Austrian sporterized M1903?

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I have to accept, as many have pointed out, that the bolt is an early SHT piece. Lynn Merriweather at CMP verified as much (I think John Beard was there when we talked). It may have been installed because the handle clears the scope, better. It still grazes the ocular bell when operated, however.

Don Miller says the scope dates to around 1940 and, as I knew, is a commercial version. He has it soaking in penetrant to ease dissasembly. Don says that during the war, an inferior, soft metal (war metal) was used on interior parts that was susceptable to siezing in the tube - that's why the focus ring was stuck. He takes steps to mitigate the problem when he reassembles them.

I believe the sling swivels at New England Custom Guns are correct replicas.
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A guy there said that the front swivel was probably soldered on. So the silver oblong on the barrel is not "fill" but left-over solder. If the barrel is rust-blued, a new swivel can be soldered on and the bluing touched-up. If it is hot-blued, the barrel would have to be re-blued. Don't want to go there. Any advice on that?

Got a nice Pachmayer Classic Leather slip-on recoil pad and some Gun Juice. All I need is the scope and some ammo and I'm ready to take her to the range. I am looking to get a good starter gunsmith screwdriver set. Any recommendations?

Thanks again to all. I'm really enjoying learning about m1903 rifles.

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I just noticed an "R" stamped on the cut-off switch. Does that mean it is a Remington part?

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Hello, Friends.

I have been away quite a while, distracted by knee surgery first then a very heavy work schedule. I later got into a levergun and spent a lot of time learning about and working on that rifle. I have lurked here occaisionaly and have found that this is one of the most civilized and informative gun forums on the net. Really great folks.

Anyhow, to continue the story,I was able to get an Uncle Mike's swivel mount that fit the barrel and mounted that in the place where the old mount had been soldered. It now has a Montana sling and a Pachmyer slip-on recoil pad that fits nicely with an extra 1/4 inch of neoprene foam from an old mouse pad to add a little LOP.

Meanwhile, I had sent the scope to Don Miller for refurbishing, as you know. He had it for months but was never able to dislodge the erector assembly from the tube and did not want to damage it by forcing. He finally gave up and sent it back to me and I have been looking for a donor scope to salvage an erector assembly from ever since. These Kahles H4x60 scopes are hard to find, now, and expensive. I have found one on a German gun sales site that is for sale for 190 Euros, which is the best price I have found, so far. I need to pull the trigger in the next couple of days if I decide to go down that road. If anyone has a lead on another one in the US for sale it would, no doubt, be a simpler transaction for me as I don't speak German. Any help is appreciated.

After I got all the carbon and copper out of the bore I took it to a range and put a couple of boxes of Fiocci boat tails down it. I didn't have the time to set up a target so I just blasted some silouhettes from 100 to 300 yards out. Had lots of fun and got a sore shoulder. If I ever get the scope repaired I will dial it in and submit a range report.

The action is very slick and I have noticed that the bolt does not exhibit a positive "lock" when closed and there is the possibility, I suppose, of firing the rifle with the handle not all the way down. I made sure it was, however, when I fired it. Is that something I should be concerned about? Other than that it is a nice shooter.

Thanks, again, for all the help.

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I bought this scope:
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Will be sending it, along with mine, to Don Miller. I can only hope that the internals all work.