urrently, we're used to sniper rifles being specially built contrivances, put together from the ground up by their

makers to suit that particular specialty role, with high-end optics, special bedding, unique designs-theworks. But that was not always the case. Economy-minded ordnance officials were always on the lookout for some way to turn exiscing battle rifles into snipers-with more or less success. One thing is for sure, at least in the U.S. they had some pretty good platforms to start with, so all that was needed was adequate oPtics and mounts. The cult ofthe sniper rifle is such that original examples of some of the earlier efforts bring serious money from collectors, and sometimes no matter how much you have to spend the product simply isn'r available-hence the current enthusiasm for replicas of the originals. One of the

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REsURI(ECTIC,N

9F

TTIE O3A4

atest and most interesting is the subject of this piece, the 3ibbs Rifle Company 03A4. But before we talk about this :ecreation, it might not be amiss to go into the history ofthe 1903 Springfield itself to put things into perspective. In these days of stamped parts, anodized aluminum rnd plastic, it's tough to imagine a rifle being issued to the

GI that was every bit as good as some of the best iporting rifles being produced, but such was the case with :he U.S. Model 1903 Rifle. The fit, finish and design of che '03 were wonderment. [t was produced in government armories by truly skllled ,vorkmen who, despite the fact that it was a military-issue rrm, still took pride in the product they turned out. The "Springfield," as it came to be called, was actually r follow-on to another beautifully made arm, the .30-40 Krag Jorgensen. Frankly, there was no difference in the luality of the two arms, simply in design. The Krag was rn oddball Norwegian-designed bolt-action with a funny ;ide-mounrdd magazine that could not be clipJoaded. Vfith the burgeoning of other fine foreign and domestic military rifle designs, the Kragwas virtually obsolete from :he time it was issued. Vhen the Model 1898 Mauser :merged, it was painfully obvious that the lJnited States ead better get cracking on a new battle rifle. After some experimentation, what finally emerged in 1903 was a handsome five-shot bolt-action that employed a
rverage irariant ofthe'98 Mauser action. Actually, it was something

of an improvement over the Mauser Gewehr 98 in that it was shorter and a bit easier to handle. The gun's srock was full-length walnut. The action employed the bolt-mounted Mauser-type safety, but on the left side of the receiver there was a cutoffthat, when up, allowed the gun to be fired single-shot.'V?'hen down, cartridges could be chambered from the integral box magazine, and when it was in rhe ienter the bolt could be removed from the action. Finish ofthe gun was exquisite, with most parts highly polished and blued. The receiver went through a case-hardening and oil-quenching that gave it an interesting multicolored appearance.

First

1903s were chambered

in a new .30-03 caliber.

The cartridge employed a rimless, necked-down case with a 220-grain roundnose bullet that left the rnuzzle of the 24inch barrel at some 2,300 fps. Though the round was certainly ade quate for military work, when the Germans adopte d a superior pointed spitzer

bullet in l904the Americans followed suit with their own version that had a 150-grain cupro-nickel-jacketed bullet that boosted the older roundt velocity by some 400 fps. The famed.30-06 was born. All guns from that poinr on were manufactured to chamber the new caliber, and rifles then in service were taken back into the armories and altered to handle the shortened .30-06 cartridge by setting back rhe barrel .200 inch, or approximately two threads. Also, the original 1903 was equipped with an integral rod bayonet similar to ones seen on an early Hall carbine and the Model 1888 Springfield trapdoor rifle. President Theodore Roosevelt took one look at the fimsy setup, had a fit, and the guns were altered with a shorter stock and more traditional frontband that incorporated a

The Gibbs copy of the M73BI scope has lhe compony's nome

stamped on the right side

of the xope body, while the

original hos the stomping on lhe odiu stmenl.knob hou sing.

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tellwhen agunwas made and whether there have

been some alteradons in
its

lifetime.

fught from the getgo, rhe Springfield was highly regarded by allwho used ir. It was found to
be reliable and accurate. Despite their appellation

of "Springfield,"

some

345,779 03s were also

manufactured at Rock Is-

landArmory though this

Both lhe originol Remington 03y'd (lopJ ond the Gibbs copy hove

was

oiginol pistol-grip "P" proofma*ings. Either sib is correct.

Ihe Gibbs 03ld borrel markins htShil compored io the originol Remington, mode in Morch of 1944, has its own iniriols, Iogo ond date to moke sure lhe copy connot be not passed off os the reol thing.

just a small portion of the almosr a million and a half rifles t-har were originah turned out between

stud for a 16-inch-bladed-knife bayonet. So by 1905 we had the 1903 lookingpretty much like the one we are used to today. The sight was a rear ladder style graduated to 2,850 yards and incorporated a peep, notch and batde sight. The front blade was criticized as being rather delicate, so a removable blued-steel cover was devised to snap over it and offer some protecrion. On top of the barrel,'03s were marked with the month, year and place of manufacture. Because of this, along with the serial number on rhe receiver and many small modifications (handguards, stock bolts, bolt handles, etc.), it is easy for the modern enrhusiast to

1903 and 1927. Below Springfield serial number 800000 and Rock Island number 285506 there is some question as to the strength of the guns' receivers because of a britdeness caused by a double case-hardeningprocess, and in the final year of production all guns wirh the offending numbers were raken out ofservice. Today they're fine for collecting but not recornmended forshooting. Despite the fact that rhe 1903 was America's primary issue rifle, by the time'World NTar I came around rhere were not enough ofthem in the system and production was not high enough to put rhem into every Doughboyt hand. Actually, the .30-06 Model l9l7 "Enfield.," which was a modification of an earlier British rife being made under contract by\Tinchesrer and Remington U.M.C., was fielded in greater numbers than the Springfield. The Model 1903 was an adaprable arm. Many were turned to sniper use during the Great \Var using an elaborate'VTarner-Swasey scope, some were stripped down and fitted with extended 25-shot magazine for air service in observarion balloons, and others were set up to take a curious semiautomatic repeating mechanism designed by John D. Pedersen but made too late for use in \7\7I. There were also .22 trainer and targer variants. Too, the Springfield proved irselfto be an excellent match rife, and several differenr versions were set up from the early 1920s into 194O. Needless to say, all of the guns mentioned in the above paragraph bring collector premiums, with the exception of the 1903 Mark I that was alrered for the Pedersen device. ht generallyworth alittle less than a standard Springfield, unless ofcourse you have a Pedersen device (most were destroyed in 1931); then the value of rhe piece climbs into

the stratosphere.
Originol 03fu4s hod iheir receiver stc,mps odiusted so they could be eosily discerned wilh ihe mounl oltoched.lhe Gibbs cory uses ston-

Even though the 1903 Springfield was replaced by the Ml Garand semiauto in l936,when the U.S. entered \forld Var II a simplified, Parkerized version of the'03, called the Model 1903A3, that used many
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dord svrplus 03 receivers ond lhus mointoins lhe stondard ma*ing.

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RESURRECTION OF THE O3A4

the Gibbs 03M copy (boitomJ, with an original Reminglori lrod, comes pretty close in rte boks deportment, but there are subtle differences. stamped parts was manufactured by Remington and Smith-

Corona. The gun proved to be rugged and accurate, and while most never saw combat, scoped versions of the rifle, termed l9O3A4, ended up being the principal sniper rife of\Zorld \Var II. The 0344, while probably not as good a sniper rifle as Britaint No.4 (T) or some of the German K98 efforrs, was
generally regarded as ar leasr as adequate, depending upon what kind ofoptics were fitted to it. Actually, the rifle itsel{, while not as eleganr as rhe precursor 03, was every bit as accurate as the original, so there was no reason why it shouldnt be up to rhe sniping role.

www.gibbsrife.com) came inro possession of a slew of dewatted 1903 training rifles. While a bunch were sold as-is, others were deemed in good enough condition to be refurbished into shooters, and what better configuration to make them into than the 03A4, originals ofwhich are commandingextremely high prices from collectors? Because of this, few ever make it to th range. Gibbs' M9103A4 is made using original Remington Vorld \Var II actions and turned-down bolts, which Glbbs acquired when it bought the rifle division of parker-Hale in the 1990s. The new 03A4s are fitted wirh four-grooved barrels made by Pedersoli in Italy and mounted on replica 1903 .,C" stocks made of walnur-finished hardwood, -omplete with period-style inspectors' carrouches. The Redfield mounr and rings have been carefully duplicated, as has the M73B1 scope (Chinese made), to produce apretry good likeness of the real article, The action is Parkerized and has blued srock furniture as per the original. Gibbs has purposely made some alterations to the rifle
so

During its lifetime, the 03M

was

fitted with four diF

All

ferent scopes: the M73Bl, which in civilian life was actually the N(eaver 330C; the M73 (Lyman Alaskan); the M81; and the M82, which were really the same scope with the exception that the M8l had a crosshair reticle and the M82 a post.

used a special Redfield mounr accommodate the scopes' vagaries.

with different rings to

Awhile back Gibbs Rife Company (304/262-1651,

it cannot

be passed

offas the real thing. The muzzle marla mo*s on the'funet housing,

c?mpy:s fworTbl4h r,h: oripinol' !:-::ry-IJl' :::ryq"Y^) 1lougl th.ere ore vorionces. Gibbs' version hos odiustmenr anows on the KnoDs los ct,ct some onginots' such os fihose mode by Fronffiofi Arsenol), while lhe Wewer origina! hos
the

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RESURRECTION OF THE O3A4

Originol 03Ms were litted with Redfield Jn one-piece mounts ond were morked with lhe moker's name, The Gibbs copy hos thot com' pony's moniker slomped on it lo avoid confusion.

the Gibbs stock cofiouche (boltoml copies the period mark of inspeclor FronkJ. Atwood, lft shown in comporison wilh on originol Reminglon's.

ings feature the Gibbs crown rather than the U'S. C)rdnance bomb and "GR' (Gibbs Rifle) instead of "RA, (Remington Arms) and the current date. As well, the receiver markings are those of the standard 03A3. No attempt was made to alter them to the 03M style. The mounts and scopes are also markedwith Gibbs designations to forestall any fakery.

I had the opportunity to compare the Gibbs product with a vintage Remington 03M, and as you can see by the
accompanying illustrations, it holds up very well. There are

The

Gibbs 03ld lunctioned perfectf ond hondled pretty much like originals the ovthor has fired in the post.

minor differences in configuration, especially in the scope,

is on its

but they are not blatant enough to stand out when the rife
own.

Like the period scope, the Gibbs M73Bl has simple crosshairs and is 2.5X. Adjustments are made via a pair of knurled knobs on a housing at the rear Portion ofthe scope' It can be focused via a rotating eyePiece. \7e took our Gibbs 03A4 to the range alongwith some Hornady 165-grain BTSP .30-06 and Black Hills 168'grain with Hornady match hollowpoint bullets. After some initial dialing in and adjusting of the scoPe' we had excellent

results with both batches of ammunition, producing just slightly over minute-of,angle accuracy. This is just about as good as any period pieces I ve fired. The rifle functioned flawlessly, and more than one shooter thought I was shooting a W\fll-vintage 03A4the gun looks that good. Theret an old saying-I dont remember who coined it-to the efFect that the Mauser was a hunting rifle, the Enfield a battle rifle and the Springfield a target rifle' The new Gibbs certainly holds up its end of that aphorism. Retailing for $995 (the rife comes with a replica M1907 sling' M1903
Once the scope was dialed in, the Gibbs rifle shot close to minuteof-ongle wili severol brands of ommunilion, though the Homody 168-groiners come oul on IoP,

dust sleeve and Scott Duffs reprint of the original 03A4 manual), it's worth looking at and a more than viable alternative to takingyour $4,000+ into the field.
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