frkelly74
05-30-2011, 11:08 PM
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.
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.