View Full Version : 1903 Star guage barrel
henryfrapp
November 11, 2010, 05:11 AM
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
November 11, 2010, 08:51 AM
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
November 13, 2010, 06:20 AM
Thanks for the info , the rifle I saw this on was a service grade rifle.
James K
November 13, 2010, 09:32 PM
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
November 15, 2010, 01:21 AM
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.
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