M1903A3 Springfield

About the M1903A3 Springfield

The M1903A3 Springfield is a bolt-action rifle, a World War II production-simplified version of the venerable M1903 Springfield chambered in .30-06 Springfield. Adopted in 1942 and manufactured chiefly by Remington Arms and the Smith-Corona typewriter company, it replaced machined components with stamped parts to speed wartime output and substituted the original leaf-type tangent rear sight with a sturdy receiver-mounted aperture (peep) sight, improving practical accuracy. It served alongside the M1 Garand as a substitute-standard service rifle, drill rifle, and sniper platform throughout WWII.

When the United States entered World War II, M1 Garand production could not yet equip the entire force, so the older bolt-action M1903 was rushed back into mass production. The A3 simplification (stamped parts and a robust receiver peep sight) was the wartime expedient that kept this 1903-era design fighting through 1945.

M1903A3 Springfield specifications

The A3 differed from earlier M1903s mainly in its use of stamped metal parts and a rear receiver-mounted peep sight. Its accurized sibling, the M1903A4, served the US military as a sniper rifle into the 1960s.