Drilling-tapping or welding a W & S sight rail on a low numbered 03 receiver

[oldhoodoo1]

I have a working W&S sight and two rails for mounting. Now I need an 03 to go with it. I keep looking for an 03 receiver that was drilled for said rail (many never had the rail mounted)but so far its been months and I have only found one for sale with plugged holes but is not affordable...the particular rifle might be popular for reasons not associated with WWI usage.
Option 2 is to drill/tap a low number receiver preferably for the rail but I understand that can be tough. How about spot welding on the rail. The rifle is for living history purposes only (not reenacting), at best to be fired with blanks, and I want the rail mount to be strong enough to safely hold the Warner and Swasey scope. Are there any receivers to be avoided if one is considering drilling/tapping or spot welding.
Rather than rebuild a receiver from a sporter, I was thinking of using either a receiver, barreled receiver, or frankenstein 03, at least until I can find the proper receiver with the three mounting holes (or plugged holes).
Any thoughts or suggestions? Has anyone you know ever done this for the W & S sight?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Why would you spot weld and damage both? Or possibly destroy one? Wait for the correct one and do it right. Drilling and tapping something in the correct serial range would be second...

[Mike D]

Just D&T a receiver already drilled on. Fill the other holes and refinish. Finding the right one will take time. Either way it will be "put together", so don't sweat the small things. Go econo with it, and have fun!

Mike

[Salt Flat]

Oldhoodo, I drilled and tapped a low number drill rifle to mount my W&S on. (search the threads for pictures). The Brophy book has the hole locations and size. The receiver was easy to drill and tap, not at all like an 03a3 receiver. You could do a wanted ad on the forum here. I think there are a lot of low number receivers out there. I agree with Mike about using already drilled receivers for something like this. Of course if you want a shooter wait for a high number receiver. Salt Flat

[Salt Flat]

Here's the shortcut: WWI 1903 Sniper Replica Display Rifle

[Salt Flat]

Here's the rail mounted on my drill rifle---

[oldhoodoo1]

Thanks. I am not that much into 03's and a drill rifle would be perfect for me (I had not thought about it) as I want to "camo" the stock to match an original picture I saw of one which the "sniper" had painted. I am also getting old and patiently waiting for an original tapped receiver is not much of an option. When I was middle aged, patience was still a virtue but not any more.
I also have a 1913 W & S scope body....bought it first and then found the complete working scope and mount with two rails shortly afterwards (doesn't it always happen that way?). I have a machinist friend that is currently making full scale "Spandaus" out of aluminum for WWI fighter replicas...beautiful work. I actually purchased a flash hider/booster from him for my MG 08/15 and he does great work, I should say what you machinists do is "art".
Magnificent work on the adjustment mount for the body....
Unfortunately patience is not my virtue nor do I have talent. I unfortunately still have to work for a living in an office (ugh) and have little time or money but I would love to have it ready for my next event. Right now I am incorrectly mounting it on an ersatz rail on my Benet Mercie 1909 dummy gun. Would be nice to have an 1908 model sight, eh....this hobby makes me crazy.
Of course I hear even drill rifles are getting hard to find. Eventually I will find something though.

[Fred G.]

This is a Great thread!

[Promo]

If you have a M1913 scope, most correct rifles would either be around 62X.XXX to 63X.XXX, or 9XX.XXX. There is currently one with plugged holes on gunbroker.com, but it has been re-used by the USMC and features a Hatchers hole.

Is your scope serialized to a certain rifle inside the dovetail? And can you post pictures of your two rails? As you might know, there were different rails for different rifles, also copies which were not to the original pattern.

Do not do any welding. If you want to do minimum, just glue it to the receiver. For a display rifle this will be enough, and you also don't have to care on the correct position.

[oldhoodoo1]

It's an unnumbered scope, nothing special. I may have the ebay pics. I have mentioned it before, the number is a bit hard to read on the scope. I thought about gluing it to a receiver, but I am a worry-wart and it would drive me crazy. That USMC 03 si going through the ceiling. I presume it is the supposed USMC provenance that is driving it?

Thanks for the serial range, I was going to double check that. A lot of sellers don't give clear pics of the left side and I don't want to raise attention to ithat aspect by asking.

AL

If you have a M1913 scope, most correct rifles would either be around 62X.XXX to 63X.XXX, or 9XX.XXX. There is currently one with plugged holes on gunbroker.com, but it has been re-used by the USMC and features a Hatchers hole.

Is your scope serialized to a certain rifle inside the dovetail? And can you post pictures of your two rails? As you might know, there were different rails for different rifles, also copies which were not to the original pattern.

Do not do any welding. If you want to do minimum, just glue it to the receiver. For a display rifle this will be enough, and you also don't have to care on the correct position.