1903a3 With a Savage Barrel

[robh5]

A guy I know might be selling an early S.C. 03a3 which he said has a Savage barrel. I did not know Savage made barrels for the A3's. Would a rifle like this be worth any more then a S.C. barreled A3 in the same condition?

[John Beard]

Savage made no M'03-A3 barrels. That's a myth which refuses to die. What he likely means is that he has a SC M'03-A3 with a 6-groove barrel. An SC rifle with a 6-groove barrel will command a small premium, but not much.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[Jeff L]

Sound like a sporter. Got pics?

[robh5]

Savage made no M'03-A3 barrels. That's a myth which refuses to die. What he likely means is that he has a SC M'03-A3 with a 6-groove barrel. An SC rifle with a 6-groove barrel will command a small premium, but not much.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

He did say that it was a 6 groove barrel, but not marked Savage, marked Remington.

One question slightly off the barrel subject. I was told that one way you can tell a SC bolt from a Remington bolt is that the SC is marked with a small X on the handle flat, and obviously no R mark, true?

Thanks for the info.

[robh5]

Sound like a sporter. Got pics?

Have not seen it yet, but he say's it's full length stock, and barrel.

[Rick the Librarian]

He did say that it was a 6 groove barrel, but not marked Savage, marked Remington.

One question slightly off the barrel subject. I was told that one way you can tell a SC bolt from a Remington bolt is that the SC is marked with a small X on the handle flat, and obviously no R mark, true?

Thanks for the info.

1) If it is a Remington-marked barrel, it can't have six grooves. Only Smith Corona-marked barrels had them.

2) Yes, an X on the top of the bolt handle denotes a later SC bolt body.

[robh5]

Typo on my part. It is a SC marked barrel.

[chuckindenver]

A.J. Savage did indeed make barrels for the 1903A3... said Savage arms historian

[John Beard]

As I said, a myth that refuses to die.

J.B.