Boolit recomendations for 1903a3

[siamese4570]

Finally got an 03a3. Shoot great with "J" boolits but wouldn't be on this site if I wanted to shoot "J" boolits. Want to use it in the military bolt action matches they have at my club. What boolit do you 03a3 shooters use?

Siamese 4570

[35 Whelen]

I have two 03A3's; one as-issued and one a "poor mans" High Power match rifle. The as-issued one I've shot with the 311291, 311672, and 314299. It shot all of them quite well. I've only tried the 314299 in the match rifle, in fact I've only shot two groups with it after re-doing the horrible bedding job . If I had to choose one mould, it'd definitely be the 314299. Though a little oversized for the '06, it provides LOTS of bearing surface. Here are some targets with the loads noted.

First the as-issued:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/P1010007descr-1.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/314299RedDot.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/31129110shot.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/311291Targetmod.jpg

then the poor mans match rifle:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/03A3afterbedding.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/03A3/03A3afterbedding-1.jpg

I use Red Dot just about exclusively.

35W

[siamese4570]

35W
Thanks for the load recommendations! I have the 314299 mold. I use it for my nosin nagant sized to ".314. Have a lee .311 sizer so it looks like I'm all set. Thought that it might be too big (diameter) to work in the in the 03. The only other 30 cal mold that I had was a Ranch Dog 170gr mould. To get the correct overall cartridge length, I had to seat it very deep.

Thanks again

Siamese 4570

[35 Whelen]

35W
Thanks for the load recommendations! I have the 314299 mold. I use it for my nosin nagant sized to ".314. Have a lee .311 sizer so it looks like I'm all set. Thought that it might be too big (diameter) to work in the in the 03. The only other 30 cal mold that I had was a Ranch Dog 170gr mould. To get the correct overall cartridge length, I had to seat it very deep.

Thanks again

Siamese 4570

I size mine .310" usually, but .311" would be worth a try.
35W

[eka]

Good shooting 35 Whelen. I get around the same results as you did with the 311284 sized .311 with 13.0 Red Dot or 16.0 2400.

[johnly]

I recently purchased a Lyman 314299 with the hope that it would drop bullets at ..313"+, but that was not the case as they were on the short side of .312".

**** I thought, so I decided to size them to .311" and use them in my 4 groove 03A3. I had the same experience as stated in the earlier post, as this bullet out shot the 311291. 311334, as well as a few others.

John

[RU shooter]

What works for me are Lyman 311466 ,Lee 312-155 and 312-185 ,There are many good moulds that will shoot well if they fit your rifle properly.


Tim

[dukenukum]

What works for me are Lyman 311466 ,Lee 312-155 and 312-185 ,There are many good moulds that will shoot well if they fit your rifle properly.


Tim

these work for me as well as Lyman 308329

[405]

This is gonna sound worthless but I get acceptable results in my 2 groove with most 150-200 gr GC bullets sized to .310", of about 12-15 BHN, lubed with fairly soft lube, loaded to about 1500 fps and seated where the base doesn't protrude below the neck/shoulder junction. My bore has .3095 groove dia.

Now the bad part :( The absolute best groups, by a wide margin, are using a bullet and load as described above with a design similar to a Lym 311291 BUT weighing about 185 grains and dropping about .002" larger than the 311291 from an unmarked, maybe custom mold of some kind?

So the best I've found in my 03A3 is- something similar to the 311291 weighing 185 grains with a bore riding nose section of about .303 dia over 19 gr of 5744.

[dhaid-06]

Keep it simple. I use Lee .309" 180 gr 1R mold with WWs and lubed with liquid alox, sized to .309 with Lee push through sizer and gas checked. Tried out 5 loads of 2400 and settled in on 17.0 gr. Your results may vary, but it worked in my 1903a3.

Here are the results at 100yds off the bench.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee36/dhaid-06/9-7-09170.jpg

I also shot a 98-3x slow prone in my first CMP match with that load

[ELFEGO BACA]

I have had good luck with a charge of 20.0 grains of SR4759 behind either a Saeco #301 which casts out at 200 grains or a group buy from this website for a Lee 150 grain flat point. Alloy for both is wheelweights with 20% Linotype.
This works for my Remington made Springfield 1903, and Springfield 1903A3 with 2-groove barrel.

[405]

I guess one load for BOTH my 03 4 groove and 03A3 2 groove I'd have to go with the Lym 314299.

Load specs would be:

Lee collet neck size (check for chambering ease)
Neck expander .309
BHN 14 (Lym #2 similar) Sized .310
Felix type lube
OAL 3.330 (use rear of front drive band as stop for VERY light roll crimp or LIGHT taper crimp)
5744 18gr

This load is tops for use in both rifles. The bore riding nose is engraved lightly by the lands in both rifles. Fairly mild and relatively clean burning considering the nature of 5744 in most straight-walled applications. The 3.330 is nearing max OAL so worth a magazine/feed function check.

Pic of loaded round as described above.

[Char-Gar]

I have had trouble finding a bullet that won't shoot well in my 4 groove Remington 03A3 and 4 groove Smith Corona. The Remington is full military and the SC has been restocked.

My power charge is 49/WC872 with .5 to 1.0 cc of Precision Shotshell Buffer. The amount of buffer varies with the bullet weight/length. I use enough to get a compressed powder charge but not enough to buckle the case.

I have used 311284, 311334,311291,311467,311466,311407 Mod, SAECO RG4, RCBS 165 SIL, and a nose pour 180 FN NEI.

Choose any bullet and the groups will 1.5 MOA to 2.0 MOA depending on the bullet. 311284. The RCBS and the three Loverin style bullet are neck and neck for 1st. place and 311334 brings up the rear. Any are good enough for any use.

I need to add the very slow ball powder is poured into the cases through a two foot long power funnel for good compaction of the powder column.

I am guessing the velocity is between 1.6 and 1.7K fps with this load and bullets.

I also have good luck with the leading bullets and 16 to 18 grains of 2400. With this powder I have to vary the charge to find the sweet spot with each bullet. With the slow ball powder, the same charge works for all bullets.

Bullets are cast from No 2 alloy and sized .310. Works for me.

[TAWILDCATT]

I load 13.5 grs RED DOT with either 311291 or Lee 312-160 TL the lee unsized,
also MODERN BOND 308- 170PB.the lyman croneys at 1680fts.

[Patrick L]

Another good boolit is the SAECO 196 TC bullet. I believe the number is 301? That's what I shoot in my 03s, and I shoot it in competition in our summer Highpower league. I shoot it over 18 gr of 2400.

Over the years I have gravitated towards larger sizing, in all of my rifles in general. I have found the fatter the boolit the better it shoots. I started at .309, moved to .310, and currently size mine .311. I think as long as it chambers freely its good to go. In fact, in my M1 carbine I'm shooting my plainbase bullets as cast and lubed with liqud alox. Of course, all of the boolits listed here are GC designs so that doesn't apply.

Like many have said, its hard to find a bullet that won't shoot well in these great old guns.

[sundog]

Siamese 4570, what club? I shoot at Oil Capital.

Chargar got it pretty much right in that it is difficult to find a boolit what won't shoot in the 03A3. One of my favorites is the RCBS 30-180-SP (have I ever mentioned that I like RCBS moulds?). Another is 314299, then there is 311291, SAECO #301, and ....

Several easy things to do that will help accuracy are neck sizing (I especially like the Lee collet sizer), finding a boolit that is a slip fit in a fired case (try an unsized 314299 and see if it will fit), and seating the boolit out to the lands. Concentricity is the name of the game. To that end, if you take the slip fit boolit to the nth degree in an attempt to fill the neck and throat area, one other thing will greatly aid in that endeavor - outside neck turning. Almost seems kind of anal to do that for these old beasts, but from my perspective it is well worth it.

Another comment about the military bolt matches, at least the ones I shoot in. A match is 50 record rounds plus sighters and barrel warmers. Some folks shoot mil surp, some 300 yard target loads of 168 BTHP, etc. To me, that a lot of recoil abuse that is not really all that necessary. I have more than my share of high scores, high aggregates, and small groups with real boolits, and with a lot less abuse -- to me and the barrel.

The powders that have worked best for me for the mil bolt matches with cast are 4227 (my favorite), 2400, surplus 4759 (this one has a lot of potential), and N120.

[siamese4570]

Well the roads here in NE Okla finally cleared enough to get to the range on tuesday. Used the 314299 boolit sized to .311 with 14/16/17 gr 2400 and 12/13 gr Red Dot. The boolit weighs 210 grains. All shot well (around 1 1/2" @100YD), but very low. Using a six o'clock hold on a standard military 100 yd target (6" bull), I ran out of elevation adjustment on the sight before I got it into the black. My lyman manual list 2400 loads with this boolit up to 26 grains so I guess that I will up the load and try again.

Siamese 4570

[405]

is nothing to sneeze at with the non-optic sights. Very good shooting! Don't know how much extra vel you can get out of the bullet, to raise the POI, before losing accuracy?

I assume your 03A3 has the issue rear sliding peep on a notched ramp with a blade front? Many were fitted with pretty tall front blades. If you have the taller front blade it's not very difficult to file it down to raise the POI. Or you can make a shorter blade out of .050" thick sheet metal and install in the front ramp. There is a single pin holding the front blade in. Just punch it out and replace with the shorter blade. Save the original blade for future.

[4570guy]

The only bullet I've tried in mine is the Lee 200 gr round nose. The first 7 shots out of my 03A3 went into 1.5" at 100 yards. My load is 22 gr of SR 4759 with CCI 200 primers. Bullets were sized .310.