Whats this 1903 worth?

[A-Roe]

Hey, I have been trying to get an estimate on what this 1903 is worth, Im looking to sell it to a friend and since there is such a huge range of value for these 03's i want to make sure im giving him a fair price, but i need the money as well, and i dont want to give it away if its worth something.

What do you guys think? Heres what i know about it: Its got 4 groove rifling, a nice clean bore, no pitting or rust at all, very clean 95% quality stock, with the exception of a drip stain where cleaner appears to have gotten on the wood. Its got a Lymann 48c on the back, and its serial shows it was made in 1934, but the barrel is dated 3-37. Many of the parts on the bolt have an R stamp, so i believe their remington. The cartouche marks on stock near the bolt say C-SAA, and its got a P on the bottom of the stock.

Anyways, like i said, really nice quality gun, what do you guys think is a fair price?

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/7750/img5d.jpg
http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/1116/img4ef.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/4325/img1fd.jpg
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/18/img8l.jpg
http://img815.imageshack.us/img815/5193/img3w.jpg

[darkgael]

It sounds like a nice rifle.
I'm not sure what the Rs mean. Remington did not manufacture 1903s/1903A3s until 1941. That doesn't mean that someone could not have fitted a bolt into your gun at a later time
A good place to get a sense of what is appropriate is Gunbroker.com. There are a number there as I write this with minimum bids of $850.00 or so. One has only 30 min. left. There are no takers.
The only one of the bunch with any bids is a low-numbered 1903 with 13 bids on it and more than two days left to run. Right now it is at $382.00
So for your gun.....$850 is probably too high and $ 400 is too low, at least a bit too low.
Pete

[A-Roe]

Ah, cool, yeah it says springfield armory, the SN is 1483XXX so its not one of the low number guns (which is good, because those can blow up on ya) I noticed all the low price guns on gunbroker are the low SN guns also, looks like 600$ is the lowest on gunbroker for a later SN gun, and it doesnt look to be in that great a condition, pitted metal, rough stock... but then again it doesnt have any bids either...

[smoakingun]

the addition of the reciever sight puts a hurtin' on the collector value. You didn't give a good picture of the serial number, but be careful, low number 1903's abound that have had their numbers changed by the addition of a "1" at the begining of the serial. But from just looking at the photo's you gave, the rifle is probably worth between 450 and 600

[Scorch]

the rifle is probably worth between 450 and 600
I would agree, that seems to be in the range of what they are going for around here. And FWIW, I can buy a 1903A3 for $700, so there is no point in going all the way to ridiculous amounts on a rifle that is not a collectible.

[HKGuns]

I've been looking for a 1903 in about that condition and would pay around $600-$700 for it. Hope this helps.

[Jim Watson]

C-SAA signifies overhaul at San Antonio Arsenal.

They used a Remington bolt and may have had that 1937 barrel on hand to replace a worn original 1934. Or the action may have sat on the shelf at Springfield from 1934 til 1937, being that we were not at war at the time. Who knows?

The stock is a "scant pistol grip" type as used on many WW II 1903A3s and overhauled 1903s. It looks suspiciously smooth, it may have some extra coats of linseed or tung oil rubbed in but at least the C-SAA and P marks were not sanded out.

The GI "ladder" rear sight has been removed and the action drilled and tapped for the Lyman receiver sight. This is NOT a military installation, but it makes for good shooting.

I'd say the guys were right on the price range; $500 for a shooting Springfield that is not original but not badly Bubbaed.

[PetahW]

OTOH, the receiver sight could be removed, headless plug screws installed, and the proper milsurp rear battle sight re-installed.

THEN, I would bet that the rifle would bring close to $500 bareback, and the receiver sight another $100-$150 - both @ an online auction.

BTW - Unsold/unbid gun auction prices are NOT in any way an indicator of true value or worth.
They are only indicators of what a seller thinks they can get someone to pay for the gun.

The only true way to find the value, besides auctioning off that particular rifle, would be to surf for sold.closed gun auctions, to see what someone has recently been actually willing to pay for one in like condition.

Failing that, I would separate them as above, and start each auction at $0.01 with a $100 reserve on the peep and a $450 reserve on the rifle - and see where they go.

.

[darkgael]

Unsold/unbid gun auction prices are NOT in any way an indicator of true value or worth.
They may, however, be a guide to what a gun is NOT worth.
Pete