to believe anything as ugly as a white-painted rifle was once thought "attractive."

[1mark]

You most likely have an older parade rifle. They were painted white and some times the metal was painted gloss black. It have had a few of them. These were deactivated by having the barrel plugged and the bolt face welded. Check your to see if there is any sign of welds. It could be someone used the receiver from a parade and stock and installed a new barrel. Make sure the head spacing is good.

[Hal O'Peridol]

You most likely have an older parade rifle. They were painted white and some times the metal was painted gloss black. It have had a few of them. These were deactivated by having the barrel plugged and the bolt face welded. Check your to see if there is any sign of welds. It could be someone used the receiver from a parade and stock and installed a new barrel. Make sure the head spacing is good.

I remember seeing Navy color guards as a kid (Naval Ord Plant, Louisville) and their rifles were painted white, I guess to go with their white gaiters and webbibg.

1mark, as noted above, there is no evidence of any welding on the receiver or barrel. Barrel date lines up with manf date of receiver. I have had a few drill rifles in hand, so do know what to look for. I will check headspace anyway, as I do with all purchased milsurp rifles before I shoot them.

[bruce]

White paint on a 03-A3... parade rifle. Rinse all the metal parts with acetone... paint will be gone. For the stock... same treatment. Pour boiling water over the metal parts then oil/grease appropriately. For the stock... after cleaning give it a couple of coats of Tung Oil... or BLO. Just about guaranteed to give a good result. Have followed this method with a lot of surplus rifles. Excellent results. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[edpm3]

Bought a ceremonial M1917 from the CMP a few years back. All the wood had multiple coats of white, glossy paint. Metal was blued, but no welds anywhere. Turned out the white paint on the stock was a good thing. It was so thick it protected the original wood. When the paint was removed, a really nice stock remained with very few dings and all the stamps intact. The CMP sold it as a rack grade ceremonial for $250 but it is now a very nice rifle with service grade specs.

[Hal O'Peridol]

Thanks for the replies!

[purple]

When I was a kid one of the local gun shops had a white painted 12 gauge shotgun in the window with a sign indicating that it was available on loan "For Formal Weddings".

[bruce]

When I was a kid one of the local gun shops had a white painted 12 gauge shotgun in the window with a sign indicating that it was available on loan "For Formal Weddings".

Did a wedding a number of years ago for a fine young couple. During the service a young man entered the sanctuary w/ a pump shotgun spray painted white... with a white ribbon tied on the barrel. He thought his little bit of humor would be shared by everyone else. Let's just say that that afternoon he learned he had no future in comedy. Sincerely. bruce.