Rain, rain...

Today was to have been the last high-power rifle match of the year. because it was the last, I'd planned to bring out my oldest and most-cherished 1903 Springfield to shoot, just to enjoy shooting it.Alas, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and this morning it was raining such that I got a call from the range telling me that the shoot was canceled.

Now this miffed me, because I use these matches for training and since it often rains in real-life, I do shoot in the rain if it happens to be raining on shoot day. However I really didn't care to get this Springfield all wet, so I was actually in the process of selecting another rifle when the call came. Darn it.

But back to this wonderful rifle. I got it way back in my youth when I was but a struggling college kid. I happened by chance to talk to another student at a meeting
one night and he casually mentioned that his grandfather had passed away and left him a couple of old military rifles, a Model 1903 Springfield and a Model 1917. I came to discover that this kid had already hacked up the 1917 to make a deer rifle out of, but the 1903 was in the trunk of his car as he was getting ready to take it to a gun show to see if he couldn't trade it for an SKS. Now mind you, back then, SKS rifles from Chinese could be bought brand new for $79.00 or so. I saw an opportunity and offered to buy it from him for the price of an SKS. We went out to his car in the parking lot and he reached into his truck, and there, banging around loose with the spare tire, jack, and a tool box, was a rifle. It wasn't even in a case, and I decided right there that I had to save it from this uncaring Philistine no matter what. Problem was, neither of us had a flashlight, and taking it out to examine under the streetlights didn't make a lot of sense. I tried to use a Bic lighter for illumination, but it was next to useless. All I could do was give it a Braille exam. Yep...it's got sights. They feel complete. Action works and sounds good. Got both sling swivels and both barrel bands...stock seems complete...

Without even being able to see it's markings or finish or look down the barrel, I bought it for $125. All I knew was that I had a 1903 Springfield of some sort. I drove all the way home praying that it didn't turn out to be some National Ordnance parts gun or have a sewer-pipe barrel.

It turned out that I scored a nice 1934-manufactured rifle with what I believe is an original barrel with an excellent bore. The finish turned out to be a well-worn parkerizing and the wood stock still appeared to have the original hand-rubbed finish that bespoke a lot of handling. The bolt action was butter-smooth, probably from being cycled thousands of times. It bore the look of a rifle that had seen a lot of use, but not much abuse. I'm sure that if it could talk, it'd have some stories to tell. As these rifles didn't have much collectors' value back then, I taught myself to shoot with this one, putting a hundred rounds or so through it every week-end for a while. The remainder of the time, it hung on my wall in my apartment in the middle of campus, a historical piece ready to repel intruders if it came down to it.

But time went on, newer and more interesting guns came along, and I finally realized that this rifle was a bit too valuable to take out and shoot all the time. It wound up on the rack as the collection grew, and I haven't shot it in years.

Well today was going to be the day, but the rain screwed that up. Pity. But now that I've got the bug to shoot it, it's in the queue of rifles waiting for a trip to the range.

Here's a nice clip on the '03 Springfield, if you care to watch.