1944 Remington 1903A3 Trigger Problem

Hi guys,

I am attempting to improve the trigger pull on my 1903A3 and I am stumped as to what to do next.

This is what I have done: I replaced the sear spring and I carefully stoned the sear and the trigger contacts smooth. I polished the pins and the contact points on the receiver. I cleaned and lightly coated the parts with BreakFree before re-assembly.

The good: The second stage has a nice clean break now.

The bad: The first stage still has a heavy, halting, and mushy pull to the second stage. :banghead:

I know what the trigger is suppose to feel like because my 1903 Springfield has a light and even pulling first stage that stops at the second and then breaks cleanly and crisply @ 3 3/4 pounds.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I might do next?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Steve

Did you stone - Very Lightly - both the humps on the sear? Did you stone the sear seat in the reciever & that part of the firing pin that mates with the sear? Finally, try the old sear spring & stone the ends & make sure there are no rough spots on the outside.

Try some good moly or graphite grease applied to all the contact surfaces: sear, cocking piece, trigger humps, receiver.

If your polishing doesn't look like a mirror, you may have more work to do. Finish with a true Arkansas stone or 600 grit on a flat needle file.

Jim

Let me add to what I said before - No Dremel! A hard Arkansas or India stone only!

Thanks guys.

I did polish the trigger humps and the sear with an india stone. I will check and polish the other areas you mentioned, as well as the spring ends. I will also get some graphite grease and try that.

Jim Tarleton mentioned on another thread that he has two 1903 Marine rifles that have a "first stage that is almost unnoticeable, with a short second stage, and a trigger pull of 3 lbs to 31/2 lbs." That pretty much describes the trigger pull of my 1903 and that's what I would like to achieve with my 1903A3.

I'll try your suggestions and I will let you know how it goes.

Steve

a lighter rebound spring will do more then a day of stone work...

the use of automobile rubbing compound to smooth out the interfacing surfaces will be a more user-friendly approach to minimize too much surface wear. Just an idea from someone who know less than nothing compared to those in the business.:bow:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chuckindenver

a lighter rebound spring will do more then a day of stone work...

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Chuck,

I bought my new sear spring from Numrich. Where can I buy a lighter one?

Steve

trim one coil out of the new one that you got from gunjunk corp.
i avoid parts from that supplier unless i have no other option.
the parts you get may be rusty, over seas made, or just the wrong part.
they have people that dont have a clue about firearms taking orders.
i buy spring stock from Wolff springs, and trim to match based on the rate.
that way i can play with the rate, and feel.
you can get a good supply from them for about what you paid for the shipping with GP.

" the parts you get may be rusty, over seas made, or just the wrong part "


That's why I quit doing business with them 20 years ago.

#1- they stopped offering dealer discounts........

#2- I order 20 parts: ... 50% are wrong, 25% are rusty and crusty, and 25% MIGHT be used, but useable.

You can return stuff, BUT... when do you get the refund ????

Using a credit card for an order, it once took 12 months.

If you get 1000 suckers to make an order of $50 each, that is $50,000 dollars in their pocket. If you deposit that money and wait 12 months for a refund, how much money can you make in interest on that money??? OK, OK, the interest rates were different then; BUT... if you can control 500,000 or 1million dollars for that period of time at 1.5% interest, how much can you make by NOT supplying a product?????

FWIW,

Emri

my last deal was.
they had a bunch of A3 parts advertised as GI, i ordered 300.00 worth of stock hardwear, '
received Korean made, cast junk. called them and they said send them back and they would refund my CC, minus shipping, and 20% restocking fee..
so.
i called them on the false advertising...they pretty much said oh well.
so i said, howbout this,..
i keep your junk, stop payment on the card. and see you in court???responce was go for it!!.
so i did,
months later i get a letter from a lawer type place, i wrote them explaining the issue, and that do to the fruad, id be happy to pay in full, if thats what the judge says,
never heard back from them or the lawer, that was 10 years ago..
i still have the box of parts, waiting for my day in court...

Hey Chuck,

They stuck me a little bit also. Bought about fifty bucks worth of '03 parts and the finish was good but a coupla' screws were WRONG. Maybe you could weld the parts together into a nice paperweight and sell it on Epay with some interesting description.

Had better luck with Popperts. Only one screw was wrong.

Had great luck with Cole Distributing. '03 trigger guards. Got three. First one was a rare early Remington with the lightening cut, second was a perfectly beautiful NOS Springfield. Third was a perfectly re-finished very old Springfield with the small "S" on the bottom. Think all came in RIA wrap from 1954. Forty five bucks stripped and very fast and reasonable shipping. Other small parts from them were NOS and GI. Great front sight base and blade assembly, cheap. They only have a few '03 parts but they are great and very reasonable.

And of course Bill Ricca only sells good GI parts and they are great. The only companies that seem to have all parts are Getrich and Sarco, and you don't know what ya' might get. Have also done business with Riverbank Armory, Chestnut Ridge and Dealersshowroom(?) , nice '03 complete bolt assemblies, two for fifty bucks, think five for a hundred. They take requests for particular bolt markings. Guy ships fast and doesn't rip you on shipping.

Good luck to all in huntin' '03 parts, I'll stay away from the big guys unless I can't find a part anywhere else.

Death to ripoffs,

Lancebear

chuckindenver,

I took your advise and I "chucked" (no pun intended) the Nunrich spring and I ground down, polished and re-installed the the original spring.

The first stage take-up is shorter and much less spongy. Overall, the trigger is greatly improved.:thup:

Thanks to you and everyone else that contributed; the trigger pull is no longer an issue.

Steve