03-A3 is on the way to me!!!!

[Brother_Love]

I just purchased this 03-a3 and I hope it will be a great cast bullet shooter. I do not plan to use j-word bullets at all in this one, only cast boolits.

I will be starting with the Lyman 31141 and that mold will be back to me soon. I am having one cavity HP-ed. I have also ordered a scope mount and I will D&T the rifle when it arrives. It will be ftted with a Burris 3x-9x scope.

Here are some photos of my new rifle.:mrgreen:[smilie=w:

Malcolm
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_5.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_6.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_1.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_2.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_3.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_4.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/03-a3/03-a3_8.jpg

[ilcop22]

She's definitely been heavily modified. Is that the original barrel? I can't really tell by the pics. Are you going to keep it sporterized/hunting or refit it to mil-spec?

[docone31]

She will like cast, and most of all, paper patched!
Mine loves paper patched loads. Most accurate of all loadings.
I like the lines. Someone did a good job.

[Brother_Love]

ilcop22, I am leaving this one "as is", I have another original '03. Besides, I think that front sight is soldered on the barrel. It is the original barrel.

docone31, Never done PP. I am a little afraid to try....don't know where to start. I will try reading up on it. Does it require a special mold or can you PP any bullet?

Thanks, Malcolm

[smoked turkey]

I am wanting an 03/A3 myself. I prefer military, but I have to say thay one of yours is a beauty. I could be persuaded to buy something that classey. Enjoy!

[Brother_Love]

Smoked Turkey,
Thanks, the only change I think I will make is the "plexi-glass" grip cap:roll:. I may refit it with a steel or black plastic cap. On the other hand, when I see it up close I may like it:???:

In the off chance it will not shoot well, my back up plan is to have it re-bored to 35 Whelen. I expect it to shoot well as it is.

Malcolm

[Firebricker]

That is a fine looking rifle ! The checkering really sets it off but I agree a steel grip cap would look better IMO. Congrats FB

[Ben]

Malcolm :

Have you given thought to the current bolt handle? You mentioned a Burris 3 X 9 scope. From the looks of your excellent photos, I've got my doubts that the bolt handle will clear the scope ?

Do you know if your barrel is a 4 groove or a 2 groove ?

Ben

[Brother_Love]

Ben,
I do not know about the barrel, I hope it will shot well regardless. I am hoping the higher rings will give me the clearance I need. If not, I may find someone to reshape the bolt handle for me.

Malcolm

[Char-Gar]

The stock started life on another rifle. The stock is notched for a bolt handl lowered to clear a scope. I I doubt if you will be happy with any scope mount high enough to clear the raised existing bolt. In fact I doubt is any such mount exists.

YOu will be better off lowering the bolt handle. This can vary in expense. The cheapest way is to have the existing bolt forged for a scope scope. There is a guy who does business under the name " The Bolt Man" who will do this for a reasonable charge. He also does first rate work. You will have to Google him up, unless somebody here can give you more specific information.

If you want a new swept back bolt handle welded on, Williams Gunsight will do it about as cheap as anybody. However you choose to do it, you will probably have to notch the receiver and perhaps a little more on the stock to accomidate the lowered bolt handle. It really isn't rocket science and just about anybody can do it.

If the metal was bedded right in the stock and the barrel is in good shape, you should have a fine shooting rifle.

I will bet, ifyou shoot it a while, with the current sights, you will soon forget about the scope notion.

[Brother_Love]

Thanks for all the advice. I found the bolt man's website. I might very well leave it set up as is with receiver sight.

You guys are almost making me sorry I bought it:p.
Malcolm

[smoked turkey]

Malcolm:
Sure hate to see you so sorry about your purchase. Tell you what if it will make you feel better you can pass it on to...me. Ha. I'm here to help you out your current delima. If it were mine I would leave it as is. I like the Lyman sight set up you have. I'll bet it will be a shooter. Still my offer is there......
Smoked Turkey

[Brother_Love]

Smoked,
I said "almost" sorry, that leaves me a lot of wiggle room:D. I may leave it as is and I may end up getting the bolt altered. I am not worried about it shooting, most 03's are very accurate. I do not know about the grooves yet but I know it has a shiney and clean bore.

The only thing that really bothers me is if it has been glass bedded. The sller had not had the the stock off and said he could not tell from looking. I don't mind glass bedding but I have seen some really poor jobs of it. I think if this one had been poorly done the seller could have seen that.

Malcolm

[RugerFan]

S&K sells an 03A3 mount and they say on their web page "Use high rings if do not grind bolt." So maybe you'll be ok.

http://www.scopemounts.com/index.html?main.html#

I plan on getting an 03A3 myself here soon and have been researching them a bit. AIM is out of the Gibbs rebuilds they were selling, but will have more in a few weeks. I have a couple of different options, just trying to decide on which one to get. Beautiful rifles.

.....

[leadman]

You may want to notch the stock on the left side for the magazine cutoff if it is still operational.
I use the 311041, newer version of your mold. 19grs of SR4759, boolit seated to touch the lands will do about 3 to 5" at 200 yards with issue sights on a 1903a3. BHN is about 19. Two groove barrel, boolit sized .310".

[ilcop22]

FWIW, I think you should leave it the way it is. If you want to put a scope on it, why not go the full 9 yards and convert to an a4?

[94Doug]

I say keep it as it is. It's a nice looking rifle. This only justifies the next rifle you need, a sporterized 1903a3 with bent bolt handle and scope. See, now you get two rifles. It's so easy.

Doug

[Char-Gar]

A bad glass bed job is no the kiss of death for a stock. Just chisel and chip out the old stuff and do it again.

[Brother_Love]

Well, it arrived. The rifle is very nice and looks better than photos. The barrel is as shiney as a mirror.

Now, the bad part. It closed on my "no-go gauge". I do not have a field gauge but I did try the no-go with a .005" shim and it would not close. I cannot find the length of the field gauge so I do not know how close I am with the shim. The Forster web site says a rifle can be safe even if the bolt closes on the "no-go" gauge.

Does anyone know how much longer the field gauge is than the "no-go" gauge?

I am waiting to hear back from the seller.

Thanks, Malcolm

[Char-Gar]

I don't have those numbers, but a little googling and you can come up with them. Headspace becomes an issue when it is so bad that cases stretch to the point of seperation. A few thou over the no-go length won't give that kind of issue. It can be compensated for by neck sizing only.

The bigger issue, at least to my puny minds is why the excess? Have the bolt lugs been peened or what? It has been a while since I bought one, but new 03A3 bolts were a common item at gun shows for a very reasonable price. A new bolt might bring the headspace back to normal.

[Brother_Love]

Charger,
I did find the length of the gauges.
No-go is 2.0547
Field is 2.0577

I have the no-go gauge and the bolt closes on it. I added a .002" brass shim and it almost closed and with .003" it would not close[smilie=w:.

According to Forster that would put the rifle into the safe but possibly inaccurate category. They did stress the possible inaccuracy would be from factory or full length sized ammo. As you said, if the cases are neck sized only, no problem!

Thanks for your advice. I have 40 rds of cast bullets loaded for the range tomorrow. The only other problem I have is the rifle will not load from the magazine if there is more than one round in the mag:groner:. I believe some adjustment on the mag spring will cure that:D.

Malcolm[smilie=s:

[94Doug]

...you may want to flip the "on/off" switch on the magazine single shot device.

Doug

[fourarmed]

It may well be that the stock is original to the rifle, but that the bolt is a replacement for the original. Whatever the situation, moderately excessive headspace in itself is not a problem if you reload. There are well-known ways of pushing the case shoulders forward to match the chamber.

[frank505]

just send the rifle to me, you will never hit anything without the latest $8000 scope.
Or seat some bullets like 220 Hornadys way long until the bolt just closes and fireform some cases for this rifle only. I had to do that for my Model 54 Winchester, it works fine with those cases.

[Brother_Love]

I took this rifle out in the backyard and shot it several times. With Federal factory ammo, 150 gr SP the bolt had to be tapped open with all three shots. Primers looked OK but headstamp on brass was altered.

From the little I know about this I think the headspace is excessive. Personally, I am not comfortable with it.

Malcolm

[Char-Gar]

Malcom... The cases are slaming back against the bolt face when fired, due to the excess head space. If it were my rifle, here is what I would do. What you experienced just confirmed what you already knew.

1. I would purchase a Wilson case gage. Take a fired case and size it just far enough for it to drop into the guage. Make certain the case shoulder is not touched by the size die. You can at a glance then tell how much excess head space you have. These gages are worth owning and have many uses.

2. If I thought I could live with that, I would take some new or fired cases and resize them. When loading you need to make certain the loaded round is held firmly against the bolt face, so it is the shoulder of the case that is blown forward for a custom fit to the chamber. There were two ways to do this.

A. Expand the case neck to .32 cal and then resize it back down to 30 cal. just far enough for the case to chamber. You will create a secondary shoulder that will hold the case head firmly against the bolt face.

B. Use a long cast bullet and seat the bullet far enough so it will firmly engage the lands and hold the case head firmly against the bolt face.

Either way, use a light cast powder charge to fire form the cases.

Still, I would take the rifle and my headspace gages to the next gun show and see if I could pick up a bolt that would fix the problem. I also would want to take a long look at the current bolt lugs and receiver lug recesses to see if peening and stretching have occured due to some really hot loads being fired. These are pretty tough rifles and it takes some real rough use to create excess headspace.

My current 03A3 was used as an ROTC color guard rifle and it had the bolt face welded up. I took the rifle and some gages to a Gun Show and tried several bolts until I found one that would just close, with a slight drag on the Go Gage. This gave me nice tight headspace.

There is always the possibility a new barrel has been installed and the headspace not properly adjusted in the process. Some years back you could buy new in factory grease 03A3 barrels for $5.00 each and lots of them were used to change out worn ones. What is the SN of your rifles? Is it Smith-Corona or Remington and what is the make and date stamped on the barrel. That might be some indicator of whether or not there has been a barrel change.

For 99.99% of rifle issues, there is a fix. So don't get down in the mouth about it. Just track down the problem and deal with it.

[Brother_Love]

Chagar,
Thanks for the help, I am sick of it right now:(. So I made these and had 4-5 with a cold glass of milk. I like that ol' 03 again now:mrgreen:. Malcolm

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/revrun4/cookies.jpg

[leadman]

Might want to check the Sportsman's Guide website. They had complete bolts for about $35 and you can buy several and return what you don't need.

[TCLouis]

Looks like fun.

I only hope she slings lead as good as she looks.