Remington 1903 New Zealand Lend Lease

[gfguns]

Hello all
I am looking for opinions regarding rarity and value of a Remington 1903 New Zealand Lend Lease in mint condition with a 1923 sling. Thank You in advance for your help.
Greg

[Mike D]

If it is an early rifle with a finger groove stock, your getting close to $1,500, my opinion.

Do you own the rifle? Photos?

Mike

[John Beard]

Seasons' Greetings!

The rifles are not rare. Over 20,000 were issued and the survival rate is reasonable. A mint specimen should fetch $1500-$2000. But prices have softened over the last 12 months, so it may not fetch that much.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year!

J.B.

[Kragrifle]

The last one on GB sold right at $2000. Very difficult rifle to find.

[gfguns]

Thanks Mike D. I don't have pictures yet but I will post some ASAP. Yes it does have the grasping grooves and I believe the serial # begins with 303. The rifle is like new with just a couple small dents in the stock. The wood appears as though it has not been handled at all and the markings RLB, sub inspector marks and New Zealand markings are very well struck and crisp. I think it will take $2,500.00 to 3k to buy this rifle and I agree that sounds pricey but I have not been able to find many for sale the last year or so and I have seen none available in this condition. I will report back when I know more. Thanks again for your help

If it is an early rifle with a finger groove stock, your getting close to $1,500, my opinion.

Do you own the rifle? Photos?

Mike

[gfguns]

Same to you and yours John. I hope the seller is watching this thread because he has his sights set a bit higher. Thank You for your time and the information John

Greg

Seasons' Greetings!

The rifles are not rare. Over 20,000 were issued and the survival rate is reasonable. A mint specimen should fetch $1500-$2000. But prices have softened over the last 12 months, so it may not fetch that much.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year!

J.B.

[gfguns]

Thank You Kragrifle. do you recall the condition on that one?

Greg

The last one on GB sold right at $2000. Very difficult rifle to find.

[Emri]

Same to you and yours John. I hope the seller is watching this thread because he has his sights set a bit higher. Thank You for your time and the information John

Greg

If JB re-reads this thread and sees that the rifle has a GG stock, he might re-think his estimates. Are you sure the SN is 3,030,000 or 3,003,000. I have a 3,008,000 Remington with the GG stock. The stock is not "mint" and the rifle itself is a restoration to "correct" status. I paid $1500 for it and considered that a "good deal".

Pictures if you can !!


FWIW,

Emri

[Rick the Librarian]

One of the finest Remington M1903 rifles with grasping grooves is in the 3,030,000 range. I have seen legitimate gg stocks on Remingtons well into the 3,040,000 range.

[gfguns]

Thanks Emri. The serial number of the rifle is 3032228 and I should have pictures tomorrow at the latest.

Rick that is a nice looking Red Star. Mine is in the 3,04 range and does not have the gg stock. Why are the gg rifles more desirable and what kind of premium do they command? BTW do you still refer to these as Red Stars? If not what do you call them?

Thanks for your help Emri and Rick

Greg

[Rick the Librarian]

The GG stocks (if the correct RLB-marked ones) command a higher price, simply because there weren't that many made out of the total group of @ 348,000 Remington M1903s. I would estimate at most, maybe 10-15% had GG stocks. Out of those, think of all the ones that were lost, overhauled, etc. and I don't think it is too hard to figure out why correct GG Remington M1903s command a significant premium.

Yes, I do refer to the 200 or so rifles imported by Will Levin as "Red Star" rifles. It is obviously a "generic" name and not really correct, since only about 70 or so were really sold by the Red Star Gunshop.

[John Beard]

If JB re-reads this thread and sees that the rifle has a GG stock, he might re-think his estimates. Are you sure the SN is 3,030,000 or 3,003,000. I have a 3,008,000 Remington with the GG stock. The stock is not "mint" and the rifle itself is a restoration to "correct" status. I paid $1500 for it and considered that a "good deal".

Pictures if you can !!


FWIW,

Emri

Seasons' Greetings!

If the question had been posed a year ago, I would have given a higher estimate. But mid-range collectible M1903 prices have softened over the past 12 months. I've seen some real bargains go down, including some exceptionally nice Remingtons.

I acknowledge that some of the commercial auction houses have been able to fetch good money in many cases. But even their prices have softened and have become very much hit and miss. I attribute the softening to a sustained sour economy. Just my opinion.

Happy New Year!

J.B.

[Kragrifle]

But Mr. Obama says we are "doing fine"!

[rebound]

What's the opinion on this one?
Serial #3016811 all R marked but no ORD. or RLB stamp.
And it doesn't look like it was sanded off.

[rebound]

Sorry about the big pics,,, but the grandson is teaching me how to load pics... At least you won't have to inlarg'em. LOL