.30-03 Ammo

[Patrick Chadwick]

Can I make one of these rounds as a dummy to check if the barrel is still in this caliber?

Not necessary. Take out the bolt. Push a .30-06 case in by hand as far as it will go. Hold it in place. Take a 1/4 brass or wooden rod and push it GENTLY into the barrel until it is just touching the bottom of the cartridge case (internally). Make a fine mark on the rod where it enters the barrel. Replace the bolt and close it.* Now push lightly on the 1/4" rod again. If the chamber is still in 30-03 it will move down by the 0.07" difference and the mark will disapppear into the muzzle. If it does not move more than a few thousandths, the chamber has been recut and, whatever it is now, is no longer .30-03.

*Depending on what the actual chambering is, the extractor may or may not slip over the rim. If in doubt, pull back the bolt and finagle the case in from the magazine so that the extractor is engaged. Simply feeding the empty case from the magazine will probably not work because, without a bullet, the case mouth will snag on the feed ramp and chamber entrance.