New Christmas present

[NeveSSL]

Hi all,

Received a great Christmas present this year! My father-in-law gave me his uncle's 1903A3. His uncle qualified with the rifle, shipped abroad, the war was over by the time he got there, so he came back, purchased his rifle, and packed it away. My father-in-law purchased it in 1985 from him, got all of the cosmoline off, fired it once and put it away. Now it is mine and my wife's to continue passing down in the family. Its a Smith Corona from May of 1943 and is more or less almost new. It certainly won't be a daily driver, but I believe it would be an injustice to never shoot it, so I'll be putting a few rounds through it.

This isn't the greatest pic, but most of the rifles look pretty much the same anyway. Haha!

I'm thinking about getting a recoil pad to put on it while shooting, but we'll see.

He also gave my wife a little Raven P-25 that we're going to plink around with. Its not much for self defense, but she thinks its "cute" so that's a bonus at least. Haha!

Brandon

[Mike.357]

Beautiful rifle. Shoot it often, it isn't gonna hurt it.

The recoil on it should not be overwhelming.

[willis68]

That is an awesome Gift! Enjoy it!

[NeveSSL]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I am really excited about it. I've been wanting a .30-06 for a while now. The only rifles I had up to this point have been .22s and .30-06 has quite a wide variety of ammo to work on reloading with.

Although I have to admit, I'm beginning to feel the need for a good safe more than ever. Once we get a house (my wife and I are planning on buying soon), that may be one of my first purchases.

As far as the recoil goes, I would expect this rifle to be about the same as a 12-gauge. Would that be accurate?

Brandon

[Mike.357]

I find the recoil is less than my remmy 12 gauge pump.

But it probably depends on ammo preference.

[Garufa]

Very nice!

Take good care of it.

[NRA]

Very nice gift and a great family air loom. I vote no on the sissy pad, shoot it the way it was meant to be shot they are a blast!

[NeveSSL]

Haha! Thanks for the replies, guys. Can't wait to get this thing out in a field. Its going to be fun using the iron sights on this one.

Brandon

[Guest TnTnTn]

Nice rifle---- shoot it, clean it, protect it, enjoy it and NEVER ever ever alter it in any way. There are 1000s of 30/06 sporters around for scoping, altering, or whatever. TTT

[Guest Rickntenn]

Nice rifle!

[Guest capt usa]

Nice rifle---- shoot it, clean it, protect it, enjoy it and NEVER ever ever alter it in any way. There are 1000s of 30/06 sporters around for scoping, altering, or whatever. TTT

Nothing like owning a piece of history and I agree, never alter it.

[Randy L]

I shoot mine often with Greek surplus and recoil is no problem I stand 5 ft 6 and weigh 140 pounds my arms get tired long before recoil is a problem.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's a real heirloom. Nice!

[Caster]

Recoil is (for the hand loader) whatever you want it to be. It can punishing,or it can be laughable. If you're on a factory loaded diet and recoil is a concern, try something in the 125g to 150g range.