original Remington A3 over indexed..

[Chuckindenver]

Attachment 30918Attachment 30917 picked this up a couple days ago, iv gotten a few nice A3,s from him, i know for a fact that this guy got them in the 1960,s through the NRA, he had shot and hunted with this rifle for a few years, and it does have some wear, however, it is original, told me it always shot off to the left and he had to adjust the sights...well, i can see why, i took it down to clean 68 years of grease and grime off, and noticed the 2-43 barrel was over indexed...ill reset the index..and finally after 68 years, it will likely hit zero...without sight adjustment..
i can imagine a troop in basic training trying to get through rifle training...and the pushups that this rifle made...

Information

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[Allen Humphrey]

I laughed out loud with the thought of the pushups!

[gpb]

What actions were needed to re-index? Was it as simple as loosening the barrel and re-tightening to the proper index, or did it require a shim?

Thanks

[Chuckindenver]

again with shims?? NO SHIMS should ever be used on a Apex threaded barrel, all that was needed was to loosen and reset the index... no matter what you read on the net, or hear at gunshows, or your local gun store...shims should never be used to fix or reset index...ever...

[gpb]

I'm not proposing shims. I only asked for clarification on how the reindexing was done as there was no mention made in the post on what was done. I would not use shims, but since the post did not go into detail, I thought there was that possibility.

[Calif-Steve]

Did Remington actually do this one? They had strict quality controls, not so sure this was a factory boo-boo.

[Tom in N.J.]

It would seem the Ordnance Dept approved the use of shims by Winchester to salvage M1 receivers in WWII. I have heard of a number of WRA rifles with shims under the barrel shoulder. I have a WRA M1 with plating on the face of the receiver and a beryllium cooper shim. Ed Pugsley didn't waste a thing...

[Chuckindenver]

just clarification; i dont belive in, or recomend use of shims or washers for the purpous of repairing over index.. no matter what the rifle is...
anyway...they approved a lot of things that i wouldnt do to a rifle to make it work, field repair during war time is different then fixing something correctly..
yes, this was done by Remington, i have seen a few 1903,s 1917,s Garands, and a M1 Carbine with over indexing issues. most were simply fixed like this one was, remove the barrel, clean the threads with a brush and solvent, and install correctly, i also noticed a mark on the recoil plate flat from heavy handed wrench use. another common issue as well.
iv had a couple 1903,s come to me with the complaint it doesnt shoot well, with a new barrel to install, then when i went to remove the old barrel, it just falls loose..new barrel installed correctly without an issue...that brings me back to shims, washers what ever youd like to call them.. one fix iv done on loose or over indexing by hand barrels, is to roll the shoulder, or peen the shoulder. to raise the should up enough to reset the crush..this works very well.
when using shims or washers, you chance a failing headspace. would it work in a pinch with a battle rifle with no replacement parts, to get it running again? yes it would...
would i do it in that situation? damn straight i would..a functioning rifle with long headspace that runs ammo out the end is better then a rifle that wont work.