Remington 03 Bad Barrel

[Old Salt]

Picked up a Remington 03 with a USMC marked Sedgley barrel at an auction. It wouldn't chamber a round so I took it to a smith who told me that the barrel had been bent and straightened. He wouldn't ream it and said I need to replace the barrel. Thought I had something sweet but now it looks like it's going to be a money pit. I'm new to this site and could could use some advice. Rebarrel, part out or sell as is. It's in nice shape otherwise.

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[bb1]

This is going to be real hard to do long distance.
Do you agree with his assesment that it was bent and straightened? When you look down the bore, what do you see?
I think the first thing I would do is to get another opinion.
A new barrel would be my last choice.

[45B20]

Old Salt

1. DETERMIN IF THE BARREL IS REALY BENT

2. IF IT IS, OBTAIN REPLACEMENT AND INSTALL IT

3. IF IT IS NOT, WHY WILL CARTRIDGE NOT CHAMBER AND CORRECT

Did the gunsmith tell you why the chamber would not accept the round??? A barrel that has been bent and straighten should not affect the chambering ability of a rifle. Now the big question: is the barrel really bent??? To find out,, obtain a 19/64”(0.297”) or 7.6mm (0.2992”) drill bit, the longer and smoother the shank the better, then cut off the shank, round and smooth the edges on the ends of this cut off shank.

Do a quick clean up of the bore, add a little oil and then see if your now drill shank/bore gage will slide thru the bore by gravity alone. If not and sticks at some point, most likely the barrel is bent, if the ’gage’ slides all the way thru, the barrel is not one of the bent ones. Or someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to really straighten that barrel, unlikely

Another bore ‘been bent/straighten‘, check, take a 25acp case and see if it will drop thru the barrel. If it does barrel is OK, if not, barrel has been bent/ straighten. I have always had my doubts about this method, usually the results are OK, but I have had the case drop clear thru, were the gage did not. I always go with the gage.

Despite all the babble lately of bent Sedgley barrels, the great majority were not, but the bent/straighten ones do exist in enough numbers to be a nuisance.

Now if the barrel will not pass the bore gage, you will have to make the decision to rebarrel or not. 03 barrels are available thru several places (CMP for one), But if you wish a correctly marked & dated Rem.03 barrel, that could be a problem. A smith should charge about $50.00 if it goes in and indexes ok, maybe $10/20 more if the chamber needs to be deepen slightly.

NOW,, if the bore gage slides thru, the barrel has most very likely NOT been bent and you are back to the chambering problem (and finding a different ’smith’).

First check the chamber for an obstruction , ruptured case, dried grease, remnants of a patch or what ever. Use one of those bore scopes (reflector) and look the chamber over closely, if you are still not sure use a chamber brush, (a 20ga bore brush will work) and recheck. Also check and clean the locking recess in the receiver, a denial reflector will help here. Check the bolt's locking lugs for dings or uneven surfaces. Also check the safety lug clearance of the receiver when the bolt is closing. Now with a stripped bolt, you can leave the extractor collar on, try to chamber a dummy round, if you must use a live round (cartridge) please be very careful. If it chambers ok, most likely your chambering problems are over, but do try with the bolt assembled, slip case rim under extractor before you close the bolt.

If,, after all of the above, a round will still NOT chamber, you most very likely have a ‘short chamber’. The barrels were made with a chamber not quite finished so that barrel could be fitted to individual rifle. The finish chambering was to be done after the barrel was fitted using a reamer and gages, but this was not always completed, either by an US Gov facility or whoever put it together.

You can rent/buy a reamer and do it your self or send/take it to a smith who can do it. If you do send it to a smith, please be specific at what measurement you wish the bolt to close. This would depending on how wide a range of ammo types you wish to use. If you do the job yourself you will need headspace gages, a go and nogo will do, or if you have a micrometer, just the go gage and use shims.

Another kinda solution if the barrel is OK and your problem IS a ‘short chamber’::::

Some of the .30 Cal Rifle (30-06) ammo that is available today is not held to the specs that many of us older folk think normal , you can use this to partially help your problem. Look for ammo that is slightly below specs (I use a Willson Case Gage) and see if it will chamber. Or,, if you reload, try setting the case shoulders back in steps, until the stripped bolt will just close. In order to force the case further into the die to set the shoulders back, reduce the height of the shell holder. To do this, surface grind the top of the shell holder (ones I have encountered are very hard, filing will not work) measuring each 0.001” increment. You MUST keep this ammo and the shell holder separate from any other rifle that will chamber the 30 Cal round.


This is my opinion as to how to solve your rifle’s problems. However there can always be other problems or answerers that I have not though of. Look over that rifle very closely (remove it from the wood) inspect everything and recheck this forum. Note, I have not covered feeding problems, IF you have any, first thing ,check your follower, if it is a stamped (A3-4 type) replace with a milled one (03 type). If that doesn’t help back to the forum

Have fun

45B20

[Calif-Steve]

The USMC marked barrels are COMMON in bent condition. Scrap the barrel and find a keeper barrel. Sorry. The seller owes you some money!

[Griff Murphey]

If it is a bent, salvaged barrel, there will be a mark halfway down the barrel on the outside, where it was bent, and restraightened. I have one on a rifle and it shoots well. Most if not ALL of these barrels were new, unused when scrapped. It may be in original short-chambered condition if the installer did not adjust the headspace with a reamer. I would get a second opinion from a good gunsmith, plus, sight down the barrel yourself. Fed Ord rehabbed a lot of these and sold them in the 80's and early 90's.

[Old Salt]

You have been a lot of help. Went to Sears and got a 19/64" drill bit and first dropped it down the barrel of my Smith-Corona 03A3. It was tight but dropped all the way through. I then tried it on the Remington 03. It wedged. Dropped it again from the chamber end and measured the difference. I have a 1/2" flat spot about mid-way in the barrel.

Can't see it with the eye but it's there. Barrel otherwise looks new. Whoever owned it before may have bent it when they re-barreled the action and never bothered head spaceing it due to the damage.

So, it looks like I'm in the market for a 1903 barrel. My wife wonders why, if I like collecting so much, I do so much cussing. Got to love that woman.

Thanks again.

[45B20]

Old Salt
Well now you know, any chance of getting money back????

45B20

[Old Salt]

No, I got it "as is" at an auction. Didn't pay a fortune but I really wanted that USMC 1-44 Sedgley marked barrel. I'll hit the gun shows and see what I can come up with otherwise I'll get a new barrel from the CMP. Wish there were a way to ream out or lap the dent out of the barrel. It's only a few thousandths but I guess that would trash the rifling. Oh well. Thanks again.

[bb1]

If it's already ruined, you can't hurt it if you try to polish out the pinched part.
Valve grinding compound, or any powdered abrasive.

[Griff Murphey]

Chuckindenver says the CMP barrels are bad news; very difficult to fit, with lots of problems. He does like the 1917 barrels, though.