New A4 Day

[Salt Flat]

SSgross, Interesting, Can you show us some more pictures of the whole rifle-- maybe start a new thread?

[ssgross]

maybe start a new thread?

I did a thread on my build. It's somewhere.

EDIT: looks like that thread was just before the great milsurps.com reset of 2021, and all but the last couple pics are gone, and I can't seem to find my originals. Oh well. I think the rifle is coming up in the queue of my shooting rotation. I'll get some fresh pics then and post.
For now, here she is all done up in her NOS scant.


EDIT2: found some of the before pics...rings were fancy. mount screws had been previously staked, but staking no longer intact when it got to me. Rear of the base is beveled, and marked REDFIELD in the correct spot. I found some original split top rings for it, but have not parkerized it yet - Brownells has been out of Manganese for some time now. I was going to use the scope base and rings as my first lesson. I conserved the bolt, but otherwise left it alone. Bolt looked correct against those I compared it too. The cocking piece had the knob cut off and had to be replaced. I found a NOS barrel, dated within a couple months on the later side of the expected range. If you expand my first pic, you can see some of the U.S. Remington....on the left side. I'll get some closer pics when I get it out again.
Chuck did the parking of the receiver for me...by the way happy retirement Chuck!

[Salt Flat]

ssgross, That is a very worthwhile project. It's getting hard to find projects like this. The bolt looks right on and I like the scant stock. I hadn't heard that Chuck had retired. Hopefully he will still share his expertise on this forum. Salt Flat

[ssgross]

I hadn't heard that Chuck had retired

my last phone conversation with him was last summer, and he was planning on retirement in December. While I'm typing...happy new-year-new-you Chuck! He always answered the phone and was a pleasure to speak with, and never hesitated to point me in the right direction on things I'm not quite setup to do, and share his experience in a friendly and courteous manner. A true gentleman and professional, through and through.

It's getting hard to find projects like this.

I have all the luck! Funny I was in the middle of building a clone from an already drilled and tapped sporter when this one came along. They both shoot so darn well I can't get myself to let either of them go.

I like the scant stock.

We are fortunate that there are still plenty of these NOS scants around. Unless one has a different purpose, these are the "correct" stock to use when overhauling an 1903 or A3 sporter back to service - the same as the arsenals would have done if a stock was too far gone to continue. I like to think of my work as just part of their service life, but with a little more love and attention to detail

[Chuckindenver]

im not retired, yet, 2 more years to go, i had originally planned on retiring 2023, but after looking at the numbers, id take too big of a hit doing it at 60, that and some unforsean Cancer with my GF, we had originally planned in moving to Gillet Wyoming this year, buying a shooting park, she has stuggled with Chemo since Aug, spent 29 days in the hospital over Christmas and Newyears.

to add to the pictures,
its is a Remington A3 receiver, you can see the ghost of the old markings were the ground them off, the serial number isnt indexed, it runs under the handguard ring.. FYI: changing or altering a serial is a Felony.
you cant tell in those pics, but the new markings were done with a pentagraph, you can see the chatter marks in them.
no such thing as a fed ord receiver, National Ord, and Santa Fe were the 2 names of the cast built actions, yes, i have seen a few fakes built of those. to make this worse, someone is building repro 1903A3 receivers in Europe from scratch, havnt seen any in the USA yet,

[GaryWKeim]

Thanks, Chuck. I too am nearly 60 and was hoping to retire this month, but common wisdom is to not retire into a recession, so that's what I'm doing. So sorry about what you GF is going through... I've got multiple (extended) family members with breast cancer at the moment.

I'm looking for a smoking gun to take back to the seller. What does "the serial number isnt indexed" mean? One or more smoking guns would be best. The hand etched model marking is one, I would presume. I'm not going to complain about the stock as I knew it was a replacement.

[ssgross]

someone is building repro 1903A3 receivers in Europe from scratch, havnt seen any in the USA yet,

hopefully some members can conjure some pics of these for us.

[butlersrangers]

Chuck in Denver - Thanks for clarifying about National Ord. and Santa Fe Arms being the names found on the 'sketchy' privately made cast 1903A3 receivers & parts guns.

(Federal Ordnance appears to have been involved with importing parts, and cast M1 carbine and M14 receivers. Apparently, they were physically next-door and eventually had some connection with National Ord.)

Best wishes and prayers for you and the health of your Girlfriend.

[Chuckindenver]

indexed is not line up, straight or squared up correctly