About the Springfield M1903A3

The Springfield M1903A3 is one of the most influential and significant rifles in this country’s history, especially considering the impact of its wartime production after it superseded the original M1903.

This post will cover a brief history of this rifle.

A Brief History of the Springfield M1903A3

The original Springfield M1903 likely needs no introduction. This was the rifle that was first used during the Philippine-American War, which was adopted by the Army as the standard infantry rifle in 1903, and which was “official” issue to Doughboys in World War 1, despite the fact that wartime manufacturing constraints meant that most Americans in the AEF in Europe actually carried Enfield rifles.

Either way, the 1903 was developed to replace the earlier Krag-Jorgensen rifles that Americans of the time had been carrying. The Krag-Jorgensen had a magazine that was slow and difficult to load, and on top of that, the action and chamber could not withstand the higher pressures of higher-velocity rounds.

At the end of the Spanish-American War, the capture of many Mauser rifles indicated that the Mauser offered a superior design with a stronger action, and that rather than reimagining the Krag-Jorgensen, a new rifle was in order.

That led to the design of the first Springfield 1903 rifle, with a stronger action, and chambered for the .30-03 Springfield, and which was later chambered for the .30-06.

During World War II, Remington assumed production of M1903 rifles using worn tooling from Rock Island Arsenal. The issue was that the tooling needed to be replaced and the current production methods would have presumably been cost-prohibitive even with new tooling.

So, it was determined that a new variant, which would become the M1903A3, was needed. Production of the original was discontinued and the new variant was ramped up to meet wartime demand.

Visually, the M1903A3 is effectively the same as its predecessor, with one of the only notable differences being that the rear sight, which was originally mounted on the barrel, was replaced with a receiver-mounted aperture sight.

The new sight was made of stamped metal, and was located farther rear on the receiver, closer to the shooter’s eye. This produced a longer sight radius as well which could also be considered an advantage. From the military’s point of view, it was also more similar to the Garand’s rear sight, which would shorten the learning curve for soldiers that had been trained on the M1 Garand.

Another notable change in the M1903A3 was that the magazine was fitted with a new stamped follower with rounded edges, which enables smoother feeding and a much lower propensity to jam.

Standards for the steel alloy used in the barrel were also relaxed, allowing Remington to produce the rifles using “War Emergency Steel.” In addition, a more cost-effective, two-groove rifled barrel was produced for the M1903A3.

Many of the other components of the original Springfield M1903, which were made of high-quality milled steel, were in the M1903A3 instead made of much cheaper, stamped steel parts.

The stocks were also economized; earlier M1903 rifles were made with finger grooves. On the M1903A3, these stocks were replaced with straight-line stocks.

All in all, the M1903A3 saw plenty of action in the Second World War, despite the fact that the Garand is better known for it. Despite the fact that the M1903A3 was a bolt-action that offered limited rate of fire compared to the Garand, one significant advantage was that it could be fitted with the M7 grenade launcher.

Both rifles could be fitted with it, by the M7 grenade launcher, when mounted to the M1 Garand, incapacitated its autoloading functionality. The M1903A3, which was already and only expressly a repeater, suffered no such deficiency.

The M1903A3 also served as the platform for the basis of the M1903A4 sniper rifle, in which case instead of the rear aperture sight mentioned, the rifle would have been outfitted with a Redfield scope mount for an early telescopic sight.

This latter variant did not just see service in the Second World War, as indicated, it was also carried by troops in Korea.

Enter for a Chance to Win an M1903A3

If you’ve been intrigued by this brief overview of the history of the Springfield M1903A3 and have landed here in time, take this chance to sign up for our M1903A3 giveaway; you’ll get a chance to win a Remington M1903A3 the total package of which is worth over $1,500. Don’t delay on your entry, because entries close on 2/28/26 at midnight.

Explore Springfield Parts and More at SARCO 

If you already have an M1903, an 03A3, or an 03A4, make sure you don’t miss our collection of Springfield parts here. We carry many hard-to-find parts including but not limited to stocks, bands, swivels, and other hardware and other cool accessories like aim correctors. Explore our collection of Springfield parts and if you are looking for something specific you don’t see listed, get in touch with us directly and we will be more than happy to help.