springfield 1903 308 norma mag info

[JoeN]

My grandpa has passed down a Springfield 1903 308 Norma mag to my dad and he wants to give it to me. He said its a incredibly accurate and it was custom built. My grandpa was marksman in the USMC and could hit paper plats at 600 yards standing all day. I'm just want some info on this gun, its it worth it for the cost of ammo, are they worth good money. (I wouldn't sell it, settle down) Its in great condition. Thanks

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[po18guy]

The 1903 Springfield is an excellent action - used for many cutoms in the 40s-60s. A few of the early actions were brittle, but those are well documented. I would suppose that the rifle has a custom barrel and stock? Pics will help!
As to the chambering: .308 Norma Magnum = .300 Wincehster Mag. Virtually identical. Good for any and all North American game animals. Brass "might" be an issue, but .300 Win. Mag can "probably" be used. Might have to trim it a bit, but they headspace on the belt, not the shoulder of the case. In any event, you are not going to run 500 rounds at a range day - guaranteed.

 

[Spitpatch]

The Norma Mag was probably the most popular cartridge conversion done to the Springfields. It is also probably the best. Without seeing it, (PICS would help a lot) I'm guessing you have a nice custom gun in a caliber that will kill anything on this continent. Outstanding elk rifle. .I think Norma still offers ammo, but at the price, you won't do much plinking. Good excuse to start handloading.

Custom rifles are almost always worth their very most to only the person that had the gun built. In other words, if you ordered a gun built just the way YOU wanted it, you would of course pay money for each feature or stage of gun work that you ordered. It adds up quick. It is a rare custom rifle that can be sold for more than what was originally paid to build it.

But time is on your side. A Norma conversion/re-barreled Springfield decent custom gun built 60 years ago (a guess of age for your gun) probably cost 750-1000 dollars back then.

But to you, the gun is priceless.

Edited frantically to add: I SWEAR I did not read @po18guy 's post prior to posting mine. I shoulda kicked back: he did good work.

 

[JoeN]

The 1903 Springfield is an excellent action - used for many cutoms in the 40s-60s. A few of the early actions were brittle, but those are well documented. I would suppose that the rifle has a custom barrel and stock? Pics will help!
As to the chambering: .308 Norma Magnum = .300 Wincehster Mag. Virtually identical. Good for any and all North American game animals. Brass "might" be an issue, but .300 Win. Mag can "probably" be used. Might have to trim it a bit, but they headspace on the belt, not the shoulder of the case. In any event, you are not going to run 500 rounds at a range day - guaranteed.

thanks for the info ill have my dad grab some photos when he can (lives 300 miles away) it has a custom monte carlo stock that my grandpa made and it has a custom barrel, I believe so at least. yeah i don't think ill be spending $1500 on ammo for a range day lol

 

[JoeN]

The Norma Mag was probably the most popular cartridge conversion done to the Springfields. It is also probably the best. Without seeing it, (PICS would help a lot) I'm guessing you have a nice custom gun in a caliber that will kill anything on this continent. Outstanding elk rifle. .I think Norma still offers ammo, but at the price, you won't do much plinking. Good excuse to start handloading.

Custom rifles are almost always worth their very most to only the person that had the gun built. In other words, if you ordered a gun built just the way YOU wanted it, you would of course pay money for each feature or stage of gun work that you ordered. It adds up quick. It is a rare custom rifle that can be sold for more than what was originally paid to build it.

But time is on your side. A Norma conversion/re-barreled Springfield decent custom gun built 60 years ago (a guess of age for your gun) probably cost 750-1000 dollars back then.

But to you, the gun is priceless.

absolutely i wont sell it ill pass it down as it will be to me, i was just curious as it was a talking point. My grandpa was a pretty wealthy man so id imagine everything was the best quality money could buy back then. Pics will come later once i get my dad to take them. yeah this will give me a reason to start my addiction to reloading again

 

[bionic knees]

thanks for the info ill have my dad grab some photos when he can (lives 300 miles away) it has a custom monte carlo stock that my grandpa made and it has a custom barrel, I believe so at least. yeah i don't think ill be spending $1500 on ammo for a range day lol

it sounds like you have never fired a "300" mag, usually, a few shots are plenty!

 

[JoeN]

The most ive fired out of my old browing 300 win mag was about 80 shots in a day, but i was realoading then

 

[bionic knees]

The most ive fired out of my old browing 300 win mag was about 80 shots in a day, but i was realoading then

that will leave a mark for sure.

 

[po18guy]

Hodgdon advises that you can FL resize 300 Winchester Mag brass, trim to length and you are good to go.

 

[ilostmypswrd]

.308 Norma is a epic-ley great caliber..think .300 win magish, I own a Schultz & Larsen M54J in .308 Norma that my uncle left to me, if ammo wasn't retarded high cost, i would drop my 7mm rem mag in favor of that, you can find .308 norma mag once in a while at pawn shops or( heaven help you) on gun broker, there was a dude trying to ripoff oops i mean sell some old stuff for about 80 per 20.but seeing as 7mm rem mag is reaching that price/ and more well....if the rifle shoots well and it fits you well, then it might be time for the abc`s of reloading.

 

[po18guy]

absolutely i wont sell it ill pass it down as it will be to me, i was just curious as it was a talking point. My grandpa was a pretty wealthy man so id imagine everything was the best quality money could buy back then. Pics will come later once i get my dad to take them. yeah this will give me a reason to start my addiction to reloading again

If it was done by any of the best of the old-school gunsmiths, it comes from a time of pride in craftsmanship. Quite often the gunsmith's standards were higher than the customer's.

 

[po18guy]

.308 Norma is a epic-ley great caliber..think .300 win magish, I own a Schultz & Larsen M54J in .308 Norma that my uncle left to me, if ammo wasn't retarded high cost, i would drop my 7mm rem mag in favor of that, you can find .308 norma mag once in a while at pawn shops or( heaven help you) on gun broker, there was a dude trying to ripoff oops i mean sell some old stuff for about 80 per 20.but seeing as 7mm rem mag is reaching that price/ and more well....if the rifle shoots well and it fits you well, then it might be time for the abc`s of reloading.

Handload. .300 Win Mag is all over and is just a trim away from being perfect.

 

[orygun]

A good friend has a 308 Norma mag. Unsure of which rifle he has as we don't hunt or shoot together, but I'll never forget his comment about it.
"308 Norma Mag. Kills on one end, wounds on the other!"

I'd like to see pics of the gun in question. Some of those old Springfield conversions are wonderful.