Thanks for lookin' out, but I'm working on an A3. The starting bid of that one is the same as I paid for Sarco for one NOS. Should come tomorrow. I'll swab the cosmoline out of the bore and take some pics for quality.
Printable View
Thanks for lookin' out, but I'm working on an A3. The starting bid of that one is the same as I paid for Sarco for one NOS. Should come tomorrow. I'll swab the cosmoline out of the bore and take some pics for quality.
Barrel came in today. It was not packed in grease. there was some surface rust in the bore - full of dust not grease, but the rifling at the crown and was good and sharp, as was the chamber. The outside looked like it sat in a bin for a while.
I gave it a good scrub with with a bronze brush, wiped it clean and looked again with the scope. All the rust was gone. Metal looked nice and shiny, some minor scattered light pits from the surface rust - and a streak of copper about 6 inches in from the muzzle. I was worried for a bit that they sent me a used barrel, or a 2 groove barrel that had 2 extra grooves cut that I have read horror stories about. I imagine all barrels were proof tested before final fitting, which would explain a single streak of copper. The bottom of the light pitting showed no crud. In my experience a used barrel always has plenty of black crud packed in to every imperfection, and it certainly doesn't come out with just 20 swipes of a bronze brush. I would imagine it would look more "new" if it was a 2 groove converted to 4.
I cleaned off the threads, and tightened the barrel up onto the action aligning the index marks. If they gave me a short barrel then final headspace should be good, are very close. It is certainly very short chambered - no where near closing on a go gauge so I think I have a new one after all. Wouldn't you know my luck and the date on the new barrel is 7-43, which matches my serial number.
I don't care so much about the serial matching the barrel date. The barrel is worth keeping, but might not be right for this rifle. I just want to build a great shooter, and the imperfections in the bore worry me. But, once I finish ream it I won't be getting my money back.
SARCO barrel? Packed in grease? OK. Same ol' Sarco. The Dealers Warehouse, Modesto, CA has some 03-A3 parts. By the way, toss the CC bolt. (Sorry)
I'm taking my time deciding on the barrel, and I have a new one on the way, still in it's USGI packaging - I don't know if it's 2 or 4 groove. I also asked Sarco for an exchange - the more I though about it the more I concluded that "New old stock", advertised as still packed in grease, should not have come bone dry with a rusty pitting bore.
Here are some pics as it was out of the box...again I'm confident it was never used as the length is correct, and it is very short chambered.
Attachment 116532
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bq3ou8WuZM
hmm...how to get video clip inside a post? I know I've done it before.
EDIT: must use YouTube, and post the ...watch?v=... version of the link.
agreed. it is hideous.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calif-Steve
While I sort out the barrel, I'll move on to fitting the stock. This will be my third Minelli stock, and 5th new 1903 stock I've fitted. I've seen several threads here asking about quality etc of these vs. the Boyds/cmp stocks. I'll pause here and do a thread on just the fitting as I go...starting with the unboxing.
I sent the Sarco barrel back for an exchange. If their replacement looks good, I'll keep it maybe for this rifle, maybe for another, if not I'll ask for a refund. I found a NOS 2 groove, Remington 2-44, at milcoll.com. Good news it was full of old dried cosmoline...hardened plugs of cosmoline at either end and soft gooeness in the middle. I just finished cleaning it all out...so here is what a new barrel looks like!
Crown, Middle, Throat
Attachment 116639Attachment 116638Attachment 116640
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRBd8y9svuc
screwed it into the receiver hand tight...stoped just past 1 o'clock...perfect
Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to work on some stock fitting.
I'm still waiting on making a barrel decision. I have this beautiful, blemish free new old stock 2 groove, and I'm still waiting to inspect Sarco's new old stock 4-groove. They sent me an email saying the replacement would not be packed in its original grease because they would be swabbing it out to check to make sure I get a minty one. I told them all I expect is no rust or pitting, and if there is I'll let them know and take a refund. If the 4-groover is in as poor condition as the first, then the choice is easy. If its minty like the first...then do I have to open the 2 vs 4 groove debate? No, I don't care and my research shows I can get great performance from either. My serial is July 1943. If I recall my references, by June 1943 Remington had completely changed over to 2 groove. So I could go either way since the bins would likely have been mixed in July 1943 (the last sarco barrel was 7-43). But its a parts queen so I really don't care about that either. So, I guess I'll just wait to compare the two bores, and pick whichever is in the mintiest like new condition!
While I wait, the stock fitting and sanding is done. So I'll start the finish.
Well, looks like the decision has been made for me...I'm going to go with the NOS 2 groove barrel on this project. Sarco's exchange came in today. I pulled it out of the box, looked through it - no grease. bone dry. Here is the borecam...more rust than the first, and heavy pitting in the throat...disappointing. At least there customer service seems ok. I'll let you know how getting a refund ends up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQG9dY9ln_8
so let's finish assembling this rifle! couple coats of raw linseed oil last night - for the first several coats I cut with 50:50 mineral spirits for deeper penetration. I rub it in with a soft cloth, completely saturating the wood, then let it hang and drip for an hour before wiping off the excess. I did this 3 times last night, and each time when I came back an hour later, there was no more left on the surface...it was all absorbed. The 4 time there was still some puddling after an hour. Tonight, I'll switch to full strength, saturate, let sit an hour, wipe away excess, repeat in 24hours. I'll do this for a week, then set it out in the sun and let the color develop. I'll try to take some pictures along the way.
I think I'm going to break down and buy a finish reamer and t-handle...finally...instead of renting again. I keep telling myself it makes sense to rent since I don't know if I'll ever need it again...but here we are 4 rifles later.
Exactly, I buy my tools so I have them all now...right down to the lathe.Quote:
Originally Posted by ssgross
I'm still dreaming of the day...when the kids are out of the house I'm going to quit this rat-race and go back to my much lower paying but set-my-own-schedule work. Hopefully there are enough milsurps left by then...Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
Pulled the front sight off the 2 groove barrel. I cleaned and cold blued under it for now, at least until I decide if it shoots worthy enough for sending out and re-parking the barreled action.
It's been a while or I'm getting older, and so I momentarily couldn't remember the direction the tapered pin went in, so I started searching and got conflicting answers on multiple forums...including this one. So, I took out another rifle I had to remove the sight on to verify (since its pin isn't frozen anymore).
So, for the record, and so I have an easy place to find it next time I forget...looking down the sights as if the rifle is in your shoulder, the pin gets pushed out from the right side...the narrow end of the taper is on the same side as the bolt handle. This has now been verified on a NOS barrel. I soaked it in kroil for a few hours while I mowed the lawn, wiped dry, hit it with a heat gun until the laser thermometer read 150 degrees, and used a 1/32 nail set to get it started. Fingers crossed I've never needed to cut one off, and I've never buggered one using this method. Worst case, it wouldn't start after a 4 good love taps, then it gets soaked overnight after trying, and comes out easily the next morning.
will torque the barrel on tomorrow.