Fitting a New Stock

[reed12b]

I received my new stock for my 1903A3 from the CMP and it fits very nicely excely for one thing. The barrel is loose at the end and will wobble around with only very light pressure from my finger. I can only image it will not group well at all when fired. What holds the barrel down to the stock?

One thing I noticed was the handguard did not have inlets cut for the two clips so I did not install these. Are these two little clips what holds the barrel snug? If so, can anyone provide any measurements so I can attempt to cut the inlets in the handguards?

Thanks

Information

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[Mike D]

Assuming your front TG screw is tight and the rear one good and snug, I believe there is suppose to be some contact between the barrel and the tip of the stock.

The metal clips were added to '03 handguards around 1908 to provide additional strength.

Looking at an A3 handguard I have, the area for the front clip is inletted underneath so the clip would not come in contact with the barrel before the wood itself. The rear clip is not inletted like this.

Measuring from the front of the handguard, the first semi-circle inlet for the clip starts at 1". It is 7/16" in diameter. The second inlet starts at about 5 1/8" from the front. Also about 7/16" in diameter.

Remember the bottom edges of these areas are also inletted about the thickness of the clip so the clips do not come in contact with the stock.

Hope this helps.

[reed12b]

Thank you for your reply, it is helpful. The barrel is resting on the stock on the bottom, but there is a gap between the top of the barrel and the upper band. That gap is what is allowing the barrel to move with only light finger pressure. Something is not right, I will take a photo and post it tomorrow.

[Chuckindenver]

look to see if there is a rear tang bushing installed in the stock...if not...buy one, and install it.

[JGaynor]

Chuck makes an excellent point! let me add $.02. last week I saw a new stock at Sarco. Upon examination the tang bushing was proud of the wood (stuck out) by about an 1/8 of an inch.

For that stock, assuming no modification, i expect the full bearing of the action would be on the trigger guard through the tang bushing instead of evenly on the wood.

If none of this makes much sense try to post a few close up pics of the inletting around the action screws.

Your overall inclination is correct though the forend tip of the stock should bear on the barrel with about 5 to 7 lbs of upwarfd pressure,

Regards,

Jim

[reed12b]

The attached photos are not very good, I can not figure out how to get my camara to focus up close. Anyway the first photo reflects how the barrel is just sort of floating in the stock. The second one shows how far I can very easly push the barrel up off the stock. The tang bushing is in the stock, however it does extend past the bottom of the stock a very small amount. Could this be the issue? The part that extends is in the front (closest to the trigger) since the inlet for the trigger/handgard is sloped a little bit.

[Mike D]

I believe there is a macro? setting for close up shots. Look for the pic of a flower for enabling it.

I'm pretty sure the tang bushing is supposed to stick out a little to keep the stock from being squeezed.

I just checked my A3. My barrel moves, too. The barrel does not contact the stock unless I squeeze the two together. It looks just like your pics.

My gun is a very good shooter. The last time I shot at 100yds, 4 shots were 1 1/2", the 5th shot opened it up to 2 1/2". It has a 2-groove barrel. I'm not going to change a thing on my gun.

Point is - Put your gun together and shoot it. The first time I shot mine, I sighted it in at about 30yd to make sure I was hitting close, and then moved to 100yds and shot the above group.

If you've got a good bore and do your part, it might surprise you.

The next time I go to the range, I might try a shim under the barrel to see if it makes a difference. Who knows!?

Maybe I got lucky with that first group!

[Chuckindenver]

agree, shoot it,,see what it does, then adjust.
the stock bushing should set below the woodline, {inside the stock} you will get better wood to metal contact.

[reed12b]

Thanks for the replys, maybe I was getting excited over nothing! I will take it out to the range and see how she does, it has not been fired since 1988, the last year I hunted with it. (This was my grandfathers rifle.) I am attempting to make it legal for CMP matches.