Reconsider that new M1903. It will only go down in value for many years to come. If you get an original M1903 (I would get the M1903A3 variant because it has better sights), it is still quite shootable and accurate. Many, many tens of thousands were rebuilt after WWII and then put into long term storage or loaned to allies. Some of the ones that came from the CMP a few years ago had brand new barrels and parts on them. Also, the low serial number M1903s are not considered to be safe to shoot.
The 1903s from Springfield Armory with serial numbers below 800,000 are suspect. Many 03s were rebuilt at the outset of WWll with new bbls. Some are two-groove but don’t let this put you off, the two-groove bbls were surprisingly accurate.
Yup.
I have a low numbered one, which I have yet to shoot.
But I can tell it has been re-barreled. And when I cleaned it, I put about 8 patches through it till they came out clean.
No doubt in my mind it has been shot - alot!
Just got a box of 140gr Remingtons the other day.
It is a Springfield Armory gun and was manufactured mid-1915, and the data shows no failed weapons from 1915 recorded.
So one of these days, probably early next spring, it will get fired. For those who say it’s dangerous, all I can say is guns are inherently dangerous. I trust this gun more than I would a Remington 700.
Smoothest action on a weapon I have ever seen/felt, bar none!