Just bought this rifle. Need help with make, model etc.
- Thread starter moabman69
- Start date
Jim Watson
New member
It is a heavily sporterized 1903A3 from the WWII era.
It is not possible to tell anything more from your pictures, the barrel might be GI .30-06 or it could be a replacement in about any caliber.
The serial number is bogus; A3 numbers started at 3000000.
Possibly a pilfered service rifle sporterized on the economy during the Occupation and remarked to obscure its origin.
It is not possible to tell anything more from your pictures, the barrel might be GI .30-06 or it could be a replacement in about any caliber.
The serial number is bogus; A3 numbers started at 3000000.
Possibly a pilfered service rifle sporterized on the economy during the Occupation and remarked to obscure its origin.
IIRC, Santa Fe serials began with 7 million. That 2 million serial number makes it "the rifle that never was." Springfield stopped at 1.5 million something, and Remington began at 3 million. It looks to me like whoever did the "sporterizing" and "engraving" ground off all the markings, then put on a fake serial number. One concern I would have is that those rifles were hard, not easy to engrave without annealing the receiver and doing that requires heat. Was the receiver heated? I don't know. If it was, how hot did it get? Again, I don't know. But I would be concerned about firing the rifle until I knew more about what was done to it.
Jim
Jim
After Santa Fe ran out of leftover receivers, didn't they have their own cast ( not machined ) ?. I seem to remember something along those lines. of course my memory nowadays is as short as my , well you know. I went into a room the other day and forgot what I was there for, luckily it was the bath room.
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As I understand, only a licensed manufacturer can put on his own serial numbers and location; a gunsmith who has to remove the serial number for some reason should contact BATFE before doing so; he will either be told to re-use the original number or be assigned a number by BATFE. I am still inclined to think the number in this case is simply spurious, especially since there is no location or any indication of where a record can be found.
Yes, Santa Fe had receivers cast in Spain. Some were not high quality and there are reports of blowups. In the 1960's we sold quite a few SF rifles and had no reports of blowups, but we did get one in that the bolt (shipped in the box) would not fit because the receiver was twisted 20 degrees or so. We returned it and got a good one, or at least one that worked.
I now seem to recall that Santa Fe started at 5 million; it was National Ordnance that started at 7 million. The history of those companies is interesting, but confusing. Anyone who wants to Google can research it; I have done it before and won't bother to do it again.
Jim
Yes, Santa Fe had receivers cast in Spain. Some were not high quality and there are reports of blowups. In the 1960's we sold quite a few SF rifles and had no reports of blowups, but we did get one in that the bolt (shipped in the box) would not fit because the receiver was twisted 20 degrees or so. We returned it and got a good one, or at least one that worked.
I now seem to recall that Santa Fe started at 5 million; it was National Ordnance that started at 7 million. The history of those companies is interesting, but confusing. Anyone who wants to Google can research it; I have done it before and won't bother to do it again.
Jim
The problem with a rifle like that is that it was made to suit the tastes of one man. Only another man with the same tastes would buy it. If you like it and it shoots OK, you have a good, and unique, sporting rifle. But its dollar value is low; the engraving is not high quality and, as I said, it was made to suit one man.
As always with a strange rifle, you should check it out carefully or, if you don't have the experience, have a gunsmith do so.
Jim
As always with a strange rifle, you should check it out carefully or, if you don't have the experience, have a gunsmith do so.
Jim
highpower3006
New member
It's a low number Springfield '03 that someone added a "2" to the serial number. If you look closely at the serial number, the first 2 is spaced slightly off from the rest of the numbers.
Jim Watson
New member
No.
It is a 1903A3 that had a made up number applied.
See the big male dovetail on the receiver bridge for a peep sight? That is the immediate identifier of the A3. All nickel steel or vanadium steel.
It is a 1903A3 that had a made up number applied.
See the big male dovetail on the receiver bridge for a peep sight? That is the immediate identifier of the A3. All nickel steel or vanadium steel.
highpower3006
New member
Your are right. I didn't look through all the pics when I jumped to that conclusion. Sorry about that.