Thanks. I talked to Tip at Canyon Sporting Arms (he seems to have a tremendous selection of barrels & complete M03's in stock) and he pretty well echoed what you said, quoting $1,400 for .30-'06 barrel, "standard" magazine, and standard bolt head. The rifle I'm considering is currently a Winchester Short Mag, which either aren't being made or aren't being imported into the U.S. any longer, and he felt like I could get that full investment back.

One concern I've got is the twist rate for the M03 .30-'06 barrels, which I saw listed as 1 in 11". I like to shoot 180 to 220 grain bullets in .30-'06 and expect that twist to work better with 150's; all of that has me considering the 7x64 and 8x57 barrels.

To keep this interesting, two months ago I commissioned a 9.3x62 barrel for my Empire 98S takedown. I'm going to kick myself in the ass, repeatedly, if I end up liking the M03 system better.