M1903A3 BLACK FINISH

[wctriumph]

I am looking at possibly picking up a LC Smith Corona M1903A3 and I have a question:

The metal of the receiver group is black. I am unfamiliar with this finish on this model. I have seen some M1 rifles with a black park job on the receiver, just not a 1903A3. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks as always guys.

[zteknik]

The black finish usually means its been refurbished recently. The military used gray Parkerizing to refinish their rifles until after the m14's. I have a Smith Corona as well and mine is all original. The finish on that is grey park that has a slightly green tint to it due to the cosmoline.
And to my knowledge the M1's that are black finish also have been recently re finished as well. Could also be that when released from our inventory the foreign nations that received them did the black park job.
I've also seen gunshow versions of a lot of old rifles that were put together from parts kits this way as well.
Blaster Bob can give you a better low down on these as he got to play with them first hand ;)

Real nice looking, they shoot real well. Enjoy it [Beer]

[wctriumph]

Thanks zteknik for the info. I have a Ogden, UT overhauled 1943 LC Smith Corona that is in proper condition and I like it. It is a keeper and hopefully I will have a grandchild to pass it on to.

This black one is available to me and I am in negotiation for it, I just don't know enough about them to avoid being burned on value. I will keep on looking for information.

Thanks again.

Mine:

[zteknik]

Not a problem, I'm by far no expert but have learned a lot after getting burned a couple of times.
Last one I saw that had the black park was at a gunshow in NY about 6 years ago. Non dated barrel and it looked like it was recently put together. The guy said it was"Museum quality" and wanted $1200 for it.
That's when I chuckled and just walked away..
An all original configuration one starts at $800 and goes up from there. The one with the black park you posted, I wouldn't pay over $700 if I had to have a Smith.
I like your Smith, real nice shape- gotta get my camera working some day-darn dumb phone takes real cruddy pictures.

[jreifsch80]

The sarco a3's that are built with rewatted rebarreled drill rifles..... are those black parked?

[zteknik]

The sarco a3's that are built with rewatted rebarreled drill rifles..... are those black parked?

Yea, I forgot about Sarco. They were black from what I remember.

[BlasterBob]

The black finish usually means its been refurbished recently. The military used gray Parkerizing to refinish their rifles until after the m14's.
I've also seen gunshow versions of a lot of old rifles that were put together from parts kits this way as well.
Blaster Bob can give you a better low down on these as he got to play with them first hand ;)

Real nice looking, they shoot real well. Enjoy it [Beer]

I wish I knew more about the black finishing but the only one (an M1 Garand) that I owned that was black, or almost black, was a returned Danish Garand. We reparkarized Garands while I was in Small Arms Repair and they always came out from dull gray to an almost green tint.

[wctriumph]

The one I am looking at has a 2-43 barrel and a mid 43 serial number, the guy says that it is really grey, the pic's just make it look black. It doesn't matter any more, my wife really needs new glasses so there goes my hobby stash. Oh well, that is how it goes sometimes.

Thanks guys for all the info.