Thread: RIA 1903
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Old February 28, 2013, 04:42 PM   #2
tahunua001
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Join Date: July 21, 2011
Location: Idaho
Posts: 7,839
this is a very nice collectors piece, $875 is a bit pricey but not at all unreasonable. the receiver serial number dates to 1907 so the barrel is a rebarrel and sadly is not a post war refit so it does hurt value a little but not by much.


your main problem is that this rifle is considered unsafe to fire, the heat treatment process of the earlier springfields are crude at best, very primitive even by world standards at the time of manufacture. these problems gave rise to a number of guns that exploded during firing from having too brittle of steel. the politically correct answer is to say that these rifles are not safe as there is no way of testing to be sure without risking damage to the rifle. this is a good gun to sit on display in a collection but not an ideal candidate for a gun you intend to shoot.


FWIW, I have a low serial number springfield that I shoot and have not had it fail yet but again... that's just me. your experience may vary.
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