03' Fifth round feeding problem...JAM. Chuck in Denver maybe?

[Lancebear]

Hey Chuck,

Was prepping an 03' tonight for sale at a local show this coming weekend. Have never shot it or chambered a round in it till' tonight. Put a single round into the mag just to make sure it worked and when I pushed the bolt forward, it moved the cartridge about a quarter inch or so and just jammed solid. Tapped the bolt and just jammed it worse. Got the round out and took the rifle apart. Nothing wrong I could see. Made sure the follower had the small end forward.

SA 31' Receiver is perfect as is the B&S bolt. Everything was lubed up well. Mag switch was on. This rifle is a real nice M1903 with all milled parts except for the stamped Remington mag/trigger guard. The scant stock is a like new SA . Mag fits in so tight that you can't pull it out with your hands. Have to tap it out with an oak dowel.

Put in a stripper clip with five rounds and the first four fed smoothly and ejected properly, then round number five jammed just the same way as in single feed. Tried another bolt and got the same result. Rifle has one hundred percent park and no pitting or rust. What gives? Must be something simple. Thoughts?

Regards,

LB

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[Chuckindenver]

well, the first thing id do is use another traigger guard assembly, use a milled one like should be in it.
if thats not an option, then look at the follower, on the bottom side should have no markings, maybe a R and should be milled, spring should be looped 03 type as well,
alot of 1917 followers get mixed up with 1903,s they work sometimes, but likely will give you a bind, or an eject on the last round, dont know why for sure, thats just been my experiance,
without having the rifle in my hands to see for sure, its hard to say, the bolt may very well be the issue as well, some replacement bolts work rough.
try other parts from rifles you know that work well, until the issue is cured , then youll know the problem, id almost bet lunch the A3 guard is the issue.

[oakfarm]

Hey Chuck; I had the same problem a few weeks ago,It was the mag spring.JMHO. Lee W.

[Lancebear]

Hey Chuck,

Thanks for the reply. Figured out the problem, but it wasn't the spring.

Hauled another 03' out to the Peaceshack. One with all milled parts. Made sure it would feed a single cartridge from the mag and it did. Swapped springs and followers only. Same problem, single feed from the mag jammed.
Smacked the stamped mag out of the rifle that jammed and replaced it with the milled mag assembly from the functioning rifle. Same jam happened.

Figured the extremely tight fit between the stock and the mag might be the problem. Broke out the #150 grit paper and worked the stock a little where I figured it was binding. When I got a nice fit for the milled assembly, I assembled the rifle and It fed a single cartridge fine. Put the stamped mag back in and the same jam again, so.........replacing the stamped mag assembly with a new milled group should fix the rifle. Will look for one tomorrow at the Kenner, La. show.

To sum it up, a stamped mag assembly in combination with an over tight stock was my problem. Thanks for your help.

Death to bad guys,

LB

[John Beard]

Hey Chuck,

Was prepping an 03' tonight for sale at a local show this coming weekend. Have never shot it or chambered a round in it till' tonight. Put a single round into the mag just to make sure it worked and when I pushed the bolt forward, it moved the cartridge about a quarter inch or so and just jammed solid. Tapped the bolt and just jammed it worse. Got the round out and took the rifle apart. Nothing wrong I could see. Made sure the follower had the small end forward.

SA 31' Receiver is perfect as is the B&S bolt. Everything was lubed up well. Mag switch was on. This rifle is a real nice M1903 with all milled parts except for the stamped Remington mag/trigger guard. The scant stock is a like new SA . Mag fits in so tight that you can't pull it out with your hands. Have to tap it out with an oak dowel.

Put in a stripper clip with five rounds and the first four fed smoothly and ejected properly, then round number five jammed just the same way as in single feed. Tried another bolt and got the same result. Rifle has one hundred percent park and no pitting or rust. What gives? Must be something simple. Thoughts?

Regards,

LB

The most likely source of your problem is the magazine spring. It has either become deformed or has lost some of its tension.

J.B.

[Lancebear]

Hey J.B. ,

The spring wasn't the problem. This 03' does not like a stamped mag assembly.
And the inletting for the mag was way too tight. Aren't 03' and A3 trigger guard assemblies supposed to be interchangable?

Won't buy another 03' with stamped parts. None my others have any and they all work like a champ. They also look better.

Thanks,

Robert/LB

[John Beard]

Hey J.B. ,

The spring wasn't the problem. This 03' does not like a stamped mag assembly.
And the inletting for the mag was way too tight. Aren't 03' and A3 trigger guard assemblies supposed to be interchangable?

Won't buy another 03' with stamped parts. None my others have any and they all work like a champ. They also look better.

Thanks,

Robert/LB

'03 and '03-A3 trigger guards are indeed interchangeable. But neither one will work if they're warped.

Your problem was not with your trigger guard. Your problem was with your stock. There's absolutely nothing wrong with stamped trigger guards from a magazine feeding standpoint.

J.B.

[Lancebear]

Hey J.B.,

I get it. The over tight stock warped or bent in the top edges of the stamped trigger guard. That is why the milled group worked after relieving the inletting and the stamped one didn't.

Thanks,

LB

[edlmann]

The over tight stock warped or bent in the top edges of the stamped trigger guard. That is why the milled group worked after relieving the inletting and the stamped one didn't.

You can probably tweak that 03A3 TG back into shape with padded pliers.

If not, and if you can't find a milled guard, Bill Ricca has 03A3 TGs.

FWIW; AFAIK; IMHO; YMMV; yadda, yadda, yadda.

Regards, Ed Mann

Bobby Bowden is doing a fine job - just leave him alone.

Albert says, "Click here for free Gator wallpaper."

[Chuckindenver]

glad you got it figured out,
what i have found, is that some 03,s have a real nice fit and they fit tight as well,
A3 stocks are fit a bit looser to take the stamped parts, though some stamped parts will work in both, some wont, bent or not, youll see a variation in corners, and sizes with stamped parts.
more so on trigger guards, then anything else, more bends ect.
if they were heavy handed when taking the rifle apart, they will indeed get tweeked.
best bet is to stay with milled parts..and use real GI, not import junk.