Just got a 1903

[Bigern]

Hello everyone, first post here. I just picked up a 1903 made by Remington. I don't have the serial # on me right now so I'm not sure of the variant. One of the intriguing things about my purchase was that the seller had a spare barrel with it that is chambered in 300 win mag. It is also made by Remington and has a muzzle brake on it. I was never aware you could swap calibers on this weapon so readily. Do I need a different bolt for this or do I just remove and replace the barrel for caliber change? I would never assume it that easy. Thanks, for the help.

[p246]

Was the original barrel reamed for 300 win mag? There would be head spacing issues and its not as easy as hand screwing one barrel off and hand screwing another one on using same bolt. You sure it's not a 700 barrel.

Congrats on purchase post some pics.

[tom hargrove]

The bolt face for a 30-06 is smaller than for a 300 Mag. It would not work unless you have an altered bolt that was head spaced for the mag. barrel.

[Tom]

Hi Bigern, Welcome to our little forum.

Would love to see pictures and serial number.

It's not easy to post pictures here, but if I figured it out-you can too.

Start with saving pic to desktop.
Then "Click-on" "editing your thread" or just start a "post".
Then Click-on that little "paperclip goody", or click-on "go advanced".
Gets tougher from here, but follow the words.

Tom

[chuckindenver]

more to it then screw in a barrel and shoot.

[Bigern]

The scope rail covers the serial. I can make out 373****.

[Mike D]

Rifle is a M1903A3. The barrel is not threaded for an '03 or A3 action.

Mike

[Bigern]

Any way for me to tell what gun it belongs to then? I apologize, not much of a smith, yet. Hope to change that someday.

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Your last picture of the barrel, the close up of it's markings, appears to be the Ilion address of Remington Arms. It's pretty fuzzy. As to what Remington action it's threaded for, I don't know. I also see what looks like lawyer language about reading the instruction book so I'd also guess the barrel is newer rather than older.

[John Beard]

I recommend that you NOT consider re-barreling or re-chambering your rifle for 300 Winchester Magnum. The M1903/M03-A3 action does not have sufficient strength margin for that caliber.

J.B.

[chuckindenver]

extra barrel is a Remington 700 barrel, and wont work on the A3...
it would cost more then its worth to convert said rifle to a magnum cal,
you can get a nice used Remington 700 BDL in the cal, you want for less then 600.00 if you shop around.
it will cost you more then that to convert the A3..
you wont gain enough wth a 300 mag over the 30-06 other then recoil...pushing a .30 cal bullet faster, doesnt make it better,
if you load the 30-06 right it will kill anything in North America.

[Bigern]

I appreciate it. I don't really want to do that to a classic anyways. I'll either sell the barrel or use it for trade bait. Thanks everyone. Just ordered a rear sight, extra firing pin, and extractor for it. Can't wait to take it out.

[chuckindenver]

some nice cals, to do the 1903 in are,. .35 Wh. 338-06. .30 Gibbs. 6.6-06 and 25-06
all are based on the 30-06 case, so no mods are needed..
.35W, is likely the easiest to load for, and works great for anything with hide and horns..
338-06 is super, but a wild cat for sure..unless you load you own..your dead in the water.