With the CMP Eastern Games now being an annual event for me and three of my friends, we all wanted just a bit more besides the two Garand matches we had been competing in. Wheels began to turn and most of us moved forward toward building some type of rifle for the Vintage Sniper match. One went with the 1903A4 and the Garand sniper. The other went with a 1903A4 and a 1903 Marine Sniper. I went with the 1903A4 only due to funding.
I began my search on Gunbroker for a donor 1903A3. I ended up winning the bid for the rifle pictured below. Evaluation of the pictures and the description showed it to be a 1903A3 but once it was in hand it was found to be a 1903. I considered sending it back but was able to work a deal with the seller for a refund. End price was around $350 for the rifle, base, rings, and scope after shipping/transfer fee/refund. From there I parted it out - selling the scope (Leupold), stock, Timney trigger, and sporter barrel. After the sell-off I was left with an action, scope base, and rings that cost me nothing - actually $11 in the positive.
From various places/vendors I picked up the necessary parts to convert the rifle back to military form. New old stock (1944 two groove) barrel, scant stock, metal, and USGI trigger were aquired. My new total for the rifle was $365. Not too bad when comparing the remakes that are going for about $900+. Topped it off with a vintage Weaver 2.5X scope. I've since bought another Weaver 2.5 and had it sent of to Ironsighter for rehab and a post and crosshair. Of the two, I like the plain crosshair better. Here's my most recent pics.
The second Weaver scope I picked up came with a set of top split Redfield-style rings so I'm actually more correct now than with the horizontal split rings as pictured above. Pretty much all of the metal (except the stock metal) has been Duracoated to make it a more consistent color.
Since the build I've competed in three local matches and the 2011 CMP Easter Games with it. I've won first place in two of the three local matches and averaged about 85% during the Vintage Sniper match last year. I've now begun load testing for this specific rifle. To this point I had been using 150 gr. FMJ. Federal red box ammo and doing quite well. But, using the 168 gr. AMAX atop a charge of 47.0 gr. of Varget I finalized my best group at the range yesterday. I guess I'm pretty happy with the 7/8" 5-shot group considering the 2.5X scope handicap.
I began my search on Gunbroker for a donor 1903A3. I ended up winning the bid for the rifle pictured below. Evaluation of the pictures and the description showed it to be a 1903A3 but once it was in hand it was found to be a 1903. I considered sending it back but was able to work a deal with the seller for a refund. End price was around $350 for the rifle, base, rings, and scope after shipping/transfer fee/refund. From there I parted it out - selling the scope (Leupold), stock, Timney trigger, and sporter barrel. After the sell-off I was left with an action, scope base, and rings that cost me nothing - actually $11 in the positive.
From various places/vendors I picked up the necessary parts to convert the rifle back to military form. New old stock (1944 two groove) barrel, scant stock, metal, and USGI trigger were aquired. My new total for the rifle was $365. Not too bad when comparing the remakes that are going for about $900+. Topped it off with a vintage Weaver 2.5X scope. I've since bought another Weaver 2.5 and had it sent of to Ironsighter for rehab and a post and crosshair. Of the two, I like the plain crosshair better. Here's my most recent pics.
The second Weaver scope I picked up came with a set of top split Redfield-style rings so I'm actually more correct now than with the horizontal split rings as pictured above. Pretty much all of the metal (except the stock metal) has been Duracoated to make it a more consistent color.
Since the build I've competed in three local matches and the 2011 CMP Easter Games with it. I've won first place in two of the three local matches and averaged about 85% during the Vintage Sniper match last year. I've now begun load testing for this specific rifle. To this point I had been using 150 gr. FMJ. Federal red box ammo and doing quite well. But, using the 168 gr. AMAX atop a charge of 47.0 gr. of Varget I finalized my best group at the range yesterday. I guess I'm pretty happy with the 7/8" 5-shot group considering the 2.5X scope handicap.
