I just want to make sure I'm getting the 03'A3 right

[Harter66]

Based on all of the great and helpful folks in here I succeded in getting a 32 Remington running and how the 1 made me feel like king of the world after struggling for years with it. You've helped me get the oddball Savage 30-06' running too. Same tweeks in both who'd of thought to leave the necks loose?

My 11-43 1903-A3 2 groove however is another matter. The bore is .300/308 at the muzzle and 302/310 at the very edge of the lead like no jump for the driving band short lead. My mould is the LEE C309-160 2R with the gas check removed,it drops at 154gr and .310dia WW. I've water dropped this batch and scaled them for about a 30% reject rate. This rifle shoots GI ball very well. Better than me anyway. My Savage shoots 3-4" with that stuff but these 2 stable mates won't share brass or loads.

So based on applied working knowledge ;
Is quinched WW too hard for the flat base?
Will the 310 be tight enough ?
Are Unique and 4350 good choices ? I have Red dot 4756 4895 3031 4831 H110 777FFF ETC.

I have work-ups in Unique at 12.0 13.0 and 14.0 and a 4350 at 40.0.

Input advice ? Eyeballs falling out from reading.

[405]

I have an A3 that is very similar in bore specs to what you listed. It too shoots jbullets very well with the standard 4895 loads. I tried several cast bullets because I had them on hand along with several loads. None yielded much accuracy at all. Finally, broke down and got a Lym 314299. This is the GC bore rider version of the 311299 that was designed I think for the .303. I cast with an alloy very similar to Lyman #2 at 14-15 BHN. I size to .310 and lube with a modified Felix. Bullets are seated so the GC is at lower neck junction and not below. The bore rider portion engraves nicely when chambered. I load this over 18-19.5 of 5744. These are mild loads and give very low velocity SDs averaging about 11. This approach yields accuracy I expect in both the 03 and the 03A3. Unlike other 5744 loads in straight walls this load is clean plus it doesn't lead the bore. This info may not match anything you are thinking of and can be viewed as another angle to consider.

So the bottom line is: the only way to tell if your loads will shoot to your standards is to try them.

[HORNET]

Harter, You've got those boolits set up as 154 grain plain bases, right? I think that you can probably forget about the 4350 loads. I don't think it's got enough resistance to get consistent combustion and if it does it's likely to leave a lot of lead behind, but I could be wrong. The Unique loads should probably show you which way it wants to go with that powder. You might also try about 7,8,& 9 grains of Red Dot, maybe half-grain steps instead. Frequently plain base rifle loads will work better in softer alloys so you might want to try some that weren't water dropped. Try to keep expected velocity below 1600 until you see how it reacts. Seat them out to touch the rifling or engrave if you can for better alignment.
Try playing with them and see what it likes.

[sundog]

I recommend getting a GC boolit of 180ish to 200ish grains, sized as much as .312 as long as it will chamber, seated as far out as possible, heavier being better and using a fast burn rifle powder in the 2400 to 4198 burn rate (I really like 4227 - alot). Hint -- 21.0/IMR4227 with a 180-200 gr boollit will prove if a 2-groove 03/03A3 is capable of shooting groups.

Success will come earlier.

From there your can spread your wings.

To me plain base boolits in an '06 are a pain in the a$$. Too much potential squandered...

[Harter66]

I tried it some time back with some softer boolits that went badly to be sure. I have these out as far as they will go infact they are just a half a turn of the seating ball from stuck in the grooves. My other 06' is giving me about1700 and 2" 50yrd groups with the softer boolits thing is at 1710 I get 12" and the same with any thing under 1650ish. I'm no stranger to skipping right over success. I may try some Red Dot also I forget about using it in a rifle. Thankyou 1 and all

[chuebner]

Forget the PB bullets. I have that same Lee C309-160 mold and experimented with my 4-43 03A3 using checked and unchecked bullets. Unchecked gave minute of pie plate patterns at 50yd. whereas checked gave 1/2"-3/4" groups at same distance. Load was 10gr. Unique. Best bullet though is the old Lyman/Ideal 311284 sized at .311 over 18gr SR4759. Popgun load but honest sub 2" groups at 100yd with issue sights.

charlie

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
PB can be a problem unless you leave them FAT to the throat. I am not overly concered to leave a PB .002 over throat diameter IF the cased round will go into the chamber without to much struggle. If it will not chamber without pushing hard then it is to tight. Just a snug fit is max. If the load is under 1500fps I use a 50/50 mix. Above 1500 I go to WW. And be sure your boolit has enough lube. Shallow groove PB boolits can run out in 24" barrels. You may need to also add alox tumble lube or some other lube to the bullet skin.
I leave my noses out so they engage the rifling about .010. I start that way and continue that way through the load increases. You can also add a thin cardboard (Cereal box) wad super glued to the base to give it a bit more protection. Just be sure the wad is stuck on and generally not loaded below the case neck. These have helped my PB bullets some.
But as stated above a GC model really eases the trials. With any new to me rifle, if it will not shoot the RCBS 180 gr flat nose GC made of WW sized .310 then that is a problem rifle.

[Char-Gar]

The 03A3 is a cast bullet delight, with either the 4 groove or 2 groove barrels. I have two of them and they will shoot cast every bit as well as they shoot the finest match jacketed bullet loads.

The lightest bullet I have used with excellent results is the RCBS 165 Sil. The Loverin designs (311407 and 311467) and the Barlow/Ideal designs (311291 and 311284) do equally well.

You can used many powders but I favor 2400 in the 15 to 18 grains range.

I size my bullets either .310 or .311. I really don't like my bullets to be larger than the leading edge of the throat so they won't shave lead as the large bearing diameter enters.

If you read the results of the military rifle cast bullet matches put on by the Cast Bullet Association, you will find the 03A3 coming in first, with great frequency. Most often those boys size their bullets .310.

Like Sundog says,... sucess will come early if you stick to the tried and true loads for the rifle.

[Harter66]

Shot the loads today not really encouraged til I got to the last load. I must make a note so as to shoot just what I planned for each rifle or not to take 2 of the same cartridge. At any rate as predicted the fast loads were not the best but I did get out and empty some brass. The rifle gave me a group back about 18" low of 1" with the 13grn of Unique . The range was busy today so no recoveries or chrono work. I rechecked the boolits and found them to have a base dia.of .312. I shot the Rem.760 also today also in 06' and managed 1" 5shot groups with it which to my knowledge is as well as it has ever shot.

So I will shoot some softer boolits with the 10-13grn Unique loads in both. My lube is right as there is almost no lead in either bore and both showed "blast smears"on the muzzles. Thanks for the guidance.

[bkbville]

Defying my expectations, the Lee 113gr flat nose 309-113-FN shoots really well in my 03A3.

I loaded some to teach someone to shoot - I wanted a light load to get them used to centerfire.

[Harter66]

I got out to shoot the 03 Sunday morning and I think that 12.0 Unique will be just fine.
The day was cold and wet but the chrony showed me 1565-1555-1555-1555-1547 at roughly 2" at 35 yards with apost leaner rest. Perhaps I will have a pic to post next week of a decent group!

[Harter66]

Well at least I'm consistant ! Tried the softer boolits. I put 3 of 5 into a 1" grid square. The other 2 were off some 3-4". Funny thing about it is that it did the same thing every set all 4 loads. Maybe I'm not the source of the problem after all. I think perhaps I should build a j load and see if the rifle will even shoot a solid 5 shot group ionly "plinked" with the rifle before and hitting steel at 250 was happiness.

[Harter66]

I got back out to shoot again today finally with some 7 and 8 grn Red Dot loads without my chrony of course. The ol' war horse has at last found something to like shooting 2" 5 shot groups even with the fouler and the 1 that the operater pulled. Better yet when I overlaid 5 targets with 3 loads made up of 23 rounds ,I dropped 2and got sand in the exposed lube, all shots went into a gridded box 2"wide and just 2.5"high.

Thanks again for the help and giudance !

[Char-Gar]

I am glad things are coming together for you.

[skeet1]

Harter66,
My 03A3 is one of the former Drill Rifles with a new 4 groove barrel. I tried the Lyman 314299 but they were to tight on the nose portion of the bullet. I also have the Lee 312185 which I am now using and it works great sized to .311. It seem to fit my barrel very well.

You might look up an article by C.E. Harris on "The Load" (13 gr. of Red Dot). It has a lot of good information in it you may find interesting.

https://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1387&forum_id=22

Skeet1