November 11, 2010, 04:11 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: November 11, 2010
Posts: 58
|
1903 Star guage barrel
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.
|
November 11, 2010, 07:51 AM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,541
|
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. |
November 13, 2010, 05:20 AM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: November 11, 2010
Posts: 58
|
Thanks for the info , the rifle I saw this on was a service grade rifle.
|
November 13, 2010, 08:32 PM | #4 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
|
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 |
November 15, 2010, 12:21 AM | #5 |
Member
Join Date: November 11, 2010
Posts: 58
|
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.
|
|
|