Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I don't think you overpaid at all. That's a nice looking rifle. I have a USMC Sedgley arsenal rebarreled '03. Spend some time getting the barrel clean, mine of heavily fouled. It's useless with cast as is. Clean the barrel and enjoy.
As far as the "low numbered" thing, IIRC that was in reference to the Rock Island 03's. The CMP blurb doesn't line up with the reference material I have on hand. I'd research it, but I also wouldn't be afraid to shoot cast in it. You can get the action and bolt Magnafluxed to check for cracks in many machine shops.
FWIW, even today we are living under the fables of yesterday. "All Jap actions are cast steel and will blow up!", "Any Spanish revolver is a death sentence!", "The bolt head on a Krag will let go and bury itself in your forehead!", "You can't use a 93 Mauser with modern ammo!". You'd think by now we'd have separated fact from fiction, but such is not the case.
As far as the "low numbered" thing, IIRC that was in reference to the Rock Island 03's. The CMP blurb doesn't line up with the reference material I have on hand. I'd research it, but I also wouldn't be afraid to shoot cast in it. You can get the action and bolt Magnafluxed to check for cracks in many machine shops.
FWIW, even today we are living under the fables of yesterday. "All Jap actions are cast steel and will blow up!", "Any Spanish revolver is a death sentence!", "The bolt head on a Krag will let go and bury itself in your forehead!", "You can't use a 93 Mauser with modern ammo!". You'd think by now we'd have separated fact from fiction, but such is not the case.