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Smith Corona 03'A3

gunguy30_06
I dad just bought one of these rifles and i was wondering if anyone could give me any info on these rifles. The rifle was refinished with this ugly dark black finish. After looking at the rifle i noticed lots of stamped parts and the action is not very smooth and the bolt is of different colors. can anyone give my any info about the history of smith corona rifles.
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  • Kdub
    Not much of a description to go on. Could be refinished.

    The '03A3 S-C was manufactured during WWII by the typewriter making folks. Look at the barrel just behind the front sight (if it still has the original) and you will see a date stamp to tell you when the barrel was made. If original, the barrel and receiver will be of the same date. The bolt may or may not be a conglomeration of fitted parts. The stock will have various stamps (cartouches) which will help identify if original or replacement. "Ugly black finish" could mean anything.

    Keep off the Ridgeline
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  • nmyers
    The M1903A3 rifle was stardardized on May 21, 1942. The initial contract was given to Remington Arms, but soon after that Smith Corona was also given a contract. SC didn't actually "make" the rifle; they just subcontracted out for all the parts. By this time many milled parts of the M1903 rifle were now stamped; if by "the action" you mean the sliding of the bolt in the receiver, there could be a problem with this particular rifle. If you just mean a heavy, creepy trigger, that's to be expected. Production continued only until the end of WWII. Few of these rifles saw combat, as the M1 rifle was being issued to most combat troops by that time.

    During the war black parkerizing on arsenal rebuilds was supplanted by gray (manganese phosphate) parkerizing. If your Dad's rifle has a partial serial # engraved on the bolt, &/or a partial serial # stamped on the stock, it is one of the rifles recently returned from Greece & sold by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (www.odcmp.com); most of these have a black parkerized finish.

    Neal
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