Gewehr-Guy
04-13-2021, 03:20 PM
I recently built an 03A3 "Carbine" from some deactivated drill rifle parts, like one Baltimoreed pictured in one of his previous posts. I used a polished and blued 20 inch 1903 barrel that some one had thoughtfully cut down, an 03a3 stock cut behind the barrel band, and a handguard with a split the entire length, and a 1 inch chunk of wood gone from the breach end. I spliced an old forearm piece to the front of the stock, and shortened the handguard to match, and made a handsome and handy little carbine from a bunch of misc junk parts.
Well, I took it along to last weeks CBA match, to try it out. Was using a load of IMR Red, 12 grs. ans a Saeco 315 bullet. Has always seemed a pretty mild load to me, but after a few rounds the bolt was getting harder and harder to lift, in fact I eventually had to smack the bolt with the heel of my hand to lift the bolt. All the cases looked fine, and the primers looked good, so it can't be pressure causing the sticking bolt. Well it finally dawned on me to pull back the striker, and cock it, before I lifted the bolt. I could lift it with one finger.
I had to replace the welded drill bolt body with a new one, and had to clean out all the cosmolene with brake cleaner, before I reassembled it. I re-oiled the striker spring, and greased the bolt lugs and body, and it worked smoothly in the rifle. But the beveled area on the bolt, and the cocking lug of the striker were bone dry !!! Learned my lesson, old guns work properly when they are greased properly ! Oh, my little new favorite rifle shot a 99-5X on one target at 100 yrds.
Well, I took it along to last weeks CBA match, to try it out. Was using a load of IMR Red, 12 grs. ans a Saeco 315 bullet. Has always seemed a pretty mild load to me, but after a few rounds the bolt was getting harder and harder to lift, in fact I eventually had to smack the bolt with the heel of my hand to lift the bolt. All the cases looked fine, and the primers looked good, so it can't be pressure causing the sticking bolt. Well it finally dawned on me to pull back the striker, and cock it, before I lifted the bolt. I could lift it with one finger.
I had to replace the welded drill bolt body with a new one, and had to clean out all the cosmolene with brake cleaner, before I reassembled it. I re-oiled the striker spring, and greased the bolt lugs and body, and it worked smoothly in the rifle. But the beveled area on the bolt, and the cocking lug of the striker were bone dry !!! Learned my lesson, old guns work properly when they are greased properly ! Oh, my little new favorite rifle shot a 99-5X on one target at 100 yrds.