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Does anyone know if you can mount a scope on a springfield m1903a3? I want to know because if I can't then I'll have to get a springfield m1903a4. Also does anyone know how much these are?
can the springfield m1903 have a scope?
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Yes I had one on mine you can get them from Midway or Cheaper than dirt.
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PS
If you have a high number 03 (low number's can blow up) do not do what I did and sell it keep it for ever, love it, Cherish it and shoot it. I'll never be able to buy another one for what I paid for mine.
If you have a high number 03 (low number's can blow up) do not do what I did and sell it keep it for ever, love it, Cherish it and shoot it. I'll never be able to buy another one for what I paid for mine.
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Is it on top like the m1903a4?
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03-A3
My only hunting rifle is a 03-A3 and it was drilled and tapped for bases. My Father built it for me in the early 80's. It is the best shooting rifle I own.:thumb:
My only hunting rifle is a 03-A3 and it was drilled and tapped for bases. My Father built it for me in the early 80's. It is the best shooting rifle I own.:thumb:
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352 Posts
im kind of a fan of the 03 so yes you can scope a 03a3 however you must also either bend the bolt handle or grind it down as it doesnt have the clearance to get past the ocular of the scope the rifle must also be drilled and tapped for a scope base. however you own a piece of american history that you are about to mess up.once yo start u can never turn back.if you must use a 1903 action why not look for one already destroyed by sporterizing?keep it original for history sake.as for a 1903A4? there are a few out there. be prepared and better be sitting down. going price? $2400.00 and up
good god man if its original leave it that way. dont butcher it up. that said any good gunsmith can put a scope on anything. please dont mess it up if its an original unadulterated rifle. that gun is a piece of history. find a good gunsmith/dealer and talk to them and show them the gun. if they are good guys and give you value on it they should be able to back it up by showing the values to you in a book.
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1,584 Posts
You can mount a scope on an 1903 without making any permanent modifications. S&K makes them. They run from about 75-100 bucks and work great. I have one on my 03A3. I don't know how the rear mounts on an original 1903, but on my 03A3 the front is clamped around the barrel while the rear is mounted on the rear sight mount. The rear sight mount looks very funky and doesn't look very reliable, but it is super strong. Here is how it looks on the S&K website. http://www.scopemounts.com/index.html?main.html Here are some links to mine.
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_002.jpg
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_003.jpg
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_004.jpg
They are pictures from my cell phone so please excuse them if they arent digital camera quality
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_002.jpg
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_003.jpg
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/DandoCommando85/?action=view¤t=IMAGE_004.jpg
They are pictures from my cell phone so please excuse them if they arent digital camera quality
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1,165 Posts
I can scope the M1903 Springfield without messing with the bolt. I'm a gunsmith and I built a special mount for a friend.
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352 Posts
am interested in your mount that will keep the bolt original. is it a scout mount? if so you would have to cut the handguard and drill and tap the barrel? correct? not trying to argue am trying to learn
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352 Posts
hello did you have to grind the bolt handle to get it to clear the scope bell?
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Tsar Bomba, s’Trasviti, kak de la? I have a couple of questions for you that are very important to your mounting a scope on a Springfield 1903A3 bolt action rifle.
What the Hell for? If you’re going to take a historical piece and bubba (butcher) it to make it look like a sniper rifle of WW1, WW2, Korea and Vietnam then you had better have the proper scope mount(s), rings and scope which sure the Hell didn’t look like any of the scopes we have today—they were long, thin tubes with external mounts. corrections in many cases.
That’s the only reason, IMO, that you’d mount optics on it UNLESS you want to use the action for a custom build and then why worry about it as you’ll be drilling and tapping it for proper, modern, mounts, replacing the bolt and handle, rechambering the gun (maybe?), replacing the stock to make it into the custom job that some many thousands were turned into since the were released to mil-surp dealers. In other words, it wouldn’t be a 03A3 anymore!
100, 75 and especially 50 years ago when there were very few rifle makers and especially bolt action makers the only way to get a good boltie was to convert a mil-surp Mauser, P14/17, Enfield or Springfield (Forget the Carcano, Arisaka and especially the Mosin Nagant—very poor metal for the actions or just weren’t available). They were plentiful then, cheap and who gave a damn. Now they are nearly impossible to find in excellent condition if you want to pit together a military rifle collection and you will pay accordingly.
The only reason I’d even consider it—the stock is in NRA **** poor, all the metal is rusted or pitted from earlier rusting—stuff like that and then only to try it out or if some shade tree mechanic bubba’d it already and you’ve got nothing to lose since it has no real collector’s value.
Will they fit on a ’03, of course they will. As mentioned you can mount them on a broomstick if you want. A good machinist will make anything fit on another metal piece BUT WHY? Just so you can say you did it. Destroying a piece of history for what? You can buy a lot of other .30/06 rifles then to destroy the value of a historical piece of military equipment. You want to shoot it to see how it feels, then shoot it over open sights.
I'd really like to hear the why on this one and on a few other questions you've posed in this forum.
What the Hell for? If you’re going to take a historical piece and bubba (butcher) it to make it look like a sniper rifle of WW1, WW2, Korea and Vietnam then you had better have the proper scope mount(s), rings and scope which sure the Hell didn’t look like any of the scopes we have today—they were long, thin tubes with external mounts. corrections in many cases.
That’s the only reason, IMO, that you’d mount optics on it UNLESS you want to use the action for a custom build and then why worry about it as you’ll be drilling and tapping it for proper, modern, mounts, replacing the bolt and handle, rechambering the gun (maybe?), replacing the stock to make it into the custom job that some many thousands were turned into since the were released to mil-surp dealers. In other words, it wouldn’t be a 03A3 anymore!
100, 75 and especially 50 years ago when there were very few rifle makers and especially bolt action makers the only way to get a good boltie was to convert a mil-surp Mauser, P14/17, Enfield or Springfield (Forget the Carcano, Arisaka and especially the Mosin Nagant—very poor metal for the actions or just weren’t available). They were plentiful then, cheap and who gave a damn. Now they are nearly impossible to find in excellent condition if you want to pit together a military rifle collection and you will pay accordingly.
The only reason I’d even consider it—the stock is in NRA **** poor, all the metal is rusted or pitted from earlier rusting—stuff like that and then only to try it out or if some shade tree mechanic bubba’d it already and you’ve got nothing to lose since it has no real collector’s value.
Will they fit on a ’03, of course they will. As mentioned you can mount them on a broomstick if you want. A good machinist will make anything fit on another metal piece BUT WHY? Just so you can say you did it. Destroying a piece of history for what? You can buy a lot of other .30/06 rifles then to destroy the value of a historical piece of military equipment. You want to shoot it to see how it feels, then shoot it over open sights.
I'd really like to hear the why on this one and on a few other questions you've posed in this forum.
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If I remember correctly it says on the website that If you get high rings for it then you do not have to grind the bolt. My grandfather had this gun a long time and already drilled and tapped it before I got it. I knew that when he did that it ruined the collectors value, but back during the 1950's and 1960's that is just what people did to those guns since they were dirt cheap and plentiful. That is the reason I opted for the lower one so it would sit closer to the rifle.
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