Tycho van Steeg I've got an awesome picture of him in his marine uniform showing his battle face in ww1. He came home and he and his wife made my maternal grandmother.
You clearly don't know any history. The USMC was founded November 10, 1775 and fought in several major battles in WWI on the Western Front, e.g. Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, Meuse-Argonne offensive, etc. Learn some history before you get on the internet and start spouting off blatant inaccuracies and embarrassing yourself.
Budweiser and pot are some highly sought after consumables. Surely your uncle had his reasons for trading in an instrument of death for some good ol' hippy recreational narcotics. It were the 80's dude.
First time I ever had the opportunity to go deer hunting my buddy and his father carried their Remington 700 variants and gave me an old Springfield 1903 with iron sights they’d had for years. The night before going out I walked myself through disassembling, cleaning, and re-assembling the rifle from a book my friend’s dad gave me and made sure the action was silky smooth. Shot my first deer with the very first shot I took that next morning up in the mountains. Missed the heart (was my first time firing the rifle, recoil was significantly more than I’d anticipated, and the deer was about 90 yards away) but nailed the deer’s spine at the base of its neck and luckily that did the job. Deer jumped straight up into the air like a rocket, hit the ground on its side like a stone, convulsed for a few seconds and then was still. Hell of an accurate rifle and an incredibly powerful round.
I've got one, 83 years old and used during WW2. It's a bit heavy, kicks like a mule, and is damn accurate without a scope. Before things got exotic after Vietnam , this was the sniper rifle we used from WW1 all the way to Vietnam in those early years in the '60's. With that pop up sight, and a good trained sniper, This was dead on accurate at 100 yards. The actor Barry Pepper's character in "Saving Private Ryan" used one.
Thanks. This is a nice rifle, but I still struggle with the sights. I'd forgotten how small and almost invisible to me they are. I got it out this past weekend, not for a video, but just to plink some with. I looked down the sights and was reminded of how badly I need to change them out or something. I hate to mess with the original rear sight, but it is SO hard for me to pick up. After shooting the Swedish Mauser, this problem with the 1903 is even more obvious and frustrating to me.
Your post was a long time ago, Hickok, but I'll try anyway. Some people love the sights on the M1903 - which are called M1905 sights, by the way, if memory serves - but some struggle with them. Lyman makes an excellent aperture-style micrometer sight that many service rifle competitors use. Consider giving it a try if you want to stick with irons but need something different. Or get a M1903A3 with the ramp-style rear sight, which is graduated only to 100-800 yards, but has an aperture. You could always mount one of those reproduction Unertl 8x scopes on there, vintage-style. Hi-Lux out in California, makes them, as well as a couple of varieties of 2.5x power scopes which were also used in WWII and Korea.
I am twelve years old and my grandfather was born in 1897. He served in ww1 and ww2. He braught both of his guns home. The 1903 and the m1 garand . He lived until he was 107 and I shot these guns like three years after he died. They both shoot really well and it was not until I was eleven that I new he served in bellow wood and in the second wave of D day. I am very proud of my grandfather. My dad was also in the marines and he retired in 2000 and then he joined the police force in 2001 right after 9/11. He is now almost a police chief.
This gun is an absolute DREAM to shoot! I ran through 80 rounds right away because I got so caught up in it! I also own a Mosin Nagant and a K98 and I get bored after about 20 rounds. Granted, at the end of the day, I had two large bruises on my shoulder and chest, but that's what awesome does to the human body.
@@Saltyketchup688 well its both actually a good warrior is one with good skill and good weapon....yes he can make do with a less efficient weapon but he can work to his full potential if he got a better weapon!
What a wonderful presentation of the 03 sir. You are absolutely correct about this weapon being used in the south Pacific. My grandfather carried a bar and slung an o3 in the south Pacific. Saipan, Bougainville and Guam where he was wounded. He got to bring his 03 springfield home. He showed me all about the gun. I got to touch his weapon from ww2. Yes it it a beauty. Watching you fire this weapon bought back so many memories. Thank you sir so much.
Especially loved this 1903 Springfield vid because you pulled the trigger after the bayonet made partial penetration into the mellon, an action shown in old war movies over the years....Those are movies...you did it real time......When I cant be with a buddy on the range..I bring up your vids...and I don't even have weapons to clean after your done. You vids are fun and they teach, many thanks Hick
Most beautiful bolt gun ever made. This will always be my favorite gun. It is enchanting. Love it. I just wish they were the same price as other comparable surplus bolt guns. $99 for a 91/30, $200 for a Mauser, $600 for a Springfield, at least.
@@love2chiefs I recently got into gun buying and it's a doozy looking for guns and seeing these prices people talked about 10 to even just 3 years ago. Have 2 1903 Springfields in my towns gun shop but are going for $1600 while a nearby store has an Ottoman 1903 Mauser for $400.
I usually catch your channel to catch various pistols being fired. I like your presentation style, casual but obviously well-informed and impartial. Very well done. I have, in storage at a friend's home in my home state of PA, (I've been living in Thailand for the past 20 years) an original 1903 Springfield, made at the Springfield plant, serial number in the 880k range, meaning it was made AFTER the introduction of the double-heat-treating process. I hope I live long enough to make another trip home so I can sell it, as I have no son to leave it to. It was carried through the German campaign by my stepfather, who retired as a CSM. He brought home 3, and gave this one to me for my 16th birthday (I'm 64). I totally stripped it once, and gave it a 'surgical' level cleaning, and re-linseeded the stock. Action is tighter than a bank-vault, (carried a lot, shot a little) and yet slick as wet ice. It even still has the cylindrical cleaning kit in the stock. If I can make it home, I hope I can find someone to give me an honest appraisal of it's value. Great vid, thanks for sharing!
It went to charity, The Wound Warriors Project. That was before we knew about their aversion to associating with firearms businesses and such. Still, it did some good.
WOW. Today, I bought one of these, and the serial number is just a few hundred away from yours, and it was re-barreled in September 1942 by Springfield. Since I live in California, I need to wait ten days to pick it up. I've had a 1903-A3 since 1976, which I bought when I was in high school, but I've always wanted a 1903, because that's what my dad carried in WWII. Thanks for posting this!
I have shot one for decades and yes, the first time I shot one, I had it against my collarbone! I guess you could say that is a defect of the Springfield. But you only do it once.....
idk how much you shoot it even with it in your shoulder for 50 rounds it will start hurting your shoulder (although im firing 150 52grain handloads hot loads)
Have one at a million and a half serial number from Springfield armoury , this thing is stamped and immaculate . I know they are collectable over here and have been offered £2,500.00 but until I really need the money this baby stays with me . Like yourself Mr Hickok I can't shoot it well due to the sights which I believe go up to 2,825 yards or thereabouts but it's a rifle you pick up and it feels amazing and that's without the history to go with it . Great review sir , love your series . Subscribed
Had a great uncle who fought in WWI using M1903. I was impressed that they had to qual shooting moving targets i.e. vehicles, bi-planes and running Krauts! War Dept.'s FM23-10 is what Army/Marines used teaching recruits before they shipped off to France.
When my grandfather got back from WW2, he ordered a Springfield and an Enfield and they both came in huge blocks of cosmoline. I find that pretty hilarious thinking of him cleaning all of that up.
sam8404 I completely resonate with your comment. Cleaning something caked in cosmoline requires just about a full dissembling. Years ago, I bought a Yugo Mauser 24/47 chambered in 8x57 with all matching part/serial numbers, but it was covered in cosmoline. While it's fun to acquire and have a piece of history, cleaning it and ridding it of the cosmoline is a job in and of itself.
It probably brought back memories of his time in the service. Recruits often had to clean Cosmoline-packed rifles and other small arms as a part of their training. SOP was to use boiling water, but it was faster to use an organic solvent such as gasoline or kerosene. Don't let the drill instructor catch you doing it that way, though - you'd be in big trouble.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Dunking bits of a rifle that has a wood stock in gasoline seems like something a Grunt would be stupid enough to do, and then think the Small Arms Repairman can 'fix' it when it explodes because they soaked the chamber in gasoline and then fired a round through it.
@@isengarde9490 - I think they'd take the stock off before dunking the rest of it in kerosene or gas or whatever, but I take your point. Which is why trainees had to do it the hard way - with hot water, soap and a toothbrush. The risk of cosmoline wasn't setting the stock on fire using the firearm; it was that some small arms had been in storage since 1918 and the cosmoline had dried into a hard material which could remain in crevices inside the weapons, thereby causing a malfunction or the like. Cosmoline was formulated to be difficult to remove; looks like the chemists who developed it knew their stuff - because by all accounts, getting rid of all of it was a real bear of a job. You can still run across mil-surp arms for sale in the civilian market once in a while which have preservatives like it on them.
The 03 Springfield was the weapon we drilled with in military academy. I was armory sgt and color guard. The two rifles for our squad I hand rubbed the stocks with tongue oil. They were beautiful and the finest looking in the entire battalion inventory. Almost 40 years later I can still see my weapon #285 when I close me eyes.
I've always just stayed with Ballistol for cleaning after using corrosive ammo in my SKS, AK, Mosin, etc. Anything else could neutralize the protective curing I've developed by using nothing else but it.
Awesome rifle! thanks for a very thorough review. I have my M1 Garand and shooting that rifle is very humbling. Coming home from the range with my shoulder turned purple is a bitter sweet experience that I love to do over and over again LoL
My great grandfather just gave me his service 1903 from WWII. I can't remember what the serial number is but I know that all of the stamps are legit and the serial number saw service in at least one, if not both, world wars. I'm going to clean it, even though there isn't a speck of rust on it. I really want to shoot it but I need to make sure that it's safe to fire first.
ive always wondered what the range smells like. I hope one day this site becomes immortalized and a tourist attraction in hickok's honor, or at least something to pass down and preserve '45's epic legacy.
1903 rifles rear sight works in 3 different ways. Laying flat, 600 yards. Peep sight wherever you set it, and then a U Notch above that for 200 yards above your peep zero. Lay flat, for man targets from right there to 600, quickly, use peep and or U notch for precision work. This rifle has a 2700 yard rear adjustable sight. Two thousand Seven Hundred Yards.... That would be use for volley fire at entrenched enemy. Bullet comes down at a very sharp angle, and will hit men in trenches and fox holes, that 100 yard shooting could not. Rifle also has a magazine Cut off, to hold 4 rounds in reserve, and single load. Wonderful rifles, and this one is superb !
The M1903 is my favorite rifle from WWII. I personally like it even more than the Garand. I liked the Lee-Enfield and Mosin Nagant, plus the Mauser Kar98k, but I have always been the most partial to the Springfield. The Springfields are really pricey nowadays, so I would probably buy a dirt cheap Mosin instead.
Save up for a 1903 instead. They're tougher to find than Mosin-Nagants and the Russians and their allies built so many that they'll be around for some time to come.
daylon boender No it's a Krag. As in Krag-Jorgensen. It wasn't a terrible rifle, it just came about as too little too late. The turn on the 20th century was the single greatest era of firearms invention and the Krag just couldn't keep up.
Hickok45, thanks so much for profiling an original M1903 Springfield. I have seen your M1903A3 video, but there's just something about the older ones that is really special. The M1905 sight, the rear ladder-style sights on those rifles, is a brilliant design with many useful features, if one is willing to take the time to learn them. First, when the rear-sight is folded down, there is a battle-sight zero notch available, which is designed for snap shooting. It generally zeros to about 545 yards, give or take - or about 12-inches high at 100 yards. In those days just after the invention of smokeless powder and flat-shooting high-velocity spitzer bullets (i.e., flat-shooting in comparison to black powder guns and their heavy low-velocity slugs), it was though that typical infantry combat wold take place at extended ranges, hundreds of yards, which is why the BSZ is set as it is. The ladder sight offers several different means of taking a sight picture, depending on intended use. You will notice that the sights curve slightly as the yardage increases - this is a built-in compensation for spin drift due to the right-handed twist of the barrel rifling. Perfected in 1905, these rear sights were known henceforth as "Model 1905 sights." Originally, they worked well with M1905 150-grain FMJ spitzer-flat base bullet with MV of 2765 fps (or 2700 fps 78 feet downrange, which was how they measured muzzle velocity in those days). Later, the M1905 was adapted to M1 Ball 174-grain FMJ-BT at ~ 2700 fps (2648 78 feet downrange), and finally M2 Ball adopted in 1938, with a 152-grain spitzer flat-base at 2805 fps. The M1905 sights worked great for the Marines in WWI at Belleau Wood and Château-Thierry when Marine riflemen armed with iron-sighted M1903 rifles picked off advancing German infantry from ranges of up to 800 yards.
Mr Hickok45, you sir just have too much fun and I am jealous!!! Thanks for all the videos, information, education, and entertainment!! Keep up the good work sir :-)
Easily one of best,most informative firearm videos on UA-cam. What an absolute beauty. I am also wanting one made by Springfield so I will just check local shops and gun shows until the right one comes along. Just an excellent video. Thanks a million.
Just shot my first bear with my Springfield 1903a3 last week up in Maine. I just love the rifle and its history and it shoots like it was fresh out of the factory. Thank you sir, I always enjoy your videos.
I just love this rifle. I handled one yesterday at my local gun shop, $800, everything is tight and precise, the sights are tiny, and the bolt is nice and smooth.. I can lift it with the weight of the rifle. It is a jewel. I wish I had the money!
I have an03 just like the one he is shooting except mine was made by Rock Island Armory in 1918 and re-barreled in 1944 and shoots great even with the 30/06 amo made in 1944
In the early 60s , I joined the USN , got stationed at Great Lakes , we were issued 1903 Springfield rifles ( firing pins removed ) in marching drills , 16 count manual , they had big white numbers printed on the stock , to tell which recruit got what rifle , and break one or lose it cost , if I remember was over a hundred dollars (recruits only made around 30 Dollars a month in those days .... we had to lug those things around where ever we went .
Thank you Sir, for this Awesome video....the 03 has always been one of my favorite all time Rifles. Such a Beautiful Masterpiece... I've been searching for many years for just the right one for me.. I learned more then i ever have about this weapon watching this video....Thank you again....and a Great ending, and Thank God for those Brave and Courageous Men and Women in the past that did so much for us.... Amen.......
If you are going to shoot the 50's headstamp ammo please be sure and clean the rifle after, as Korean War 30/06 issue ammo is known to be corrosive. Most old shooters I have known would not even touch buying an M-1 with "Blue Sky" and the eagle stamped on the gas cylinder just for this reason.
I bought one of these this summer from a "Fudd". He works with my sister and my sister gave me the heads up he had a rifle for sale because it was a military rifle and he doesn't like it or want it because it was "made for killing people". So long story short, $150 later it was mine and was in mint shape, It was definitely refurbished as the stock didn't have a single ding. Receiver was in mint shape, had a S.A. barrel from October 1917. Rifle itself was a Rock Island Arsenal with a "safe" serial number dating around 1920-1921. I ended up selling it a month later for $800 which helped fund a new 1911 purchase.
Sure is. I ended up using the cash to purchase a Dan Wesson CBOB. I figured it is as close to an Ed Brown as I can get without going into debt and having a hit out on me by the wife. Thank you so much for your response and all that you do for fellow firearm enthusiasts and the 2nd Amendment. And congrats on being a Grandpa!
I have one from 1919 Springfield arms. freeken love it. I love the crack she makes when the round exits the chamber. she will rip a rough hole through what ever is in her way. I love it! and I am glad you can enjoy one too
Agree - AND if you hand load, you can make light loads quite appropriate small game, or have heavy loads that handle big bears and moose. The 30-06 is a great round.
I got to shoot this a few days ago. Really felt like I was looking down the iron sights of history. Was gonna shoot the M1 Garand, but something about that springfield just spoke to me.
I have a 1903 Springfield (It is not the '03A3 because it does not have the improved rear sight) that my dad got somewhere back in the1930's. Whoever had it had "sporterized" it by cutting the stock down halfway down the barrel and slid the bayonet lug down to hold the stock on. The top wood was removed. After my dad died, I bought new wood and put it back to stock condition and also bought the sword bayonet for it. My rifle holds 10 rounds though. I bought the extended 5 round magazine for it. I think they called it a sentry option. There is also a 20 round magazine set up that was made for Air service but it is way beyond my price range, It allows the rifle to have a 25 round capacity.. I used that rifle deer hunting for years as a teen. I love it. The sword bayonet also fits my M1. I bought another sword bayonet for it so now both have that long blade out front.
still have it 8 years later I just picked one mines 4 or 5 years newer rebarreled in 42 and I’ve shot it a few time I plan to use it for a hunting rifle
Mine is a Rock Island Armory from 1919, re-barreled in 1930. Has fore and rear aperture sights. Pinpoint accurate out to 200yds. I've never loved a rifle the way I love my '03. An absolute Cadillac.
I’m currently watching the mini series The Pacific and I see a lot of US Marines using this early in the war while fighting the Japanese on Guadalcanal. Interesting
@Spark That J, The Pacific is such a fantastic miniseries, yeah the Marines were very skilled with these rifles, apparently they were so skilled and fast with them, that they would pull back the bolt during the recoil and have the next round chambered, the Garand was obviously faster, but it was a pretty small difference in rate of fire because of the Marines' long time experience and expertise with them , even when they were completely different actions.
Lived very closely with one of these, even slept with it once, but that's another story, in Navy boot camp. When we drew rifles, the Navy had racks and racks of them. We just carried them, sometimes at high port arms, but only live fired the Garand for qualification. I liked the Springfield so much, I bought one after A-school. It was exactly like yours. Cost me $150. Wish I still had it.
My grandfather brought a bundle of these 1903’s back from WW2 he said it was common for them to sneak some things out after the war, I knew nothing about the issues before SN#800,000 so I had to look at mine and luckily mine is SN#840013 whew I’m glad because I love shooting this gun! Thank you for the wonderful info on them!
Have both. One from pawpaw. 03 and the other I bought at a Roses department store back in the eighties. The mosin seems to have more range... maybe. Mosin is a little longer barreled.
I can always rely on you for information on guns that spark my interest. Even when my interest seems to be random, sure enough, you've got a video on it!
Awesome video and they just keep getting better. Really like the history and evolution of the firearm. Saw your Garand video and got me motivated to order one of last correct grades from CMP after waiting 20 years!!
Beautiful rifle, my favourite from the USA, i prefer these older versions with the nice curved trigger guard as opposed to the more "garand" type versions made during WW2
LOVE my Remington 03-A1. Same sights but more stamped parts as it was a WWII production gun prior to the introduction of the 03-A3. This rifle will consistently shoot 2" groups at 200yds even with my "mature" eyes. One of my favorites.
Another classic piece of history that I am hoping to buy soon.Thanks for these very informative videos Hickok45,on these fine weapons.That rifle is beautiful.
Beautiful rifle. I drilled with a non firing, woodstock 03 back in highschool JROTC and loved the weight, balance and feel. I hope one day I can afford one before I get too old. Lol
My grandad was a ww1 marine and he brought his home. My mother's brother sold it in the 80s to buy budweiser and pot. It still makes me sick.
Tycho van Steeg you're a damned liar. Lol
Tycho van Steeg I've got an awesome picture of him in his marine uniform showing his battle face in ww1. He came home and he and his wife made my maternal grandmother.
You clearly don't know any history. The USMC was founded November 10, 1775 and fought in several major battles in WWI on the Western Front, e.g. Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, Meuse-Argonne offensive, etc. Learn some history before you get on the internet and start spouting off blatant inaccuracies and embarrassing yourself.
Tycho van Steeg marines have been around since 1775
Budweiser and pot are some highly sought after consumables. Surely your uncle had his reasons for trading in an instrument of death for some good ol' hippy recreational narcotics. It were the 80's dude.
I love shooting mine and recently stocked up on ammo. Great fun.
How much was the rifle I might look to buy one
I have my grandpa's 03 that l treasure. I take it out for deer at least once a year. Two years ago l shot a 9 point, it still working great.
Your grandpa's a hero bro as a Brit, I can say is Brits who have a passion for history and firearms have a soft spot for this gun.
First time I ever had the opportunity to go deer hunting my buddy and his father carried their Remington 700 variants and gave me an old Springfield 1903 with iron sights they’d had for years. The night before going out I walked myself through disassembling, cleaning, and re-assembling the rifle from a book my friend’s dad gave me and made sure the action was silky smooth. Shot my first deer with the very first shot I took that next morning up in the mountains. Missed the heart (was my first time firing the rifle, recoil was significantly more than I’d anticipated, and the deer was about 90 yards away) but nailed the deer’s spine at the base of its neck and luckily that did the job. Deer jumped straight up into the air like a rocket, hit the ground on its side like a stone, convulsed for a few seconds and then was still. Hell of an accurate rifle and an incredibly powerful round.
that beginning was extremely satisfying to watch
Its even better in slow motion at the end. feels like the beginning of a movie or something.
I've got one, 83 years old and used during WW2. It's a bit heavy, kicks like a mule, and is damn accurate without a scope. Before things got exotic after Vietnam , this was the sniper rifle we used from WW1 all the way to Vietnam in those early years in the '60's. With that pop up sight, and a good trained sniper, This was dead on accurate at 100 yards. The actor Barry Pepper's character in "Saving Private Ryan" used one.
With the pep sight on the lower ladder sight and line up the distance with the cross lines these rifles are a dream.
Ballistol seems to work fine. It's all I've used on the SKS, Mosin, & AK for years now after shooting corrosive ammo.
Thanks!
Hickok45: “More knowledge; maybe more than you wanted”
Audience: PREACH YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD!!!!
Thanks. This is a nice rifle, but I still struggle with the sights. I'd forgotten how small and almost invisible to me they are. I got it out this past weekend, not for a video, but just to plink some with. I looked down the sights and was reminded of how badly I need to change them out or something. I hate to mess with the original rear sight, but it is SO hard for me to pick up. After shooting the Swedish Mauser, this problem with the 1903 is even more obvious and frustrating to me.
Your post was a long time ago, Hickok, but I'll try anyway. Some people love the sights on the M1903 - which are called M1905 sights, by the way, if memory serves - but some struggle with them. Lyman makes an excellent aperture-style micrometer sight that many service rifle competitors use. Consider giving it a try if you want to stick with irons but need something different. Or get a M1903A3 with the ramp-style rear sight, which is graduated only to 100-800 yards, but has an aperture. You could always mount one of those reproduction Unertl 8x scopes on there, vintage-style. Hi-Lux out in California, makes them, as well as a couple of varieties of 2.5x power scopes which were also used in WWII and Korea.
I am twelve years old and my grandfather was born in 1897. He served in ww1 and ww2. He braught both of his guns home. The 1903 and the m1 garand . He lived until he was 107 and I shot these guns like three years after he died. They both shoot really well and it was not until I was eleven that I new he served in bellow wood and in the second wave of D day. I am very proud of my grandfather. My dad was also in the marines and he retired in 2000 and then he joined the police force in 2001 right after 9/11. He is now almost a police chief.
I just bought one. It’s beautiful! The history behind it. What a legend.
did you find it online or in a local shop?
@@tyruswheeler3756 I just picked up a beut on gun broker for 550 including tax and shipping. cant wait for me new toy
This gun is an absolute DREAM to shoot! I ran through 80 rounds right away because I got so caught up in it! I also own a Mosin Nagant and a K98 and I get bored after about 20 rounds. Granted, at the end of the day, I had two large bruises on my shoulder and chest, but that's what awesome does to the human body.
It’s crazy how soldiers equipped with this 5 round, bolt action rifle were expected to go against fully automatic machine guns head on.
wwi sounds like a nightmare
I dont think they were expected to run straight at a mg, I mean it's trench warfare (mostly)
@@wafflez2437 actually they WERE thats what intensified trench systems in the first place
Its not the gun, its the person behind it
@@Saltyketchup688 well its both actually a good warrior is one with good skill and good weapon....yes he can make do with a less efficient weapon but he can work to his full potential if he got a better weapon!
I get a lot of recommendations for brain surgery, for some reason, but I've not thought much about eye surgery. :-)
Lol
Nice shotgun
What a wonderful presentation of the 03 sir. You are absolutely correct about this weapon being used in the south Pacific. My grandfather carried a bar and slung an o3 in the south Pacific. Saipan, Bougainville and Guam where he was wounded. He got to bring his 03 springfield home. He showed me all about the gun. I got to touch his weapon from ww2. Yes it it a beauty. Watching you fire this weapon bought back so many memories. Thank you sir so much.
Especially loved this 1903 Springfield vid because you pulled the trigger after the bayonet made partial penetration into the mellon, an action shown in old war movies over the years....Those are movies...you did it real time......When I cant be with a buddy on the range..I bring up your vids...and I don't even have weapons to clean after your done. You vids are fun and they teach, many thanks Hick
26:30 best part
Most beautiful bolt gun ever made. This will always be my favorite gun. It is enchanting. Love it. I just wish they were the same price as other comparable surplus bolt guns. $99 for a 91/30, $200 for a Mauser, $600 for a Springfield, at least.
Its 2022 and I wish i could even get one for $800 or any of those guns for reasonable price
@@love2chiefs I recently got into gun buying and it's a doozy looking for guns and seeing these prices people talked about 10 to even just 3 years ago. Have 2 1903 Springfields in my towns gun shop but are going for $1600 while a nearby store has an Ottoman 1903 Mauser for $400.
Now they're all 3000$
I usually catch your channel to catch various pistols being fired. I like your presentation style, casual but obviously well-informed and impartial. Very well done. I have, in storage at a friend's home in my home state of PA, (I've been living in Thailand for the past 20 years) an original 1903 Springfield, made at the Springfield plant, serial number in the 880k range, meaning it was made AFTER the introduction of the double-heat-treating process. I hope I live long enough to make another trip home so I can sell it, as I have no son to leave it to. It was carried through the German campaign by my stepfather, who retired as a CSM. He brought home 3, and gave this one to me for my 16th birthday (I'm 64). I totally stripped it once, and gave it a 'surgical' level cleaning, and re-linseeded the stock. Action is tighter than a bank-vault, (carried a lot, shot a little) and yet slick as wet ice. It even still has the cylindrical cleaning kit in the stock. If I can make it home, I hope I can find someone to give me an honest appraisal of it's value.
Great vid, thanks for sharing!
It went to charity, The Wound Warriors Project. That was before we knew about their aversion to associating with firearms businesses and such. Still, it did some good.
WOW. Today, I bought one of these, and the serial number is just a few hundred away from yours, and it was re-barreled in September 1942 by Springfield. Since I live in California, I need to wait ten days to pick it up. I've had a 1903-A3 since 1976, which I bought when I was in high school, but I've always wanted a 1903, because that's what my dad carried in WWII. Thanks for posting this!
First time I shot a 1903, I had the buttstock on my collar bone, never did that again
I have shot one for decades and yes, the first time I shot one, I had it against my collarbone! I guess you could say that is a defect of the Springfield. But you only do it once.....
James Gunning because you are paralyzed now I assume?
Dave Mustardstain well it is possble to not be paralyzed
James Gunning I have a Springfield Mark 1 i feel special😁
idk how much you shoot it even with it in your shoulder for 50 rounds it will start hurting your shoulder (although im firing 150 52grain handloads hot loads)
Have one at a million and a half serial number from Springfield armoury , this thing is stamped and immaculate . I know they are collectable over here and have been offered £2,500.00 but until I really need the money this baby stays with me . Like yourself Mr Hickok I can't shoot it well due to the sights which I believe go up to 2,825 yards or thereabouts but it's a rifle you pick up and it feels amazing and that's without the history to go with it . Great review sir , love your series . Subscribed
Had a great uncle who fought in WWI using M1903. I was impressed that they had to qual shooting moving targets i.e. vehicles, bi-planes and running Krauts! War Dept.'s FM23-10 is what Army/Marines used teaching recruits before they shipped off to France.
Hickok is an encyclopedia. I love listing to him give the history of the weapons he's shooting. Very informative.
He seems like a man version of Dr. Phil. The wealth of knowledge is amazing, love his videos
When my grandfather got back from WW2, he ordered a Springfield and an Enfield and they both came in huge blocks of cosmoline. I find that pretty hilarious thinking of him cleaning all of that up.
Anyone who has cleaned cosmoline knows how little fun it is
sam8404 I completely resonate with your comment. Cleaning something caked in cosmoline requires just about a full dissembling. Years ago, I bought a Yugo Mauser 24/47 chambered in 8x57 with all matching part/serial numbers, but it was covered in cosmoline. While it's fun to acquire and have a piece of history, cleaning it and ridding it of the cosmoline is a job in and of itself.
It probably brought back memories of his time in the service. Recruits often had to clean Cosmoline-packed rifles and other small arms as a part of their training. SOP was to use boiling water, but it was faster to use an organic solvent such as gasoline or kerosene. Don't let the drill instructor catch you doing it that way, though - you'd be in big trouble.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961
Dunking bits of a rifle that has a wood stock in gasoline seems like something a Grunt would be stupid enough to do, and then think the Small Arms Repairman can 'fix' it when it explodes because they soaked the chamber in gasoline and then fired a round through it.
@@isengarde9490 - I think they'd take the stock off before dunking the rest of it in kerosene or gas or whatever, but I take your point. Which is why trainees had to do it the hard way - with hot water, soap and a toothbrush. The risk of cosmoline wasn't setting the stock on fire using the firearm; it was that some small arms had been in storage since 1918 and the cosmoline had dried into a hard material which could remain in crevices inside the weapons, thereby causing a malfunction or the like. Cosmoline was formulated to be difficult to remove; looks like the chemists who developed it knew their stuff - because by all accounts, getting rid of all of it was a real bear of a job.
You can still run across mil-surp arms for sale in the civilian market once in a while which have preservatives like it on them.
The 03 Springfield was the weapon we drilled with in military academy. I was armory sgt and color guard. The two rifles for our squad I hand rubbed the stocks with tongue oil. They were beautiful and the finest looking in the entire battalion inventory. Almost 40 years later I can still see my weapon #285 when I close me eyes.
Yes, they are generally okay to use again.
I've always just stayed with Ballistol for cleaning after using corrosive ammo in my SKS, AK, Mosin, etc. Anything else could neutralize the protective curing I've developed by using nothing else but it.
M1903 Springfield one of my favorite rifle of the U.S. arm weapon, never shot one.
But it's a beautiful rifle
Those sights were intended for 18 year old eyes . :-)
God bless
Wyr
Wyr Twister Welp, I wear glasses...
That fantastic feeling when youre thinking about buying a certain gun and hickock posts a video about it. Excellent
Awesome rifle! thanks for a very thorough review. I have my M1 Garand and shooting that rifle is very humbling. Coming home from the range with my shoulder turned purple is a bitter sweet experience that I love to do over and over again LoL
Getting me fired up to take mine out. Hickok, your passion for life lived one cartridge at a time is contagious!
My great grandfather just gave me his service 1903 from WWII. I can't remember what the serial number is but I know that all of the stamps are legit and the serial number saw service in at least one, if not both, world wars. I'm going to clean it, even though there isn't a speck of rust on it. I really want to shoot it but I need to make sure that it's safe to fire first.
Sounds safe to me
Yup. It's pretty good. It's all original parts too. Made in 1919.
+Louis Sanderson Good point.
lucky guy you are!
DO NOT CLEAN IT!!!!!!!!
the only history channel i need, well this and count dankula’s madlads
I'm a ramen noodle and I knew about the m1903 before BF1 was announced
Mr. Audi no way
i know m1903 before call of duty released ww2 game series
cod waw
I have one lol
So what?
ive always wondered what the range smells like.
I hope one day this site becomes immortalized and a tourist attraction in hickok's honor, or at least something to pass down and preserve '45's epic legacy.
I just recently purchased that book but have not read it yet. Thanks for the reminder to dig it out.
hickok45 nice shooting!
1903 rifles rear sight works in 3 different ways. Laying flat, 600 yards. Peep sight wherever you set it, and then a U Notch above that for 200 yards above your peep zero. Lay flat, for man targets from right there to 600, quickly, use peep and or U notch for precision work. This rifle has a 2700 yard rear adjustable sight. Two thousand Seven Hundred Yards.... That would be use for volley fire at entrenched enemy. Bullet comes down at a very sharp angle, and will hit men in trenches and fox holes, that 100 yard shooting could not. Rifle also has a magazine Cut off, to hold 4 rounds in reserve, and single load. Wonderful rifles, and this one is superb !
The M1903 is my favorite rifle from WWII. I personally like it even more than the Garand. I liked the Lee-Enfield and Mosin Nagant, plus the Mauser Kar98k, but I have always been the most partial to the Springfield. The Springfields are really pricey nowadays, so I would probably buy a dirt cheap Mosin instead.
Save up for a 1903 instead. They're tougher to find than Mosin-Nagants and the Russians and their allies built so many that they'll be around for some time to come.
This is the only guy in the history of human kind who can talk about a gun for 20 minutes
The 1903 is a painful pleasure to shoot. I'd like to get an A3 a a compliment to my Krag.
A craig? The shortest serving military rifle that was outclassed in the Spanish civil war.
daylon boender No it's a Krag. As in Krag-Jorgensen. It wasn't a terrible rifle, it just came about as too little too late. The turn on the 20th century was the single greatest era of firearms invention and the Krag just couldn't keep up.
Hickok45, thanks so much for profiling an original M1903 Springfield. I have seen your M1903A3 video, but there's just something about the older ones that is really special. The M1905 sight, the rear ladder-style sights on those rifles, is a brilliant design with many useful features, if one is willing to take the time to learn them. First, when the rear-sight is folded down, there is a battle-sight zero notch available, which is designed for snap shooting. It generally zeros to about 545 yards, give or take - or about 12-inches high at 100 yards. In those days just after the invention of smokeless powder and flat-shooting high-velocity spitzer bullets (i.e., flat-shooting in comparison to black powder guns and their heavy low-velocity slugs), it was though that typical infantry combat wold take place at extended ranges, hundreds of yards, which is why the BSZ is set as it is. The ladder sight offers several different means of taking a sight picture, depending on intended use. You will notice that the sights curve slightly as the yardage increases - this is a built-in compensation for spin drift due to the right-handed twist of the barrel rifling.
Perfected in 1905, these rear sights were known henceforth as "Model 1905 sights." Originally, they worked well with M1905 150-grain FMJ spitzer-flat base bullet with MV of 2765 fps (or 2700 fps 78 feet downrange, which was how they measured muzzle velocity in those days). Later, the M1905 was adapted to M1 Ball 174-grain FMJ-BT at ~ 2700 fps (2648 78 feet downrange), and finally M2 Ball adopted in 1938, with a 152-grain spitzer flat-base at 2805 fps. The M1905 sights worked great for the Marines in WWI at Belleau Wood and Château-Thierry when Marine riflemen armed with iron-sighted M1903 rifles picked off advancing German infantry from ranges of up to 800 yards.
Finally a stripper clip Hickok can load.
Mr Hickok45, you sir just have too much fun and I am jealous!!! Thanks for all the videos, information, education, and entertainment!! Keep up the good work sir :-)
That is my dream gun, and it always will be
Easily one of best,most informative firearm videos on UA-cam.
What an absolute beauty. I am also wanting one made by Springfield so I will just check local shops and gun shows until the right one comes along.
Just an excellent video. Thanks a million.
Bayonet for deer hunting, hah! You crack me up Hickok.
And man the action on that Krag looks smooth as butter!
Just shot my first bear with my Springfield 1903a3 last week up in Maine. I just love the rifle and its history and it shoots like it was fresh out of the factory.
Thank you sir, I always enjoy your videos.
"I've got my bayonet for deer hunting..."
I'd love to see that video!!
I just love this rifle. I handled one yesterday at my local gun shop, $800, everything is tight and precise, the sights are tiny, and the bolt is nice and smooth.. I can lift it with the weight of the rifle. It is a jewel. I wish I had the money!
I have an03 just like the one he is shooting except mine was made by Rock Island Armory in 1918 and re-barreled in 1944 and shoots great even with the 30/06 amo made in 1944
In the early 60s , I joined the USN , got stationed at Great Lakes , we were issued 1903 Springfield rifles ( firing pins removed ) in marching drills , 16 count manual , they had big white numbers printed on the stock , to tell which recruit got what rifle , and break one or lose it cost , if I remember was over a hundred dollars (recruits only made around 30 Dollars a month in those days .... we had to lug those things around where ever we went .
LMAO the ending was priceless id clean the gun for free if i live in that area
Thank you Sir, for this Awesome video....the 03 has always been one of my favorite all time Rifles. Such a Beautiful Masterpiece... I've been searching for many years for just the right one for me.. I learned more then i ever have about this weapon watching this video....Thank you again....and a Great ending, and Thank God for those Brave and Courageous Men and Women in the past that did so much for us.... Amen.......
If you are going to shoot the 50's headstamp ammo please be sure and clean the rifle after, as Korean War 30/06 issue ammo is known to be corrosive. Most old shooters I have known would not even touch buying an M-1 with "Blue Sky" and the eagle stamped on the gas cylinder just for this reason.
I got mine... 1906 model. First year of the 30-06! Just over 315k numbered! I LOVE IT! Beautiful rifle!
Mama Springfield
Wowwww....GOOD WORK HICKOK! Donating the proceeds to the WWP. That's awesome. A very patriotic thing to do.
I bought one of these this summer from a "Fudd". He works with my sister and my sister gave me the heads up he had a rifle for sale because it was a military rifle and he doesn't like it or want it because it was "made for killing people". So long story short, $150 later it was mine and was in mint shape, It was definitely refurbished as the stock didn't have a single ding. Receiver was in mint shape, had a S.A. barrel from October 1917. Rifle itself was a Rock Island Arsenal with a "safe" serial number dating around 1920-1921. I ended up selling it a month later for $800 which helped fund a new 1911 purchase.
Always nice to benefit from somebody else's idiocy. :-)
Sure is. I ended up using the cash to purchase a Dan Wesson CBOB. I figured it is as close to an Ed Brown as I can get without going into debt and having a hit out on me by the wife. Thank you so much for your response and all that you do for fellow firearm enthusiasts and the 2nd Amendment. And congrats on being a Grandpa!
Nice, I don't think I could have sold it.
Eric D Shh I'm hunting wabbits
I have one from 1919 Springfield arms. freeken love it. I love the crack she makes when the round exits the chamber. she will rip a rough hole through what ever is in her way. I love it! and I am glad you can enjoy one too
HOLY That plate sold for $1,108.54!?!?! Thats insane!!!
+The 20th Century Limited (Ricky B.) 1.6 million subs wanted it :D
+Laicorum lol yep
Agree - AND if you hand load, you can make light loads quite appropriate small game, or have heavy loads that handle big bears and moose. The 30-06 is a great round.
I'm in love with this gun
The things You do for us people! Thanks! And the history lessons is the best! Thanks Hickok45.
I got to shoot this a few days ago. Really felt like I was looking down the iron sights of history. Was gonna shoot the M1 Garand, but something about that springfield just spoke to me.
yea dude the '03 saw both world wars its crazy. should've shot the garand as well because its the semi-auto that carried the american infantry in ww2
Terrific video. Few people are born to be educators, but you're a member of that rare breed.
Check out the movie "Saving Private Ryan" with the actor who was praying for an accurate shoot. That was a Springfield 30:06.
That was Private Daniel Jackson played by actor Barry Pepper.
I have a 1903 Springfield (It is not the '03A3 because it does not have the improved rear sight) that my dad got somewhere back in the1930's. Whoever had it had "sporterized" it by cutting the stock down halfway down the barrel and slid the bayonet lug down to hold the stock on. The top wood was removed. After my dad died, I bought new wood and put it back to stock condition and also bought the sword bayonet for it.
My rifle holds 10 rounds though. I bought the extended 5 round magazine for it. I think they called it a sentry option. There is also a 20 round magazine set up that was made for Air service but it is way beyond my price range, It allows the rifle to have a 25 round capacity..
I used that rifle deer hunting for years as a teen. I love it. The sword bayonet also fits my M1. I bought another sword bayonet for it so now
both have that long blade out front.
Great! It is history! 🇧🇷
Love my Springfield. I have a model from 1906, and it still runs beautifully.
still have it 8 years later I just picked one mines 4 or 5 years newer rebarreled in 42 and I’ve shot it a few time I plan to use it for a hunting rifle
26:25 was the best thing I have seen this month! lol
Mine is a Rock Island Armory from 1919, re-barreled in 1930. Has fore and rear aperture sights. Pinpoint accurate out to 200yds. I've never loved a rifle the way I love my '03. An absolute Cadillac.
I’m currently watching the mini series The Pacific and I see a lot of US Marines using this early in the war while fighting the Japanese on Guadalcanal. Interesting
@Spark That J, The Pacific is such a fantastic miniseries, yeah the Marines were very skilled with these rifles, apparently they were so skilled and fast with them, that they would pull back the bolt during the recoil and have the next round chambered, the Garand was obviously faster, but it was a pretty small difference in rate of fire because of the Marines' long time experience and expertise with them , even when they were completely different actions.
1st Marine Division and on Guadalcanal they were somewhat poorly equipped, They were eating off rations from WW1 made in 1918 that was surplus
my family has one. my great grandfather used it in ww1. we still have it and it is awesome to shoot!
You make it look so easy HickHock45, if i tried, I'd probably miss a two liter from 15 yards, lol
Lived very closely with one of these, even slept with it once, but that's another story, in Navy boot camp. When we drew rifles, the Navy had racks and racks of them. We just carried them, sometimes at high port arms, but only live fired the Garand for qualification. I liked the Springfield so much, I bought one after A-school. It was exactly like yours. Cost me $150. Wish I still had it.
Hey Hickok, try using the leaf's sight peep, that should improve your accuracy a little bit
My grandfather brought a bundle of these 1903’s back from WW2 he said it was common for them to sneak some things out after the war, I knew nothing about the issues before SN#800,000 so I had to look at mine and luckily mine is SN#840013 whew I’m glad because I love shooting this gun! Thank you for the wonderful info on them!
Everybody wants a mosin. But I want an 03.
Everyone wants an 03 but they’re $700
Have both. One from pawpaw. 03 and the other I bought at a Roses department store back in the eighties. The mosin seems to have more range... maybe. Mosin is a little longer barreled.
Get both! But not just any Mosin....get an M39. It’s a Finnish captured Mosin. It was upgraded and is a really great shooter.
I can always rely on you for information on guns that spark my interest. Even when my interest seems to be random, sure enough, you've got a video on it!
And its still somehow the worst gun to get in the mystery box.
What Mystery Box?
@@shockwave6213 Mystery box from Unturned
Oh yeah yeah or any WaW map for that matter
roflmao nice
It's not too bad, you just have to know how to use it.
Awesome video and they just keep getting better. Really like the history and evolution of the firearm. Saw your Garand video and got me motivated to order one of last correct grades from CMP after waiting 20 years!!
Beautiful rifle, my favourite from the USA, i prefer these older versions with the nice curved trigger guard as opposed to the more "garand" type versions made during WW2
LOVE my Remington 03-A1. Same sights but more stamped parts as it was a WWII production gun prior to the introduction of the 03-A3. This rifle will consistently shoot 2" groups at 200yds even with my "mature" eyes. One of my favorites.
It’s funny how you can’t tell if his video is three weeks or eight years old.
That's the first time that anyone has explained what 30-06 designates or what does it stand for thank you very much Hickok
How do you have the infantry variant?
We have the infantry variant now. Select the Experimental variant, and tap the fire select button. Its an animation to pull out the Pederson Device.
Another classic piece of history that I am hoping to buy soon.Thanks for these very informative videos Hickok45,on these fine weapons.That rifle is beautiful.
"Oh no i hit one of my pigs!" LOL
Thanks Hickok45! I really enjoy all of your videos.
when I star gun collecting, I would like to get a Kar98k first, and then following that not in any particular order, springfield, enfield, and nagant
arisaka type 38? they are excellent japanese rifles
Hunter Jordan i just want a arisaka XD
Jack Finnigan Hunter Jordan yea I should have added the arisaka to the list, great rifle
Hunter Jordan Idk I was never a huge fan of the Garand, I think its a bit ugly
Hunter Jordan The one extremely expensive one I want is a Luger
Beautiful rifle. I drilled with a non firing, woodstock 03 back in highschool JROTC and loved the weight, balance and feel.
I hope one day I can afford one before I get too old. Lol
I want one.....
My favorite rifle. The action is as smooth as some of the new rifles made today.
Hicock45, can you be my dad? :D
+Indy Dibona
If so can I be the doge
+Other Doge If so, can I be the Cheat?
Dj Tapatio If so, can I be the cat?
So, can I be the fish?
If so, can I be the great-grandchild?
And, my wish for an awesome slo-mo at the end was totally granted. I love it.