1903A3 Sporter Questions

How could the stock cause the feeding problem? Chances are my grandfather made the stock as he did a lot of work on his other rifle's stocks, and I really can't imagine he'd have a rifle that was inoperable, but I really can't say 100%. I was supprised though the first time I looked at the rifle and found the bolt missing. Another thought I had on the feeding problem was could the snap caps be the issue?

As for the saftey issue, the whole bolt assembly, is "new". But now that I know how it works, it's not a big deal. Chuck, I'd be more than happy to take one of your extra front sights off your hands. Do you have a Remington one? PM me. How does the rear sight look? Just out of curosity, what's the difference between the 03 and the A3 front sights?

Here's a pic of the rifle without the bolt and scope:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCN1420-2.jpg

Close up of the barrel end:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCN1418-2.jpg

Get a turned-down Springfield bolt with a Buehler safety on it.
There are a lot around from rifles that have been restored back to G.I. I'm sure some of our crowd here on CSP have a few they'd sell.
Or get someone to forge your bolt down for you. Either may require a slight adjustment in the bolt cut in the stock.
Sporters are a hoot!
PD

ok, now i see, heres how to really check function.
remove the bolt, remove the striker assembly from the bolt, put the empty bolt back in the rifle, set the cut off so the bolt holds open on the last shot.
feed live rounds in the rifle, military ball ammo, not handloads, and not commercial stuff,
hold the rifle up like your going to fire the weapon, work the bolt like your shooting up the place, and get back with me.
just about every sporterized A3 iv repaired with feeding issues, was do yo pressure from the stock, on the magazine box, or from not having enough wood removed so the magazine cant sit right with the receiver.
it has to be right, or it wont feed, on an A3.
im sure that alot of time and effort went into this rifle, and no dissrespect intended.
but i see this al the time, even the most experianced gunsmiths, miss this one.
Right Jim T???lol.

^ can do that. Best place to find ball ammo? I called the gun shop closest to me, but they don't have it, just commercial .30-06. Would this work? http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIte...Item=126173405

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chuckindenver

ok, now i see, heres how to really check function.
remove the bolt, remove the striker assembly from the bolt, put the empty bolt back in the rifle, set the cut off so the bolt holds open on the last shot.
feed live rounds in the rifle, military ball ammo, not handloads, and not commercial stuff,
hold the rifle up like your going to fire the weapon, work the bolt like your shooting up the place, and get back with me.
just about every sporterized A3 iv repaired with feeding issues, was do yo pressure from the stock, on the magazine box, or from not having enough wood removed so the magazine cant sit right with the receiver.
it has to be right, or it wont feed, on an A3.
im sure that alot of time and effort went into this rifle, and no dissrespect intended.
but i see this al the time, even the most experianced gunsmiths, miss this one.
Right Jim T???lol.

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I must agree that stock binding can cause very unusual problems not easily detected, nor obviously caused by stock binding.:madsmile: I just went through such an experience where an after-market trigger was binding on one side of the stock, and when the receiver bolts were tightened, it caused the rifle to string its shots. In the end, the only clue was a narrow line in one side of the stock left by the impression of the trigger housing as I tightened and loosened the receiver bolts trying to find the "sweet spot".:bash:

For once in my life, I prefer the original trigger.:super:

Jim

you can try commecial, if it gives you a problem find a box of ball.
contact me via email, for the front sights..i have more then a few, and yes, i have Remington R marked bases.

heck i know of a gunstore in rockford Ill, that should have a lot of ball ammo, dont remember the name off the top of my head, when i was back in Ill, a few years ago, they had more then a few cases of ball 06,
i picked up a trunk full of 03 and carbine parts from them as well.

So I went out after work and picked up a box of commercial rounds. Came home, took the striker assembly out, and tried again. Here's the video of that: YouTube - Springfield 1903 Loading and Ejecting, Live Rounds The result was the same, the final round ejecting with the second to last round. So I decided that for the hell of it I'd remove the stock and put the rifle back together and try again. I had already put the bolt back together, so I used the snap caps. Here's that video: YouTube - 1903 Springfield Reload and Ejection, no Stock I tried a couple of times before recording, and to my delight, all four dummy rounds chambered and ejected perfectly, indicating to me that the stock is indeed the problem. Chuck, my hat is off to you. The stock would have been the last thing I would have suspected to cause the problem. Now the trick is to figure out where it is too tight so I can sand it down. Where do you most see this problem? One other thing, this rifle is so easy to disassemble. I wish my car was this easy to work on.

try another spring and folower first, or if you have access to a military stock even one thats been cut down, try your rifle in that stock as well.
before you sand on the stock, if i had the rifle in my hands i could figure it out pretty quick.
hard to tell from pics or video.
try this.
take the rifle out of the stock.
assemble the trigger guard and magazine on the rifle without the stock, test run the live ammo{ with the empty bolt} and see if it works out of the stock.
dont tighten the screws real tight, you may bend the trigger guard.
make sure you close the bolt when running the cycle, i noticed on your video that your didnt close the bolt down.

cant tell is that a stamped or milled trigger guard?