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A friend was left this rifle to her by her father.
I'm trying to help find info on it so she might sell it (not for sale at this time).
Please, no flames on sporterizing it. We believe it was done in the 1950s, before she or I was born. It has a 388XXXX serial number, chambered in 25-06, heavy barrel, and a 15X-50mm J.Unertl scope.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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Corrected: 388XXXX was 388XXX
Last edited by Auriemma on Fri Aug 22, 2025 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It was originally a Springfield 1903 in caliber 30-06 produced by Remington in 1943. Several firms produced the Springfield during WW2 most notably the Rock Island Arsenal, Springfield Armory and Smith - Corona as well as Remington. The Garand M1 replaced it as the main battle rifle starting in 1937. It was converted to 25-06 at some point with the barrel and stock replaced. All that is left of the 1903 is the receiver.
I tried to make a "post" on this earlier but apparently didn't hit the "submit" button and good thing because all I saw was the 388,000 serial which sends up all sorts of red flags but the other dude who replied was smarter than I and recognized it was serial 3,880,000 which makes a big difference and he accurately noted when this "action" (receiver) was manufactured.
The 25-06 round was not introduced commercially until 1969 but was a "Wildcat" many years before that. A "Wildcat" round is something not made commercially but rather made by a shooter/reloader.
The stock style is from the 60's into the 70's but I know a lot more about the Unertl 1-1/2" Target Scope. The scope itself is worth "at least" twice as much as the rifle if the rifle was to be sold separately. Those Unertl scopes are in big demand and can be dated because they all had serials. Dating the scope might tell you when the rifle was assembled.
One footnote here is that in the late 50's you could buy surplus 1903 Springfield's from the DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship) for $15 plus shipping by Railway Express. I have a feeling this rifle started its new life when the original owner
acquired it in this manner.
My bad.... its 388XXXX as in 3,88X,XXX
So the build may have been done post 1969. But he was a reloader with 25-06 dies.
We just assumed 50s as many of his collection arrived in that time.
And it seems the Scope is a 2" Ultra Varmint with Calibrated Head/AO. S/N: 51XXX (1965)
Thanks!
Jim - I happen to have a 700 in 25-06. Is there any information as to when commercial dies were first available for reloaders? I assume they predate the introduction of commercial ammo.
I really don't have a clue but what I can tell you is that for years I've been shooting a .257 Ackley Improved, it has NEVER been a commercial cartridge, and RCBS made dies for it back in the 70's. Was just chatting with a friend about this and he's one smart "gun guy" who says the 25-06 goes back to as early as WWI ?? Beats me but its not difficult to neck size an 06 down to 25 or 27 caliber.
My background is competition small bore & high power shooting and grew up loving the 30-06 because of its accuracy not to mention its versatility, and most of all its availability. There is not a gun shop in the country where you can't buy 30-06 and compared to the .270, 25-06, and whatever you come up with its cheaper by far.
I won a LOT of hardware, was a military Distinguished Marksman, and all of that was with a 1903 Mark I Springfield action (Mark I's were super good/smooth actions designed for use with the Pedersen Device). Like your "sporter" mine was highly modified with a Fajen Target Stock, Canjar Trigger, Douglas Air Gage Barrel, and chambered specifically to shoot Military White Box 30-06 Match Ammunition. My rifle also had a Redfield micrometer receiver sight & Redfield Big Bore Target front sight with assorted apertures. Love that rifle with the only shortcoming being "lock time" but never had a misfire. On those rare occasions I used it for long range shooting it too had a Unertl 15X 1-1/2" Target Scope (still have it and the rifle). I used it once in 1,000 yard competition but the 06 was not the best choice so had a rifle specifically for that competition in 30-338 Magnum (a 338 Magnum necked down to 30 Caliber suggested to me by another Distinguished Marksman Thurman Horner, God rest his soul.
I'll just add here that like the .257 Ackley, the 30-338 Magnum lets everyone around you know when you fire off a round, its "report" even with muffs on hits a decibel level of unpleasant proportion!!
