1st 1903 Acquisition

[CoatiMundi]

Thank you! Again, thanks to all for the good information!

[Chuckindenver]

late 1917, likely original barrel, Single heat treat, 1903A3 stock, if you do make the choice to shoot a SHT 1903, only fire modern commercial ammo, avoid the chance of a common case head failure. on a side note, i would be more worried about the avis barrel failing

[ArtPahl]

Brophy's book, The Springfield 1903 Rifles, page 333, mentions that Avis supplied WWI replacement barrels (with possible 1919-1920 exceptions). That book does not note problems with Avis barrels.

I did not find any references to Avis barrels in Campbell's book, The '03 Era.

Poyer's book, The Model 1903 Springfield Rifle, page 152, indicates that Avis used undersize round stock, heated and upset the chamber end to enlarge it to proper diameter. That process occasionally "burned" that area leaving it "brittle". When that problem was noted, the proof load was raised to 75,000 psi and all Avis barrels in inventory were re-tested. I wonder if the square punch mark could be an indication of re-test.

Hatcher's Notebook, page 445 and 477 notes issues with Avis barrels.

I think that's the concern that Chuckindenver noted.

[CoatiMundi]

I’m not planning on shooting it much, I like the idea of the new ammo made for the ‘03 and Garand. I have not got into reloading, that and cigars are two activities I have eschewed
Definitely not going to run old, crappy “click, wait, boom” in it.

[Chuckindenver]

other then the issue with Avis barrels, the SHT actions dont just fail out of the blue, its how they handle a common case head failure, they dont survive it, so. one way to limit that happening is to not shoot handloads or old ammo that might have safety issues, i personally shoot my SHT rifle, with modern factory ammo, not alot, but at least once a year, however, i do not tell anyone else to do so, for the liability issue of this. not interested in a debate of shoot or not shoot, but good judgement should always be used, Avis barrels were found to have cavities and fishers in the chamber areas. i wont fire one. i would personally change it out for a safe example

[togor]

Chuck nailed it...

Case head failure in the SHT action is what you want to avoid. Modern factory ammo (no reloads) is your best bet.

[CoatiMundi]

Roger that.

[1903Collector]

Chuck nailed it...

Case head failure in the SHT action is what you want to avoid. Modern factory ammo (no reloads) is your best bet.

You mean only factory "M2 spec ammo", right?
I might add that reloading done with M2 case and M2 spec powder and weight is not an issue, but I would only trust reloads I did myself. Vintage M2 ball ammo is fine as well, but may not be 100% reliable, as misfires are not uncommon.

Modern .30-06 ammo that is not loaded to M2 specs dramatically increases risk to failure to '03 and M1 Garands. Even the ammo for an M14 or M1A should be 7.62 NATO and not modern .308 Win. All 7.62 NATO ammo is rated for a lower max pressure than.308 Winchester. The 7.62 NATO pressure profile is about 60,000 PSI, and .308 Win is 62,000. It’s not much of a difference, but it’s a difference, and in the wrong direction! The 7.62 NATO round has thicker case walls than the.308 Win round, though it’s not visible to the human eye.

I am uncertain whether there is a difference between M2 ball and modern .03-06 case dims.

[Chuckindenver]

modern factory ammo, the type that comes in a box, that you can buy at your local sporting good stores, not surplus, not handloads that you carefully reloaded. new in the box, never been fired, and made in the last 10 years. this has nothing to do with .308 ammo, 7.62 ammo. or M1 garands,
this about shooting ammo that has a less likely chance of case head failure in a 1903 Single heat treat action.
not 75 year old surplus, not surplus made in some other 3rd world country.
Federal, Winchester, Remington, PPU, and the like.
the last few case head failures that came into my shop, were surplus ammo, that was made in the 1940s, and not reloads. one failed so bad, the brass flowed back into the bolt face, blew the extactor off the bolt, destroyed the stock, it was a Remington 1903, so it didnt damage the action, but the barrel , stock and bolt were destroyed.

[togor]

Corollary to what Chuck wrote is to know the condition of your old surplus. Some of it is still good to go, but some is not. Pull some bullets, get a feel for what you have with that old ammo. If in doubt, bullets keep and can be moved to a new home.