A4 replica advise

[viking guy]

Thanks to all who responded. I will cancel the build and look for a sporterized 03 as suggested. I am glad MILSURPS is around. I would be very down to find this out after I purchased the rifle.

I have a Weaver K4-60 on my Long Branch T and it works well out to 200 yards. Blued tube with just the right amount of patina and nearly identical in length to a No32 MKIII scope.

He was asking $200 for the new 3-43 RA barrel that gauges 1.5 at the bore.He has period correct Redfield mounts.Price? He has complete A4 bolts-what is one worth? Maybe I should just buy these parts and hold them until i find a receiver. Whats a new repro stock worth?

Anybody have a good 03 RA receiver or barreled action for sale?

Maybe this is just a bad idea with little chance of return on investment.

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[Calfed]

Maybe this is just a bad idea with little chance of return on investment.

Viking..if this is bad idea, it is one that many of us have

He was asking $200 for the new 3-43 RA barrel that gauges 1.5 at the bore

I'm not sure what this is. If it is a new RA barrel it should gauge closer to a "0" at the bore. If it gauges a "1.5", I would doubt that it is new. New (still in the wrap) 2 groove RA barrels are usually available for less..maybe $125-150.

But here is the thing..I've purchased three sportered 03/03A3's and all of them had good bores..gauged "1" or less. I believe that the reason for this is that back in the day, when these were sportered, nobody sportered an 03A3 that had a bad bore. Why would they? If it had a bad bore, NIW 03/03A3 barrels were available for less than $10. (some say less than $1 on sale). After being sportered, these were probably not shot much and probably with commercial (non corrosive) ammo, resulting in a decent bore.

So, you might not need a new barrel (and the installation fees) if you carefully buy the right sportered 03A3.

As for the "period correct" Redfield mounts..do you really need to pay extra for "period correct" anything on this project? This is a repro..what you are really aiming for, it seems to me, is the "look and feel" of an 03A4. Why pay alot for a correct scope mount to put on a non-correct receiver? Newer Redfield JR mounts, that look almost identical to the original 03A4 mounts are readily available for much less than a correct mount. Ditto with a "correct" A4 bolt.

I believe the same about a Weaver 330 scope. By even late 40's early 50's standards, those were abominable scopes. But, they are expensive now because people buy them to make "correct" 03A4's. But they will never be "correct", because almost all Weaver 330's that you see are commercial models, so why bother? The Lyman Alaskan scopes were also "correct", are much better scopes and are also readily available. But the Alaskans are also on the high side. Why not get a Weaver K2.5 or K3 and have the "look and feel" of the Alaskan scope for much less.

Here is one other thing to bear in mind...once you have put this together with "look and feel" rather than "correct" parts, you will have something to shoot and enjoy while you bide your time waiting for a good deal on a more "correct" part.

Whats a new repro stock worth

Repro 03A3 "C" stocks seem to go for around $160 with a handguard. A surplus "scant" stock from Numerich, in good shape, but possibly with some minor tip damage is about half that price and just as correct as the "C" stock, historically (at least from what I've heard).

Good luck. This is something, IMO, to have fun with. Don't think of it as an investment or something that needs to be "correct"..it will never be correct. But it will probably be fun and that is your "return on investment" right there

Last year I found a sportered 03A4--correct receiver, scope mount, bolt and probably barrel.
restoring an 03A4
But...it had been heavily polished and blued, so all of the barrel markings were gone. Even with these original parts, this will never be "correct" because it was so heavily polished before bluing.