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Friday is the start of my weekend, and like most Fridays head out in the morning to get breakfast and do a little gun hunting. At one of the shops that I stop at I help out if they are a little busy and sell a gun or two. Well this Friday when I stopped by I stepped behind the counter to help out and sold some ammo and then started looking at guns. I spotted something that cought my eye. It was dirty and on the lower rack with the old military guns that Bubba had had his way with.
I picked it up and smiled when I saw that it was a 1903 Remington. The only thing missing was the stacking swivel and one of the handguard clips. There was a little surface here and there, the worst was on the bottom of the front sight.
I smiled even more when I saw that it was marked $429.95. For those of you that know me, you know that I always try to get a better price on a used gun no matter how good the marked price is. I will just say, I did good on this one.
Here are a few pics.
Do not relish to feel what the men that used these weapons felt when they saw the elephant. For the elephant has tusk and to see him is to have his tusk dig deep into your soul. You will always have a part of you that will be cold and empty.
You found a 1903 in the wild? I only find them in collectors shops at double that marked price.
Remember, folks, you can't spell "douche" without "Che."
“PET PARENTS?” You’re not a “pet parent.” You’re a pet owner. Unless you’ve committed an unnatural act that succeeded in spite of biology. - Glenn Reynolds
And if you ever shoot it in the wild in street clothes, you'll discover why a WWI doughboy wore an undershirt, a blouse, a tunic, and a greatcoat, with a scarf rolled under for good measure.
As a lad with a shiny new such toy, two boxes of military ball gave me a collarbone bruise that looked like I'd lost after 10 rounds with a jackhammer, and almost gave me a permanent flinch.
At the ripe old age of 8 years, I was offered the opportunity to shoot my grandfather's '03-A3, one of his souvenirs from his extended vacation in France.
Two things become immediately apparent when shooting it left-handed: There are only two places to put the left thumb. And both of them hurt.
Fortunately, the thumb wasn't broken, and the lip did not need stitches. But the experience was ... educational.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six." Lindy Cooper Wisdom
Straight stocked '03's are the worst, the scants (pictured) are "less bad." Only the "C" stock is relatively pleasant. For some REAL fun shoot Ball M1 (not Ball M2 or Ball M2AP) in a straight stock. THAT's the combo that WW1 troops bitched about and rightfully so. I had the dubious pleasure of shooting that combo about 30 years ago and it left an impression in more ways than one.
Basically a 1903 and an M1 Carbine will finish off my collection. I'll have an American bolt-action rifle in .30 caliber & milsurp (which is three checks off of my list in one rifle) plus two milsurp carbines (my Yugo SKS and the M1 carbine), a couple of shotguns, an AR/Tinkertoy pile and enough handguns to not get bored at the indoor ranges.
Okay, I also want a Beretta Tomcat in .32 ACP so I have all the regular pocket calibers covered.
Remember, folks, you can't spell "douche" without "Che."
“PET PARENTS?” You’re not a “pet parent.” You’re a pet owner. Unless you’ve committed an unnatural act that succeeded in spite of biology. - Glenn Reynolds
I remember reading that the US Marines went into Guadalcanal with the Springfield rifle. I think it was something Jeff Cooper wrote about them IIRC. I imagine the Marines were pretty used to them or numbed up so it didn't bother them? Cooper said that they were extremely reliable and powerful.