my new, broken 1903a3

[ssgross]

Well, looks like the decision has been made for me...I'm going to go with the NOS 2 groove barrel on this project. Sarco's exchange came in today. I pulled it out of the box, looked through it - no grease. bone dry. Here is the borecam...more rust than the first, and heavy pitting in the throat...disappointing. At least there customer service seems ok. I'll let you know how getting a refund ends up.


so let's finish assembling this rifle! couple coats of raw linseed oil last night - for the first several coats I cut with 50:50 mineral spirits for deeper penetration. I rub it in with a soft cloth, completely saturating the wood, then let it hang and drip for an hour before wiping off the excess. I did this 3 times last night, and each time when I came back an hour later, there was no more left on the surface...it was all absorbed. The 4 time there was still some puddling after an hour. Tonight, I'll switch to full strength, saturate, let sit an hour, wipe away excess, repeat in 24hours. I'll do this for a week, then set it out in the sun and let the color develop. I'll try to take some pictures along the way.

I think I'm going to break down and buy a finish reamer and t-handle...finally...instead of renting again. I keep telling myself it makes sense to rent since I don't know if I'll ever need it again...but here we are 4 rifles later.

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[browningautorifle]

I don't know if I'll ever need it again...but here we are 4 rifles later.

Exactly, I buy my tools so I have them all now...right down to the lathe.

[ssgross]

right down to the lathe

I'm still dreaming of the day...when the kids are out of the house I'm going to quit this rat-race and go back to my much lower paying but set-my-own-schedule work. Hopefully there are enough milsurps left by then...

Pulled the front sight off the 2 groove barrel. I cleaned and cold blued under it for now, at least until I decide if it shoots worthy enough for sending out and re-parking the barreled action.
It's been a while or I'm getting older, and so I momentarily couldn't remember the direction the tapered pin went in, so I started searching and got conflicting answers on multiple forums...including this one. So, I took out another rifle I had to remove the sight on to verify (since its pin isn't frozen anymore).
So, for the record, and so I have an easy place to find it next time I forget...looking down the sights as if the rifle is in your shoulder, the pin gets pushed out from the right side...the narrow end of the taper is on the same side as the bolt handle. This has now been verified on a NOS barrel. I soaked it in kroil for a few hours while I mowed the lawn, wiped dry, hit it with a heat gun until the laser thermometer read 150 degrees, and used a 1/32 nail set to get it started. Fingers crossed I've never needed to cut one off, and I've never buggered one using this method. Worst case, it wouldn't start after a 4 good love taps, then it gets soaked overnight after trying, and comes out easily the next morning.

will torque the barrel on tomorrow.