Still a few hits left in the old M1903 -

[FAsmus]

Gentelmen;

Today was another range session with the M1903 Springfield.

I've owned this rifle for 48 years and become familiar with it over time. In its current state it still owns full military wood but has the turned-down bolt for scope ( very seldom used these days ) and fillered holes for scope blocks and receiver sight bases. I added the military version of the front sight guard a few years back.

About four or five years ago I bought one of those re-production Camp Perry sight adjusting tools for the issue ladder sight and put it to use for long range shooting. This item works first-rate, repeats dead-nuts and is altogether a fine tool.

My load was conventional - the Lyman 311284 over 22.0 grains SR 4759. The sight settings acquired two years ago were in the cartridge boxes, the day was perfect and off I went.

All recorded elevations worked out within one or two minutes, hits were made almost right away at the beginning distances of 395 and 440 yards. - I have to brag a bit about the 440 yard group, fired with the issue military ladder sight's peep going to 5 rounds by 6 inches or somewhat less. (all hits in the white) Conditions were fairly consistent of course but still, not bad for a 89 year-old rifle being fired by a 67 year-old fellow with marginal eyesight off the cross-stick rest (no bench).

Then, as distances worked on out there hits became more difficult. I believe that somewhere between 552 and 587 yards (two of our distances) that the bullet's velocity must transition to sub-sonic and wind-drift is subsequently strongly affected. ~ Anyway, at increasing distances it becomes more and more difficult to figure out a correct windage setting; with any tiny little change in condition you may see your miss showing up way, way over there and getting back on the steel is challenging.

It was a lot of fun none-the-less.

Good afternoon,
Forrest

[armoredman]

I am impressed, sir, well done. I can't see that far, much less shoot that far!

[Jack Stanley]

That is some impressive shooting sir ! I've never been able to do real well with the sights on the 03 but like my gunsmith says "Don't mess with old people !" I'm not sure if he said that just before or after he shot a 200-20X slow prone with the AR he built or not

May you enjoy that rifle for many years to come .

Jack

[Char-Gar]

There is nothing like spending time at the range with an old friend.

[Bret4207]

Forrest, you are one of those guys I'd like to meet someday. Whether it's guns or machining, I always enjoy your posts.

[FAsmus]

Bret4207 - et all;

Thanks for reading the stuff and sharing feedback.

Yet to come ( hopefully ) is a shot or two of the 440 yard group. All that was available was a cell-phone type "camera" but a couple pictures were taken. Now all I have to do is figure out how to transfer the images to some kind of suitable format and paste them over here.

Good evening,
Forrest

[Bret4207]

Try Photobucket. Up load to your Photobucket account and then you can resize, alter, etc. the pics and down load to here. I stink at stuff like that, but it works for me.

[82nd airborne]

I may be able to hit a dump truck at 400 yards with my 03a3. And for the record, the gun shoots great! Very ipressive indeed, and yes, your posts are a joy to read as Bret suggested. Thanks for sharing.

[Bert2368]

I have used my Iphone and Photobucket's mobile version for nearly all the pictures I've posted here the last year or so. Give it a shot- you take a pic on the phone, then email it from the phone to Photobucket, after that you can access it from the home computer or a smartphone and post it here. And all I had to do was ask a 10 year old kid to learn how...

It's free too. Go here to start:

http://m.photobucket.com/join

[FAsmus]

Bert;

The photographs have been delayed ~ the phone was misplaced for a day or so. I hope to have them processed soon.

Good morning,
Forrest

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

I've gotten the pictures up ~ with the aid of my daughter ..

This first one is our 440 yard "Bear" and the brag-group in the white. You can see a few hits outside the center, these were sighters and don't count. There are the three close hits and a double in this group.



The shot of the group shows the hits pretty well, angle of the sun had to be just right in order for the details of the two close impacts to stand out. But, when a fellow looked closely there was no doubt of there being two hits together.

[IMG]http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy333/Forrest_Asmus

The second one is the group with my hand in the picture for scale. Next time, with a bit more prep I'll have a "real" camera and a tape measure along to provide a more exact measure for the shooting.

/TargetC.jpg[/IMG]

I'm new at the photograph stuff and, for now, am dependent on my daughter to get the images transfered.

I hope the membership may enjoy looking these over .. if there is interest I'll click a couple shots of the Camp Perry tool and the old M1903, just for record.

Good evening,
Forrest

[Larry Gibson]

Forest

I also enjoy shooting my M1903A1 configured MK I at longer range with the origianl sights. I've on of the repro sight adjustment tools also and they do work well indeed. My loa is also quie conventional; 314299sized at .311 over 29 gr 4895 with a 3/4 gr dacron filler. Velocity is right at 1900 fps. It shoots really well to 500 yards also. Lot's of fun

Larry Gibson

[Le Loup Solitaire]

That is good shooting with one of the best rifles ever made and by someone that knows how to use it. Distance, wind and the tricks aging eyes can sometimes play make it pretty challenging and I congraulate you on your most impressive results. LLS

[FAsmus]

Gentelmen;

Here are a couple shots of the M1903 in action up on our hill-top range.

First one of me from the safe (back) side on the line hot with the M1903 at the 587 yard "big diamond".



Next on the line cold, bolt open safe to show the general front side and rifle.



The targets generally appear too small in a camera to be of any use. But this is what we do pretty much every Sunday, and today was a good day.

Good evening,
Forrest

[captain-03]

Thanks for the post and thanks for the pictures ... I am impressed!!

[HelpIminCA]

Gentleman,
It is an honor to read your posts and learn from you. I hope you don't mind giving a new guy some advice. I have an O3A3 and I want to start casting for it. What mold do you suggest?
Any advice on loads? Thanks fellas.
Forrest.... I wish I could buy you a beer sir

[FAsmus]

HelpIminCA;

Thanks for the post.

Sure, there are many good combinations for the 03-A3 ~ plenty of information in general about the 30'06 in its various versions ~ here and elsewhere.

The 03-A3 is a fine rifle as you must know. The main determination you have to make is to check the barrel for rifling configuration ( two or four-groove ) measure the bore and then determine how much wear it has in the throat so that you may have a starting point for bullet selection.

For example I have a 30'06 on a M1917 action that has a two-groove barrel that is right at 0.3000 for the bore and 0.3080 in the grooves. The throat is worn just enough at the origin of rifling to accept my RCBS 30-180-SP which goes 0.3005 on the nose and 0.3095 on the bands. This is a good match-up in sizes and the rifle does quite well.

Good evening,
Forrest

PS: Thanks for the thought about beer.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Col E.H. Harrison in doing extensive investigation on 30 cal cast shooting and writing on his findings for the NRA determined that the best cast bullet configuration for 2 groove and 5 groove barrels is that of a relatively short bullet body and a long nose. The rationale is that since most of the bore circumference is occupied by lands then the longer nose will be positively guided by riding on the tops of the lands. Examples of this design are found in Lyman #311334, or 311332 as well as Saeco #301. Some Lee 30 cal designs and a couple of the RCBS ones also fit in this category. Many riflemen have also done well with certain cast bullet designs that although not having the lengthy nose, also shoot well in the 2 groove barrels as well as the four groovers. Some of these include Lyman #311284, 311291. 311290, and several others. It is important to know the dimensions of the barrel as well as what the dimensions of the bullets are as they come from the molds. Wrongly dimensioned or incorrectly sized bullets will not shoot well. A good micrometer is essential to obtaining this information. LLS

[HelpIminCA]

Gentlemen,
THANK YOU! Sage advice and a good starting point.
Forest, I sure envy your shooting facility. The farthest I can shoot here is a 200 yd range and only if I butter up the range guys on a good day!
Thanks again guys

[Eagles6]

Great story. Well done, commendable in fact.