1903-A3 and 1917 together at the range.

[frkelly74]

Today I took out my 1903-A3 which I bought as a sporter and have put into a Boyds C-type stock and replaced the original sights on, and the old 1917 Eddystone that my grand father bought in the late 40's or early 50's and just stored in a closet until he died in 1986. I played with the Eddystone almost every time I went to his house for a good 25 years and did not actually fire it until after he had passed. When I got it, it was covered with paint roller spatter and a thick coating of linseed with dust embedded in it. At some point the forward hand guard vanished and so I have replaced it with one that matches very well and cleaned it up. It is a good rifle and is fun to shoot. The 03A3 is one I picked up pretty cheap and replaced the stock first with a straight grip stock and then with the Boyds C stock. I will have to redo it at some point , it just doesn't look right, I varnished it, and there wasn't enough wood to fit into the nose cap. I shimmed it but it still rattles around quite a bit. It is a more comfortable stock than the straight stock though. It has been drilled and tapped for mounts so it is really just a fun gun. And it is fun! So one is to military original and one is a put together.
I wanted to see how cast boolits would work in both of these old rifles. I have been using 10 Gr of unique in several other rifles , My 7mm Chileno and my 8mm Brno-turk, so I thought 10 gr might be a good place to start. I used the Lee 312-155 GC boolit of water dropped wheel weight enriched scrap sized 311 in old military brass. With either rifle I could just pop clay pigeons on the bank at 50 yd once I was zeroed. I did think the 1917 sight was easier to use, easier to see through than the 03A3. And also the sight blade I have on the 03A3 is very thin and hard to find in the aperature. Both of these things are fixable and I will see to it soon. The load just sort of goes pop and then you can hear the smack when the boolit arrives at the target. Very little recoil and noise for an 06. This boolit I have loaded with 33 Gr of Accurate 2520 with a filler for my Garand and it will make it function and again will pop clay pigeons all day long. I have never had any leading problems with this boolit. people wonder what you're doing and sometimes ask. I like to tell them.

[leadman]

Yes, shooting these old guns is fun. My 200 yard load is 19grs of SR4759 with the Lyman 311041. Shoots good and not much recoil.

I have an old 1903a3 Smith Corona sporter that I'm working on. It has an original C stock that has a recoil pad and an ebony forend tip on it. It was drilled & tapped so I mounted an ols steel Weaver 10X target scope on it.

Have fun!

[frkelly74]

I was and still am amazed at how little you have to do to get these to shoot well and how inexpensive it is to shoot cast, if you don't charge yourself labor. The big secret, use a fat enough boolit.

[MtGun44]

10 Unique is a wonderful load in many different rifles and calibers. Sounds like you are
enjoying the old rifles.

Bill

[Shiloh]

I was and still am amazed at how little you have to do to get these to shoot well and how inexpensive it is to shoot cast, if you don't charge yourself labor. The big secret, use a fat enough boolit.

Amen to that!!

Shiloh

[Le Loup Solitaire]

According to Col. Harrison when he did extensive testing and writing for the NRA some years ago, the correct cast design for the 2 groove O3-A3 and the 5 groove 1917 was a short bullet body and a long bore-riding nose. Both barrel configurations have predominant lands upon which the long nose must ride and be positively guided. Proper fit is as always important. A bullet body diameter must be .309 or more and the nose diameter must be .301-.303. Anything less in either will result in poorer shooting. It is significant nowadays in choosing a good mold as there is a lot of undersize molds being thrown out on the market with little attention to quality control. With attention to these fundamental requirements, both of these rifles will perform very well. LLS

[chuebner]

According to Col. Harrison when he did extensive testing and writing for the NRA some years ago, the correct cast design for the 2 groove O3-A3 and the 5 groove 1917 was a short bullet body and a long bore-riding nose.

What current molds would match this requirement?

charlie

[frkelly74]

I seem to like the cheapo lee molds. 312 155 and 312 160 TL. Short body and a medium length nose section. My 03a3 has a 4 groove barrel but it worked well in both. I Chambered a round and took it out again to see if there was rifling engraved on the nose and in the Eddystone there was but in the 03A3 there wasn't. I would like the Louverin boolit with lots of lube grooves and a plain base if they weren't so pricey. I like the idea of the bore sizing the boolit to the proper fit and shy away from a long nose section that must be the perfect size already to fit the bore. For now that is my approach. It may change in the future , who knows? I may try the 312 185 lee mold some time, that one has a longer nose. But really what I am using right now works. I will play with the powder charge and see if there is any improvement.