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would you have bought this rifle

would you have bough this as a deer rifle

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beerftw

beerftw

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I not too long ago bought a mosin as a huntin rifle, but one big one that got me is reloading ammo, surplus ammo and reproduction steel ammo is dirt cheap, but buying brass ammo with boxer primers that is reloadable is rediculous expensive.

So I searched around and everyone and their brother was selling a remington 770, which was a flimsey pile of junk compared to the legendary model 700. I was looking for 30-06 or .308 when I went to a pawn shop and for 250 buck I saw an old remington bolt action. The guys there said it had been there more than a decade and no one knew anything about it other than it was an old war rifle.

Being of better quality than a 770 for a similiar price I bought it. Later I found out it was an 03 springfield made by remington called the 03a3 modelm and it had been sporterized/ redneckized as a deer rifle. The stock was replaced with the mass produced stock, the barrel was cut down, the reciever drilled for a scope, front and rear sights replaced,etc.

The only thing original is 2/3rds the barrel and the reciever, as even the bolt lever was cut and a custom one welded to clear a scope. But rifles just like that are going for 300-600 bucks in this area which is still a lot lower than a unmolested military 03a3. For what it does for it's price though as a deer hunter it seems like an awesome rifle, and the 30-06 seems easily reloadable vs a steel mosin shell with a berdan primer.
 
No, I wouldn't have.

If not for any other reason than I've had some experience with pawn-shops, and what they get (and try to pass off) is usually shiite.

Sounds to me like too many people got their hands on it for too many mods.

One of my inviolate rules is: if you can't shoot it, don't EVER buy it.
 
If I were a deer hunter and if I was cheap (and I am) I might take a swing.

I once had a 12 gauge Model 11 Remington that was a rust bucket. Sat in damp garage for decades. Wire brushed the exterior, cleaned the interior, Rustoleumed the barrel and action and had a perfect gun for fishing boats.

It can be ugly. As long as it works and is accurate.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
No, I wouldn't have.

If not for any other reason than I've had some experience with pawn-shops, and what they get (and try to pass off) is usually shiite.

Sounds to me like too many people got their hands on it for too many mods.

One of my inviolate rules is: if you can't shoot it, don't EVER buy it.
Click to expand...

It does not look like too many hands got on it, but rather one set of hands after it went from being a ww2 battle rifle to a surplus rifle, and that one set of hands wanted to make it a pure deer rifle. It is a very sound rifle, but I would have loved to have had it in original war condition.

They seemed to sell remington 770's alot for about the same price sometimes a hair cheaper, and they are nothing but remingtons attempt to make the 700 affordable, and they failed badly at it. They are so bad that they end up endlessly at pawn shops, and someone is like oh look how cheap that big bore is, they buy it realize it is cheap junk then sell it again to the pawn shop.

I will not entirely knock the 770, it has it's place being they are dead on accurate, but they are cheap plastic junk. They were made for the person who wanted to abuse a rifle to death and wanted a cheap throwaway rifle. The 03a3 was battle tested, and still used widely by hunters for vastly more than I paid for it. I cheacked head space on it already through a friends guage( did not know he had it until I mentioned I had an 03 springfield by remington)
 
beerftw said:
I not too long ago bought a mosin as a huntin rifle, but one big one that got me is reloading ammo, surplus ammo and reproduction steel ammo is dirt cheap, but buying brass ammo with boxer primers that is reloadable is rediculous expensive.

So I searched around and everyone and their brother was selling a remington 770, which was a flimsey pile of junk compared to the legendary model 700. I was looking for 30-06 or .308 when I went to a pawn shop and for 250 buck I saw an old remington bolt action. The guys there said it had been there more than a decade and no one knew anything about it other than it was an old war rifle.

Being of better quality than a 770 for a similiar price I bought it. Later I found out it was an 03 springfield made by remington called the 03a3 modelm and it had been sporterized/ redneckized as a deer rifle. The stock was replaced with the mass produced stock, the barrel was cut down, the reciever drilled for a scope, front and rear sights replaced,etc.

The only thing original is 2/3rds the barrel and the reciever, as even the bolt lever was cut and a custom one welded to clear a scope. But rifles just like that are going for 300-600 bucks in this area which is still a lot lower than a unmolested military 03a3. For what it does for it's price though as a deer hunter it seems like an awesome rifle, and the 30-06 seems easily reloadable vs a steel mosin shell with a berdan primer.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't have bought it w/o a gunsmith looking it over. Now that you own it I wouldn't shoot it w/o having it looked over. Don't any of the gun shops in your area have consignments or previously owned rifles available?
 
beerftw said:
It does not look like too many hands got on it, but rather one set of hands after it went from being a ww2 battle rifle to a surplus rifle, and that one set of hands wanted to make it a pure deer rifle. It is a very sound rifle, but I would have loved to have had it in original war condition.

They seemed to sell remington 770's alot for about the same price sometimes a hair cheaper, and they are nothing but remingtons attempt to make the 700 affordable, and they failed badly at it. They are so bad that they end up endlessly at pawn shops, and someone is like oh look how cheap that big bore is, they buy it realize it is cheap junk then sell it again to the pawn shop.

I will not entirely knock the 770, it has it's place being they are dead on accurate, but they are cheap plastic junk. They were made for the person who wanted to abuse a rifle to death and wanted a cheap throwaway rifle. The 03a3 was battle tested, and still used widely by hunters for vastly more than I paid for it. I cheacked head space on it already through a friends guage( did not know he had it until I mentioned I had an 03 springfield by remington)
Click to expand...

I bought my first Rem, a 700 BDL .270, in 1982. It was an awesome 14-15 year old's fist deer/pig rifle. Full on wood. No plastic whatsoever.

That said, if I didn't know who cut the barrel, and why and how, and I couldn't talk to him/her, I'd run from it.

Just speaking from experience.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
I bought my first Rem, a 700 BDL .270, in 1982. It was an awesome 14-15 year old's fist deer/pig rifle. Full on wood. No plastic whatsoever.

That said, if I didn't know who cut the barrel, and why and how, and I couldn't talk to him/her, I'd run from it.

Just speaking from experience.
Click to expand...

I still hunt with my Rem 700 ADL .270 from 1981. :) I've taken over 100 deer/antelope/elk and one moose with it.

I also agree with you, no way I'd buy a modified gun w/o knowing the person who did it or having someone qualified looking it over.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
I bought my first Rem, a 700 BDL .270, in 1982. It was an awesome 14-15 year old's fist deer/pig rifle. Full on wood. No plastic whatsoever.

That said, if I didn't know who cut the barrel, and why and how, and I couldn't talk to him/her, I'd run from it.

Just speaking from experience.
Click to expand...

The barrel being cut does not bother me it guages out fine, the big issue for a bolt action is headspace, as if it is wrong it will not fire all the time or puncture the primer shooting gas back in your face. The 700 was what I was kinda looking for, but they were way too much for my budget, and this rifle kept getting marked down because it was rejected, people apparently looked at it and decided they did not want it, and opted for more modern yet lower quality firearms.
 
beerftw said:
I not too long ago bought a mosin as a huntin rifle, but one big one that got me is reloading ammo, surplus ammo and reproduction steel ammo is dirt cheap, but buying brass ammo with boxer primers that is reloadable is rediculous expensive. So I searched around and everyone and their brother was selling a remington 770, which was a flimsey pile of junk compared to the legendary model 700. I was looking for 30-06 or .308 when I went to a pawn shop and for 250 buck I saw an old remington bolt action. The guys there said it had been there more than a decade and no one knew anything about it other than it was an old war rifle. Being of better quality than a 770 for a similiar price I bought it. Later I found out it was an 03 springfield made by remington called the 03a3 modelm and it had been sporterized/ redneckized as a deer rifle. The stock was replaced with the mass produced stock, the barrel was cut down, the reciever drilled for a scope, front and rear sights replaced,etc. The only thing original is 2/3rds the barrel and the reciever, as even the bolt lever was cut and a custom one welded to clear a scope. But rifles just like that are going for 300-600 bucks in this area which is still a lot lower than a unmolested military 03a3. For what it does for it's price though as a deer hunter it seems like an awesome rifle, and the 30-06 seems easily reloadable vs a steel mosin shell with a berdan primer.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have bought the bastardized rifle. It started life when corrosive primers were standard and they can muck up the important first few inches of rifling. The bores tend to be 'dark' with pitting. Who knows how many rounds ran through her, did they use a bore entry cleaning rod, which messes up the muzzle- a rather important area.

Back in the day I bought old mausers and immediately replaced bolt handle, trigger, barrel and stock. All things considered I'd gone the Savage route instead. Far easier headspacing of the barrel, easy replacement triggers, nice after market stocks, gotta love the free floating bolt head- makes facing the bolt obsolete. 300 gets you in the door, 600 a nice deer hunter package with scope.

I prefer the 308 over the 30 ought- can use a short action, still good ballistics in a handier package.

Good luck... :peace
 
Winchester said:
Wouldn't have bought it w/o a gunsmith looking it over. Now that you own it I wouldn't shoot it w/o having it looked over. Don't any of the gun shops in your area have consignments or previously owned rifles available?
Click to expand...

All the gunshops in my area charge a fortune for previously owned rifles, most charge more than new. I scout pawn shops because quite often they do not know how to price or push, like I said before the value of a gun like that in this area is much higher than what I paid, Another pawn shop find was an old remington 870 shotgun for 79 bucks in mint condtition, they underpriced it, and I snatched it and that thing was a dove hunting beast!!
 
notquiteright said:
I wouldn't have bought the bastardized rifle. It started life when corrosive primers were standard and they can muck up the important first few inches of rifling. The bores tend to be 'dark' with pitting. Who knows how many rounds ran through her, did they use a bore entry cleaning rod, which messes up the muzzle- a rather important area.

Back in the day I bought old mausers and immediately replaced bolt handle, trigger, barrel and stock. All things considered I'd gone the Savage route instead. Far easier headspacing of the barrel, easy replacement triggers, nice after market stocks, gotta love the free floating bolt head- makes facing the bolt obsolete. 300 gets you in the door, 600 a nice deer hunter package with scope.

I prefer the 308 over the 30 ought- can use a short action, still good ballistics in a handier package.

Good luck... :peace
Click to expand...

I thought about low end savages too, but no one sells those to pawn shops like 770's, they apparently even on the low end have decent quality no one wants to ditch.
 
Winchester said:
I still hunt with my Rem 700 ADL .270 from 1981. :) I've taken over 100 deer/antelope/elk and one moose with it.

I also agree with you, no way I'd buy a modified gun w/o knowing the person who did it or having someone qualified looking it over.
Click to expand...

A fellow Remmy inter-generationalist! I have to tell you, I was SO proud as a 14 year old not to have had to buy the ADL! And, yes, I was a dumb, arrogant kid at that age. AFAICT, it was only the black bit at the end of the stock that made any difference, and that was just visually.

I had great luck with that rifle, and came to respect the all-applicable .270 much later in life as one of the greatest allrounders.
 
beerftw said:
I thought about low end savages too, but no one sells those to pawn shops like 770's, they apparently even on the low end have decent quality no one wants to ditch.
Click to expand...

Ummm there are other places selling rifles, but the last Savage I bought was through a pawn shop, they charged 10 bucks to order one for me on their FFL.

But let's review, POS bastardized rifle sits in Pawn Shop for decades vs rifles no one wants to part with to a pawn shop- they rarely give anything close to true market value...

which one do you want??? ;)

Like I said, you can buy a decent minute of deer rifle NIB for 300 +,- one for local matches for 600. You can replace your barrel DIY, same for trigger group. Easiest hobby gunsmith rifle ever...

In the past I bought several old military rifles, some like yours- only have an old Yugo and an old '93 action left- first one my comp/hunter and the other a light knock about 'truck' rifle. Both 308. But the future is Savage... :peace
 
beerftw said:
The barrel being cut does not bother me it guages out fine, the big issue for a bolt action is headspace, as if it is wrong it will not fire all the time or puncture the primer shooting gas back in your face. The 700 was what I was kinda looking for, but they were way too much for my budget, and this rifle kept getting marked down because it was rejected, people apparently looked at it and decided they did not want it, and opted for more modern yet lower quality firearms.
Click to expand...

Ah, I'd overlooked the budget bit of your post. Sorry.

I don't have a lot of advice other than look for any LA 30/30 from 1990 or before.
 
notquiteright said:
Ummm there are other places selling rifles, but the last Savage I bought was through a pawn shop, they charged 10 bucks to order one for me on their FFL.

But let's review, POS bastardized rifle sits in Pawn Shop for decades vs rifles no one wants to part with to a pawn shop- they rarely give anything close to true market value...

which one do you want??? ;)

Like I said, you can buy a decent minute of deer rifle NIB for 300 +,- one for local matches for 600. You can replace your barrel DIY, same for trigger group. Easiest hobby gunsmith rifle ever...

In the past I bought several old military rifles, some like yours- only have an old Yugo and an old '93 action left- first one my comp/hunter and the other a light knock about 'truck' rifle. Both 308. But the future is Savage... :peace
Click to expand...

I never had an issue with milsurp rifles other than finding parts, like buying an old spanish mauser that cost 80 bucks then breaking the firing pin to find out it was cheaper to replace than to buy a new firing pin.

Those old milsurp were tougher than the savage rifles, by comparison the milsurp rifles are nearly indestructable. The rifle I bought was 300-600 in value average, they go up to 1500 for a bastardized version like mine, but that is for match grade which mine is not.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
I bought my first Rem, a 700 BDL .270, in 1982. It was an awesome 14-15 year old's fist deer/pig rifle. Full on wood. No plastic whatsoever.

That said, if I didn't know who cut the barrel, and why and how, and I couldn't talk to him/her, I'd run from it.

Just speaking from experience.
Click to expand...

Sportered service rifles were very common decades ago. It's not a collector rifle but it was probably a good deal. My father got a sportered .303 enfield for 99 dollars several years ago, very good rifle for the money
 
beerftw said:
I never had an issue with milsurp rifles other than finding parts, like buying an old spanish mauser that cost 80 bucks then breaking the firing pin to find out it was cheaper to replace than to buy a new firing pin.

Those old milsurp were tougher than the savage rifles, by comparison the milsurp rifles are nearly indestructable. The rifle I bought was 300-600 in value average, they go up to 1500 for a bastardized version like mine, but that is for match grade which mine is not.
Click to expand...

Oh I don't know that I'd go that far knocking savages. Bought my older boy a Rem 700 CDL but when the time came around for my younger son I bought him a Savage 14/114 American Classic (both in .270 of course). I also own a Savage 22-250. Both Savages are solid guns:

Remington 700 CDL

P1010182.jpg


My old Remington 700 ADL (I upgraded the stock about 15ish years ago)

P1010148.jpg

P1010149.jpg


My Savage 22-250

IMG_0682.jpg


Don't have a picture of my other son's Savage, oh well.
 
Winchester said:
Oh I don't know that I'd go that far knocking savages. Bought my older boy a Rem 700 CDL but when the time came around for my younger son I bought him a Savage 14/114 American Classic (both in .270 of course). I also own a Savage 22-250. Both Savages are solid guns:

Remington 700 CDL

P1010182.jpg


My old Remington 700 ADL (I upgraded the stock about 15ish years ago)

P1010148.jpg

P1010149.jpg


My Savage 22-250

IMG_0682.jpg


Don't have a picture of my other son's Savage, oh well.
Click to expand...

My rifle has the same exact stock but made just for the 03a3 rather than a 700 and with no checkering. If I mounted a scope on mine, it would look just like your 700 until you got up close and saw the side flip switch for the bolt and the safety and springfield mauser style action on the other side instead of the 700 style action.

edit: I like the savage rifles, especially their entry level rifles which are the best bang for the buck in terms of reliability to dollars spent vs other new rifles. But in terms of strength and reliability against old milsurp, not a chance, these old rifles sacrificed some accuracy to be so rugged they would fire even after being dragged through the mud in the snow during a hail storm uphill both ways!!!
 
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