I'm jealous.

In my opinion the 03A3 was near the pinnacle of bolt action battle rifle technology.

Is there anything in particular you need to know?

Nice lookin' rifle, Bud.

Maybe run a few through with softer loads, to feel out the action?

Certainly looks like an 03 A3.  It should be safe with modern ammo, but all the general rules of thumb apply.  If you have not fired it or been present when it was fired and seen the gun in operation, have a gunsmith or other knowledgeable person check it out for proper function and proper headspace.  Might save you a nasty surprise at the range.   Historically they are very similar to the Mauser rifle they were designed to go head to head with back in 1903 when they were first brought into service.  The 03 A3 variant was pressed into service during WW2 with improved metallurgy ( some of the earlier 1903 models had an inferior heat treatment of the receivers ) and streamlined production methods like stamped instead of milled parts.  Some went to two groove rifling instead of four or six but they all proved to be deadly accurate and hard hitting combat rifles and were the basis for many American sniper rifles of that time period.

Scope mounting is possible but something of a pain in the rear.  The issue sights are quite good though and generally adequate for combat accuracy out to 300 to 400 yards depending on your ability. 

Try a web search for smith corona 03 A3 and you will find a very good article from the American Rifleman on your rifle as well as other good general info.  surplusrifle.com has some good tutorials on assembly and disassembly as well as care and feeding.  Good luck with your new/old warhorse.   

actually, looking at yours compared to mine, you got a full grip on yours, color me jealous....

  it's beautiful!

Definitely hit the CMP boards.

One thing to watch for is deactivated drill rifles that have been reactivated. 

I was seriously looking at getting a springfield 1903A3 as well.  Turns out a lot of deactivated drill rifles are coming back on the market.  Some guys will stay away from them absolutely no questions asked.  Others it seems that if they were deactivated a very certain way they can be 'restored' in a way that makes them safe to fire, and at least a couple of companies are doing that.  But most people say that these companies should be up front about what they are doing.

The 1903a3s AIM surplus was passing off were some I was looking at but it turns out they were veiwed by the surplus rifle community with a high degree of skepticism on their safety.  BoxOTruth had reviewed a rifle bought by the writers friend.  I can't seem to find the article right now, but when I looked into that one they too were reconverted drill rifles, but most people seemed to think they were both faithfully restored and safe, but still some were up in arms about them being ex drill rifles.


Oh, these rifles IIRC have a 'battle zero' of 300 yards, so don't be surprised when you first take it out shooting.

The reactivated drill rifle thing, many rifle were converted by welding a rod in the barrel. Guys are re-activating them by installing a new barrel. The 1903A4 replicas being sold by the Gibbs Rifle Company (http://www.gibbsrifle.com/1903-a4_sniper_rifle_.html) are almost certainly former drill rifles. I suspect most of the rifles being offered by online dealers are former drill rifles. Akodo mentioned the AIM Surplus guns (I think these came from Gibbs), but also the rifles offered by James River Armory.

My feeling is, the problem with reactivating a drill rifle as I described above, is that the heat treating at the front of the receiver was damaged when the rod was installed. While I agree that this is not necessarily the case (i.e., the rod *could* have been installed without damaging the receiver), the guys doing the converting had no idea anyone would ever shoot these rifles again. Anyway, it's a controversial subject. Some people think my fears are unfounded. Could be. I'm an accountant, not a gunsmith or  an engineer.

As far as being able to tell if a rifle is a former drill rifle, well, not really a good way to tell. Some say you can look for discoloration from the welding. Again, I am not a gunsmith, and I never really had an eye for that. If I see a new production barrel, that would set off alarm bells. But a guy could be using a NOS barrel. Arsenal rebuild or re-activated drill rifle?  The serial number of yours indicates manufacture in August '43. Smith-Corona barrels were marked SC, so I would expect an original barrel to be say SC 8-43, give or take a month.

Rob

That was a pretty good deal you scored there.    I wish I had a Springfield to go with my M1s, but they are pretty expensive these days.     

Followed the advice here, asked the seller to disassemble the rifle and he sent me pics, absolutely no welds. Barrell is marked "SC 6-43" with the flaming Bomb cartouche of the ordnance Corps just as Rob advised.

I'd spend my own money on it, and I am not a fan of converting drill rifle receivers.

Rob