fabing a4 bolt

hi guys, new to forum and 1903s. i found a bubba'd a3 with the action already drilled for a scope so its a great canidate for an a4 project. i,ve already found out the new style redfield scope base mounts do not fit the receivers correctly and need to be ground and polished to sit flat on the front of the receiver and to align the scope rings parallel to the bore. i'm a retired machinest and enjoy the challenge. the big problem is the bolt handle, like most builders have. is the correct way of bending the bolt handle , cut it off shape it and bend it as close as possible to an a4 shape, and then clean it up and polish it, then weld it back on the bolt ? i"ve read as much as possible here and other forums, where some say just bend as required to clear the m73 scope tube, but i have the equipment to try to duplicate it as close as i can, and enjoy doing my own machine work. i,ve never seen any real a4s at a gun show, so i can only go by pictures downloaded from the net. been looking forward to this project for some time. took a while to find a complete bubba'd a3. that was'nt sporterized. i'm sure i'll have more questions, and any help will be appriciated.

1903 A3 Springfield rifle bolt low bolt handle : Rifle Bolts at GunBroker.com
Here is what I bought for mine(03a4). He also has bolt bodies for $14.00.AGB-1

1093a4 Sniper Bolt? Pictures of bolt.AGB-1

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Originally Posted by AGB-1

1093a4 Sniper Bolt? Pictures of bolt.AGB-1

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Thanks for the pics, I bought a training bolt, and was able to form a pretty good clone of the a4 from your pics and what I was able to find on the Internet . I then cut it off and tig welded it to my bolt. I'm happy with it. Next is to finish reaming the chamber, my original barrel was all pitted, and the po gave me a new 2-44 gi barrel. What a pita to get the cheese cloth and cosmoline off, but worth the effort, nice patina and great barrel. Thanks again.

You should be aware that all legitimate A4's have a slight relief cut in the receiver rail just to the rear of the receiver bridge.
So you need three things:
1. Bent bolt.
2. Relief cut in receiver. (see pic)
3. Bolt handle Notch in the stock.

The CMP custom shop will do #1 and #3 for $135. (on your rifle) + shipping.

Regards,
Jim
Attachment 50702

JGaynor,
What was the purpose of the relief cut? Do the Gibbs clone A4 have it.Thanks,AGB-1

the gibbs rifle is NOT an A4..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AGB-1

JGaynor,
What was the purpose of the relief cut? Do the Gibbs clone A4 have it.Thanks,AGB-1

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AGB-1 I can only speculate that clearance cut in the receiver was thought necessary to ensure the root of the A4 bolt handle cleared the receiver. The topic came up a while back and I examined photographs of several dozen original A4 Receivers from all across the serial number ranges. They all had the cut.
I honestly don't know if Gibbs (or Rock Ridge or whoever actually builds these things!) is bothering to reproduce the cut. The bolt is the most complicated and time consuming aspect of these conversions.

Regards,
Jim

Thanks for your reply.AGB-1