1903a3

stepbolt · April 3, 2014, 09:10 AM

I'm new to this forum so bear with me. I have the milsurp disease and just acquired my first 1903a3. It has a threaded muzzle and a raised front sight blade. I emailed Remington to see if they ever manufactured these this configuration. They said their record keeping ended in 1943. This barrel was manufactured in 5/43. I've seen these with herters muzzle brakes on them. Did I buy a mutt or have I got something other than a good shooter?

**Mike Irwin** · April 3, 2014, 10:51 AM

To the best of my knowledge no, 1903A3s were never made with threaded muzzles.

kilimanjaro · April 3, 2014, 11:45 AM

No threaded issue barrels that I've ever heard of.

Fortunately, you can still get original minty barrels and swap out.

Chris_B · April 3, 2014, 04:34 PM

Canfield doesn't seem to reference any threaded 1903 or 1903A3 barrels.

There was a silencer in use before the second world war but 5/43? Not that I can tell

How about some photos?

James K · April 3, 2014, 07:57 PM

The Army experimented with at least two different kinds of "silencer" for the M1903 rifle, but gave up the idea when it proved impossible to suppress the noise of the bullet without reducing the power of the round below optimal levels. Both types of silencer were attached by clamping to the front sight fixed base, though, not by threading the barrel. No silencers were made for or issued with the M1903A3/A4, although a flash hider was issued with the A4..

Jim

PetahW · April 4, 2014, 09:30 AM

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Welcome to TFL, stepbolt (aka: Maine-iac ?

)

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gyvel · April 5, 2014, 02:57 PM

The only bolt military rifle that I can think of with a threaded muzzle is the Swedish 1896 Mauser, where the threading was allegedly to allow the use of screw-on device to shred wooden practice bullets.

More than likely, someone, somewhere got the bright idea that he was going to put a can (silencer) on his Springfield. I'd always heard that there were a lot of poachers in the Maine woods; A can would be a reasonable item if it worked on a .30-06, which it doesn't.

Jim Watson · April 5, 2014, 04:09 PM

There have been muzzle brakes available for a long time. It was probably threaded for one by somebody who didn't want that surplus plinking ammo kicking him around.

The old Maxim silencer was probably not worth the trouble in WWI combat.
Even though it cannot affect the supersonic "Crack!", it is an effective muzzle blast muffler, flash hider, and recoil reducer. In some situations that would be handy because the enemy would not know where shots were coming from. Not handy enough for the Army to keep buying them, though.

JD0x0 · April 5, 2014, 04:25 PM

Quote:

A can would be a reasonable item if it worked on a .30-06, which it doesn't.

A 'can' can absolutely work on a .30-06, as long as the 'can' is designed for the pressures of supersonic loads. A 'can' will not stop the crack of a supersonic bullet, but it will still drastically reduce the sound of the gun firing, eliminate flash, and reduce recoil.

Checkout this 25-06, supersonic bullets. The sound is a whisper compared to an unsuppressed gun in the same caliber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joyhp-MRv5E

Here's another comparison. Supersonic unsuppressed, supersonic suppressed, subsonic suppressed. The supersonics are still way quieter than when unsuppressed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZbxz6ORXFo

gyvel · April 5, 2014, 06:10 PM

Quote:

A 'can' can absolutely work on a .30-06, as long as the 'can' is designed for the pressures of supersonic loads. A 'can' will not stop the crack of a supersonic bullet, but it will still drastically reduce the sound of the gun firing, eliminate flash, and reduce recoil.

Yes, I know they can work; I have been very surprised at some of our local NFA shoots by how much they reduce the noise of, for example, a .308, and even a bolt action .50 BMG

I just don't think one would work as well as a poacher might want it to.

Jim Watson · April 5, 2014, 07:41 PM

The only full bores I have been around shot with suppressors were .308s.
They were not naked ear safe.

Mike, I should add that the occasion was a 1000 yard Long Range and F-Class match. Not much scope for subsonic ammunition there.

**Mike Irwin** · April 7, 2014, 07:54 AM

I've fired a suppressed .308 that was naked ear safe, as it used subsonic ammunition.

Owner said the difference in suppressor life between firing subsonic ammunition vs standard velocity was pretty dramatic.

April 3, 2014, 09:10 AM	#1
stepbolt Junior Member Join Date: September 25, 2009 Location: Waterville ,Me. Posts: 1	1903a3 I'm new to this forum so bear with me. I have the milsurp disease and just acquired my first 1903a3. It has a threaded muzzle and a raised front sight blade. I emailed Remington to see if they ever manufactured these this configuration. They said their record keeping ended in 1943. This barrel was manufactured in 5/43. I've seen these with herters muzzle brakes on them. Did I buy a mutt or have I got something other than a good shooter?

April 3, 2014, 10:51 AM	#2
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,382	To the best of my knowledge no, 1903A3s were never made with threaded muzzles. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

April 5, 2014, 07:41 PM	#11
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,539	The only full bores I have been around shot with suppressors were .308s. They were not naked ear safe. Mike, I should add that the occasion was a 1000 yard Long Range and F-Class match. Not much scope for subsonic ammunition there. Last edited by Jim Watson; April 7, 2014 at 08:09 AM.

April 7, 2014, 07:54 AM	#12
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,382	I've fired a suppressed .308 that was naked ear safe, as it used subsonic ammunition. Owner said the difference in suppressor life between firing subsonic ammunition vs standard velocity was pretty dramatic. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

April 3, 2014, 11:45 AM	#3
kilimanjaro Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2009 Posts: 3,963	No threaded issue barrels that I've ever heard of. Fortunately, you can still get original minty barrels and swap out.

April 3, 2014, 04:34 PM	#4
Chris_B Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2007 Posts: 3,101	Canfield doesn't seem to reference any threaded 1903 or 1903A3 barrels. There was a silencer in use before the second world war but 5/43? Not that I can tell How about some photos?

April 3, 2014, 07:57 PM	#5
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	The Army experimented with at least two different kinds of "silencer" for the M1903 rifle, but gave up the idea when it proved impossible to suppress the noise of the bullet without reducing the power of the round below optimal levels. Both types of silencer were attached by clamping to the front sight fixed base, though, not by threading the barrel. No silencers were made for or issued with the M1903A3/A4, although a flash hider was issued with the A4.. Jim

April 4, 2014, 09:30 AM	#6
PetahW Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 4,678	. Welcome to TFL, stepbolt (aka: Maine-iac ? ) .

April 5, 2014, 02:57 PM	#7
gyvel Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Northern AZ Posts: 7,172	The only bolt military rifle that I can think of with a threaded muzzle is the Swedish 1896 Mauser, where the threading was allegedly to allow the use of screw-on device to shred wooden practice bullets. More than likely, someone, somewhere got the bright idea that he was going to put a can (silencer) on his Springfield. I'd always heard that there were a lot of poachers in the Maine woods; A can would be a reasonable item if it worked on a .30-06, which it doesn't.

April 5, 2014, 04:09 PM	#8
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,539	There have been muzzle brakes available for a long time. It was probably threaded for one by somebody who didn't want that surplus plinking ammo kicking him around. The old Maxim silencer was probably not worth the trouble in WWI combat. Even though it cannot affect the supersonic "Crack!", it is an effective muzzle blast muffler, flash hider, and recoil reducer. In some situations that would be handy because the enemy would not know where shots were coming from. Not handy enough for the Army to keep buying them, though.