Just received my new to me Remington 1903-A4. The serial is a Z prefix which has an interesting history and also a sub category to collecting these beautiful rifles. This rifle would have come out of what was the "2nd block" of A4's that Remington was making. The history is that Remington accidentally did a serial number overrun with their 1903a3's thus having two separate style rifles with the same serial numbers. Remington was still waiting on optics from Weaver so the rifles could not leave the factory yet. The Ordnance Dept ordered Remington to go ahead and stamp a "Z" in front of the rifle's serial number to differentiate the serial number overrun. All in all, it's only estimated about 2,800 A4's have this Z prefix. The rifle sports a scant stock with the appropriate RIA rebuild stamp. The barrel is 9-43 which was the dominantly used barrels for the Z prefixes and the muzzle gauges says it measures a .5 and it is a mirror so should be a very good shooter. The barrel also has the correct punch mark underneath indicating an A4 barrel. The optic is a Weaver 440 which is not the correct scope for the rifle but is cosmetically identical to the correct M73B1 scope minus the magnification and the data plate. But, I am on the hunt now for a correct M73B1 scope. Enjoy the photos. Some photos were taken after she got a few coats of raw linseed oil to really make that deep red color of the walnut come out.
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My New Z Prefix 1903-A4
- Thread starter sport10990
- Start date
Beautiful rifle. My favorite all time rifle.
Keep an eye out for the M84 scope as well as it was used on this rifle and I think looks very well with this stock. Keep them options open! ha.
GL!
DT
Keep an eye out for the M84 scope as well as it was used on this rifle and I think looks very well with this stock. Keep them options open! ha.
GL!
DT
M84's are definite
M84's are definitely easier to find. I have one on my M1D. While I like it and it is better than the M73B1, I want to keep it pure and think also the M84 doesn't look as good on the rifle.
M84's are definitely easier to find. I have one on my M1D. While I like it and it is better than the M73B1, I want to keep it pure and think also the M84 doesn't look as good on the rifle.
Beautiful rifle. There was one up on GunBroker last week with an A prefix Lyman Alaskan scope. Wanted 3400 buy it now. Still learning about what to look for in the 1903s so took a pass.
Update to everyone, I found a M73B1 scope that is correct. She shoots awesome and so far have done well out to 500 yards. But man does the M73B1 suck!
Great looking rifle! I have one similar but not in the Z range. Mine is a scant stock, as well. Any plans for the weaver 440? I may be interested if you want to sell
They certainly suck when compared to even low quality modern optics... However, I’ve always been of the mind that’s unfair when judging vintage gear. When compared to what was available at the time the M73B1 is a solid scope. Certainly there were better options available when considering its magnification, but it did its job as well as most other combat optics of the period.
But that is what I don't get it. The US sniper program was so far behind other countries. Even the ruskies had a 4x optic. Even the M84 on my M1D, (Same magnification) looks better and is a far better scope, even though the technology is about 20 years ahead.
