Photo of the day: 1903-A3

Smith-Corona 03-A3

What makes this particular ’03-A3 rifle special? Click the jump to find out.

Smith-Corona 03-A3 (2)

It’s a Smith-Corona. During World War 2, Smith-Corona, a typewriter manufacturer produced 234,580 1903A3 pattern rifles for the US military. the ’03 Springfield design saw service in every theatre of WW2, and in fact was the standard issue rifle for the US Marine Corps during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

I was privileged to handle and photograph this Smith Corona 1903A3, which belonged to a customer. It’s a real piece of history, and it’s awesome to see it come through the shop.

4 Comments

  1. Since the link is missing I am going to guess that this was used by someone of special importance in the Pacific Theater.

    1. Actually what makes it special is that it is a Smith-Carona. A Smith-Carona 03-A3 is automatically worth 25% more than a Springfield because of the rarity of the Smith-Carona. This particular rifle is barrel stamped 07-43, and still has all the original cartouche markings, and the original cleaning kit. This rifle is 70 years old and has had less than 100 rounds put through it. Estimated current value is about $1250. I have owned this rifle for 30+ years. I personally cleaned the original cosmoline out of it when I bought it.

Comments are closed.