1903 Star guage barrel

[henryfrapp]

I was told a star on the muzzle of an 03 barrel ment that it was a national match gun.. Anyone ever heard of this.

[Jim Watson]

A star on the muzzle means the barrel was star gauged, a mechanical instrument that was used to measure bore and groove diameters every inch down the barrel. The rifle was issued or sold through DCM with a yellow card showing those measurements. All 1903 National Match and Sporter barrels were star gauged.

I don't know if any service models were.

There are fake star gauge stamps and counterfeit cards in use.

[henryfrapp]

Thanks for the info , the rifle I saw this on was a service grade rifle.

[James K]

A star gauged barrel also has a star gauge number on the top of the barrel under the handguard. A star gauge barrel could have been put on any M1903 rifle, but one needs to be careful (and also know what the mark looks like) about paying a premium for a rifle with such a barrel or for the barrel itself. As an example, some folks have ground the end of a Torx wrench sharp, and used it to put on "star gauge" marks. They look nothing like a real mark, but some folks have been taken for hundreds of dollars.

Jim

[henryfrapp]

thanks for the help. I am in the market to get an 03 and was considering one this guy had. he wanted 750 for a pretty slick one but he wanted 2850 for the one with the star gage barrel. I turned them both down and the quest continues.