03-A3 Target Rifle

[Ben]

I recently acquired a super nice 03-A3, 30-06 Springfield, target rifle. It has a Lyman 17A XNA , a Lyman 48 Rear. Original 1944 , 2 groove barrel , bore is Excellent ++++ . The stock is English Walnut with a wide beaver tailed foreend. The rifle is glass bedded and the barrel floats. The blue is a high polish blue and looks like it is 1/4 " deep.

A cast bullet shooter's dream rifle.

The rifle has a Timmney trigger set for 1 lb. Clean and crisp.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0008-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0001-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0002-1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0012.jpg

I took the rifle to the range today with some of my cast bullet loads.
Here is a 10 shot group at 50 yards, this group is shot with the Cramer 191 , sized to .309 dia., with CCI 34 primers and 11.5 grs. of Russian Unique :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/IMG_1417.jpg

This is 80 yards , 10 shots, with the 191 Cramer, sized .309 dia.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/03%20-%20A3%2006/PICT0003Large.jpg

[Maven]

Damned fine shooting Ben! Nice gun too.

[Ben]

This one is a joy to shoot ! !

Thanks Maven,

Ben

[Reloader06]

Wow!! Beautiful rife. There is one at a local shop that is setup for glass. I think I might have to check it out again. Nice shooting. Best of luck with that old warhorse!

Matt

[EMC45]

Very nice! I'll send you a copy of my C&R and you can just send it to me.[smilie=1:

[Ben]

ECM45 :

I don't have the heart to " clutter " your safe with this old junker.

Ben

[EMC45]

Thank you for your concern. You apparently have seen my gun cabinet.

[Vly]

Very nice cast boolit shooting rig. Enjoy!

[Joni Lynn]

That's a really nice looking 03. Congrats.
Those actions are just so slick in function, I enjoy mine, but it's not a target style rifle.

[Ben]

In a good 03-A3 with the bolt handle raised, the bolt will move by gravity forward and to the rear when you raise and lower the muzzel.

That's a slick enough rifle action for me, no doubt. This one actually looks a lot better than the photos you've seen. Of course the real fun is in the shooting with the rifle. This particular rifle with its 1 lb trigger really makes cast bullet shooting an enjoyable and fun activity. A super accurate rifle.

Ben

[beemer]

That one is a classic! I have one that was done up as a sporter with a walnut stock,it was glass bedded with an all steel Lyman peep sight. A local gunsmith drilled and tapped it for me. He said that the rifle appeared unfired before being redone. At any rate it has a mint bore. My rifle has the original front sight and I am interested in the 17A front sight on your rifle. Was the sight put on the original base or is it aftermarket?

beemer

[Ben]

beemer:

I'm not certain on this particular 17 A front how it is installed. I think it is a band that fits the barrel shank and is silver soldered on. Someone else may offer additional insights on the front sight installation process with an 03-A3 barrel and Lyman 17 front.

Ben

[Bob S]

Ben:

Your rifle has the Lyman 17A XNA front sight. The sight has a 7/16 male dovetail that fits the fixed base of the 1903 (not 03A3). When I was building these rifles 40 years ago, I used the 17A XNA in preference to the 17A XNB, which was a one-piece affair that was made as the direct replacement for the 03A3 front sight. I did that because the XNA is lower, and with the Lyman 48 or Redfield 70 rear sight, it gave a lower line of sight and maximized the amount of elevation adjustment avilable ... especially handy when shooting cast bullet loads at 300 yards.

Removal is pretty straight-forward. It is unlikely that the sight is soldered on, but since it was built by a civilian, anything is possible!

To remove the Lyman sight from the fixed base, remove the tiny set screw in the front (muzzle) side of the fixed base. The Lyman sight should then drift out laterally with little effort.

To remove the fixed base, find the cross pin that is on the back side of the dovetail, and drift it out. The pin is usually contoured to the sight base and can be difficult to find, but it's there. I can see it in your picture. Once that pin is out, the base can be drifted forward and off of the barrel. A piece of hardwood and a plastic mallet can be used to "persuade" it. If you are removing the fixed base, it is a good idea to leave the moveable portion of the front sight (in this case, the Lyman) in the base. This prevents damage to the fixed base dovetail in the event that it takes some tough "persuasion" to get the whole assembly off.

If your rifle has an 03 barrel on it, there will be a fixed spline milled integral to the barrel that prevents the sight base from rotating; the spline will have a notch in the back that receives the cross pin that positions the sight fore and aft. If you have an 03A3 barrel, there will be a removeable key in place of the integral piece on the 03 barrel. This little change reduced the production time and wasted material in 03A3 production. Dimensionaly, the front sight seat of the two barrels (03 and 03A3) are identical so that the two rear sights can be interchanged, with one small detail: the location of the notch in the spline/key. The cross pin for the 03A3 front sight assembly is the middle of the sight base, since there was no dovetail for the moveable base in the 03A3. By putting the notch in the appropriate place on the key/spline, the sights could be interchaged on the barrels.

Lyman and Redfield both made a detachable target base that would fit in the dovetail of the 03 front sight. That gave you the option of using any of the detachable target front sight types, like the Lyman 77, Redfield Globe, Redfield Big Bore or International, &tc. (Redfield also made non-detachable globe sight similar to the Lyman 17A XNA).

Some pix of a few of mine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Springfield%2003s/Classic%2003A3%20MR/Classic03A3MR.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Springfield%2003s/Classic%2003A3%20MR/Classic03A3MRRearsight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Springfield%2003s/Classic%2003A3%20MR/Classic03A3MRfrontsight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Heavy_03A3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Springfield%2003s/Redfield03A3cutoff.jpg

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Ben]

Bob:

Great information and some super photos. Many thanks for taking your time to share the Lyman front sight particulars with all of us.

Love those 03's and 03-A3's.

Ben

[beemer]

Another thank you for the time and info!

beemer

[madcaster]

both you guys have super 03's!

[Ben]

Bob S:

My 2nd photo in thread # 1 of this post shows the screw that you describe in the front sight base.
__________________________________________________ _______________
Jeff:

Thanks for those nice comments.

Ben

[eka]

Ben, if I could only have one rifle, it probably would look very similar to that. Outstanding addition to an already fine collection. Enjoy.

Keith

[Ben]

eka:

I paid $600 for this one and I don't regret a single penny of it now !

A fellow had it in his safe and had never fired it more than 20 times. The rifle " was " a safe queen, it is a shooter now and I'm really enjoying this rifle.

Ben

[TCLouis]

That is one beautiful rifle.

The great groups are just icing on an otherwise great cake.

Congrats on the find!

[Ben]

I count myself fortunate to have this one !

Ben