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I picked up a nice Remington M1903A3 last summer that had been sporterized, but had not been cut on, and had not been drilled or tapped. All it needed was a stock set. I already have one nice Remington 1903A3 that's all matching, so I was finding it hard for me to justify having two. Initially, I bought the gun to put it in a USGI stock set, then turn around and flip it for a nice profit so I could add something else to my collection.
Before this rifle fell into my lap, I had talked to my best friend for a while about how much I'd like to have a World War 2 era replica sniper rifle. I had been looking for a sporter that had already been drilled and tapped. This 03A3 was in perfect shape, was a Remington, and it had a perfect two groove barrel to boot. That's when I got the idea that maybe I could make my want of a reproduction sniper a reality because this one would be as close as I could get to one without spending an arm and a leg. Also, I didn't want to drop $1,100.00 in a Gibb's rifle as they're made on recovered drill rifle receivers, and I just don't trust them even if they've only been welded on a little bit. I also like the satisfaction of doing something myself.
My first rule to myself was that the receiver would not get drilled or tapped. There's no way I'm going to ruin a perfectly good milsurp for that. If I couldn't do it without drilling and tapping the receiver, then I was just going to put it in a stock set and sell it. I ordered a nice stock set from Numrich, and finished that much of the project.
While researching my project I found that S&K makes a no drill - no tap scope mount, and I thought to myself that's perfect. Next, I found that Hi Lux is making a reproduction of the Weaver 330/330c which became the M73B1 sniper scope. The only small hitch is that the Hi Lux scope is 3/4" diameter, but most rings are 1" diameter. Brownell's solved that with their delerin ring inserts. I had found everything that I needed. I ordered everything up, and this is the finished product. I had to dremel the end of the wood on the handguard a little bit to get it to fit the retaining ring, but I ordered an extra handguard in the event I want to revert it back to it's former self. Nothing that I've done to this 03A3 is permanent, and I'm proud of that. There's no way I would take a milsurp and ruin it.
Here are some before, during and after pictures of my M1903AForgery. I'm proud of how it turned out, and I'm happy to say that there's nothing that can't be undone on it.
Before this rifle fell into my lap, I had talked to my best friend for a while about how much I'd like to have a World War 2 era replica sniper rifle. I had been looking for a sporter that had already been drilled and tapped. This 03A3 was in perfect shape, was a Remington, and it had a perfect two groove barrel to boot. That's when I got the idea that maybe I could make my want of a reproduction sniper a reality because this one would be as close as I could get to one without spending an arm and a leg. Also, I didn't want to drop $1,100.00 in a Gibb's rifle as they're made on recovered drill rifle receivers, and I just don't trust them even if they've only been welded on a little bit. I also like the satisfaction of doing something myself.
My first rule to myself was that the receiver would not get drilled or tapped. There's no way I'm going to ruin a perfectly good milsurp for that. If I couldn't do it without drilling and tapping the receiver, then I was just going to put it in a stock set and sell it. I ordered a nice stock set from Numrich, and finished that much of the project.
While researching my project I found that S&K makes a no drill - no tap scope mount, and I thought to myself that's perfect. Next, I found that Hi Lux is making a reproduction of the Weaver 330/330c which became the M73B1 sniper scope. The only small hitch is that the Hi Lux scope is 3/4" diameter, but most rings are 1" diameter. Brownell's solved that with their delerin ring inserts. I had found everything that I needed. I ordered everything up, and this is the finished product. I had to dremel the end of the wood on the handguard a little bit to get it to fit the retaining ring, but I ordered an extra handguard in the event I want to revert it back to it's former self. Nothing that I've done to this 03A3 is permanent, and I'm proud of that. There's no way I would take a milsurp and ruin it.
Here are some before, during and after pictures of my M1903AForgery. I'm proud of how it turned out, and I'm happy to say that there's nothing that can't be undone on it.
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