I know factory hunting ammo is not to be used in standard GI M1 Garand rifle but what about in Springfield 1903 rifle?
Is it safe to use factory hunting 30-06 ammo in the Springfield 1903 rifle?

Unless you have one of the low serial number '03s from 1918 and before, then standard hunting ammo should be fine.  I'm guessing you gun is in good shape.  IMHO I'd avoid some of the new "super performance" stuff, just to be safe side with an older collectable gun.  No real data on this, just me being conservative.  Check out the data on military 30-06 loads from WWII for more info.  I used to own a 1918 '03 that was 20,000 units on the good side of the heat treating fix.  I used Remington, PMC, and other commercial standard velocity rounds in the 150 to 168 grain weights without issue.  Good luck, be safe.

Thank you for your reply.
My rifle is dated 1941 so I think it will be okay.
I just want to shoot couple rounds to get it sighted in and then one shot to put down a hog.
I'll be using Winchester 150gr Soft Point...not anything fancy.

Just because it has a 1941 dated barrel doesn't necessarily mean that the receiver is okay. What is the serial number range?

You're welcome.  I REALLY regret selling mine.  The best trigger in any military gun I've ever shot.  Very accurate too.  But the sights were very hard on my old eyes and I shoot left handed, so it was a little awkward.  A good friend talked me out of it.  Hope you enjoy yours.  Let us know how it shoots.

I really enjoy shooting mine.  My eyes are getting old and tired too but I still manage to ring the steel gong at 100 yards regularly.
Only thing I don't like about these rifles is the short butt stock so I have a slip on Limbsaver recoil pad on it to make it a little longer...and lessen the felt recoil.

I don't remember the serial number right now but I had checked it years ago and it way out of the range.

My first deer was shot using a standard M1903 built by Remington in 12-41.  Used Remington 150gr Core-Lokt bullets and ladder sight using the Christmas tree aperture.  That was back in Nov 1982, NW of San Antonio.  Which bullet you should use would depend on which model of sight you have do to the calibration for either the M1906 (150gr @ 2700 fps), M1 (174gr @ 2640 fps) or M2 (150gr @ 2805 fps) Ball loading and which shoots best in your rifle.


CD