making the recovered drill rifle shoot..once again.

[Chuckindenver]

since many of us have been rebuilding shooters out of receivered drill rifles, i thought id share.
most if not all DP A3,s had the barrel welded to the receiver, some were removed nicely, some were removed,,,not so nicley.
however,.every one iv rebarreld, has had reciever face issues, likely from the heat of being welded, or some like the one pictured was ground on heavy.
what happens is, the witnes marks are too far apart to be able to get barrel index set right.
you can dress the face by hand..long and hard, or match face the receiver as i did here,
notice before, that the edge is very uneven, ane likely the rifle would shoot less then good.
even after facing it, it still has some grind marks, but if i took anymore off it would over index.
right now the index is just right.Attachment 15248Attachment 15249Attachment 15250Attachment 15251Attachment 15252

Information

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[JBS]

You can always go with a custom turned breaching washer if you have to.

[Chuckindenver]

breaching washers dont work very well with 03,s 17,s Krags or others with square threads, as the crush is on the shoulder, and not the threads.
getting headspace done with a washer would be an day long trial and error.
this was just to sqaure the face, and remove the raised area from the heat of the weld.

[JBS]

breaching washers dont work very well with 03,s 17,s Krags or others with square threads, as the crush is on the shoulder, and not the threads.
getting headspace done with a washer would be an day long trial and error.
this was just to sqaure the face, and remove the raised area from the heat of the weld.

Yes, that is why you make a crush type washer and then dress it to the barrel on the lathe after it is brought to final index. The receiver looks like it has been rolled with a swaging roller.

[Calif-Steve]

What are you doing to the cut-off?

[Chuckindenver]

the cut off was already done, and done fairly nice. im just installing a barrel,
iv done more then a few DP rifles, some cutoffs clean up easy,,,some dont... sometimes thats the way i gauge if ill do one or not.

[Nate]

Please forgive my old school collecting ethic, but building rifles from this junk is unforgivable. If you don't have the money to collect a proper '03, then quit. I have been collecting US military arms for over 50 years and this new scheme is disgusting to me. My name is Nathan X XXXXXX , XXXX XXXXX XXX, XXX XXXXX, CA. Take it for what it's worth.

[Chuckindenver]

Please forgive my old school collecting ethic, but building rifles from this junk is unforgivable. If you don't have the money to collect a proper '03, then quit. I have been collecting US military arms for over 50 years and this new scheme is disgusting to me. My name is Nathan L Brogan , 1215 Meade Ave, San Diego Ca. Take it for what it's worth.

must come from a man with deap pockets... with all do respect Nate, most of these recovered drill rifles are being made into cheap shooters, or replica A4 shooter rifles, some are being made into hunting rifles as well.
and caution should be taken when doing so.
as for being {junk} the old saying,....one mans junk is another mans treasure comes to mind....not real sure why you felt the need to post your personal information, on a public forum..
but now, every scammer, thief. and ID theft artist will no have that info...
though i agree, with collecting...i dont agree with a flame on those who dont have an endless supply of money, as iv said for years...a collection is only valued by the people that collect..
when you die,,your collection, is only worth what fellow collectors will pay. no matter what you thought it was worth, or what you paid for it...
some members here, have nice original weapons ect, and some only have a couple. all are equally top notch in my book, as long as it keeps interest in these old clunky rifles alive.

[Mike D]

I think scrapping a receiver that only needs minor work to become serviceable again is a huge waste and "unforgiveable". DP rifles have a history, too.

I'm all for originals, but sometimes they are just unattainable, whether it be shallow pockets and/or scarcity.

I've got a DP receiver from Chuck that I used to put together a Bushmaster clone. Nickel steel, and fine for a shooter. I also put together an Air Service clone. For these uses, a non-original receiver is preferable to me.

These rifles are definitely not "proper"! They are fun to shoot, and peek peoples interest at the range(especially with a BAR mag sticking out the bottom of the TG!). That is valuable to me.

I understand where your comin' from Nate, I'm just not that picky. And if I'm ever in San Diego, I'll drop by Meade Ave. and ask to see your collection, I'll bet it's a fine one.

[Calif-Steve]

I have seen piles of DP rifles. Most looked pretty beat, but the random few looked OK to me. I suspect Chuck knows his business and is a very competent 'smith. If he will do it, I will trust him. However, what about the firms now offering 03-A4 clones? Are these guys competent? It is a little bit scary to me. Just my $.02.