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:


Close up of the barrel end: