Another Fake 03 sniper rifle

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  • Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    I'm going to build a fake 1941 out of this drilled up 1921 receiver.
    Some enterprising soul drilled six holes in this action body and still couldn't get it right so finally it made its way to me.

    Being the perfect candidate for a hack job, Ill carry on the Bubba tradition get something happening and do a comparison my other rifle.
    Anyway, my buddy was able to weld up the holes managing to save the roll mark and now they're all ground and polished back to normal.

    Maybe I'll screw up a few hand guards attempting to make an acceptable copy but somehow or another Ill plow my way through.
    parts.jpg
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,178
    Sun City West, AZ
    '03 receivers are famous for how exceedingly hard they are. It's no wonder someone without the proper tooling or experience had problems drilling it. Best of luck on your sniper build...it should be a fine shooter.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Heat Treat?????
    Double heat treating started about 1918 NS started a few years after this one was made. A hardened steel dental pick skips right of the lugs. Same as the ring and bridge with a file. The only thing that will scratch is the weapons coat someone sprayed on it.

    '03 receivers are famous for how exceedingly hard they are. It's no wonder someone without the proper tooling or experience had problems drilling it. Best of luck on your sniper build...it should be a fine shooter.

    Surprisingly, I checked the holes and they were straight as an arrow. It was even drilled for a Unertal block or redfield spacing. Just too far back. And...a 48 B or C. A 41 has the ring block butted right up against the edge of the sight collar.
    The real problem was, the body lacked a couple on the port side so someone could have mounted a Warner and Swazey on it.:eek:

    Barrel the same way, brand new extra heavy barrel wit 6 holes in it, other wise a shame unless someone likes plug screws.
    Remaining case hardening around the new holes will snap a tap right off even when drilled clean through.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Ill use a dowel and some 4/0 to card off rust in the hard to reach areas after doing a quick rust blue/brown.

    Stick the working end of a Wall paper remover steamer in a box after a schmear of Brownells rust blue and some fine glass beading and let it soak for a while.
    I did the front site band and the rear sight collar the same way.
    Top picture is with a flash, bottom without and looks more blue.

    CBI barrel has that green park like finish on it but Im not removing it when it all goes together.
    Ill probably barrel it and finish the chamber tomorrow.


    brown 2.jpg

    brown 1.jpg

    Somebody wants to ride up to Rita's for a pup-achino and is running out of patience.

    Bed Dog.jpg
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    HS The Rifle

    Head space your rifle in a few simple steps. Here I have a very small bottle brush, A go gauge, a clip full of HS gauges a reamer and some brake- clean,cutting oil clean paper towels etc.

    hs guages 41.jpg
    I use a PTG pull thorough on new barrels. Clean everything, grease the polished rod lightly then carefully thread to reamer and begin cutting away. GO slow and don't force the reamer all the while turning clockwise from the muzzle. Follow on the bolt but don't press or force it, just make sure the slack is removed and the reamer doesn't bind. After about five to 8 turns, withdraw the gear and clean clean clean. Use the bottle brush, blow out with compressed air and brake clean then check with your gauge.



    41 chips 2.jpg

    Once the bolt drops your done aren't you? Check with your go gauge. Bolt will close here on the go gauge but not on one of the 8 pack of HS gauges? I could force the bolt shut but then the dummies wont fall out of the chamber like they're supposed to.
    This why you don't shoot gauges and only cartridges. Because the tolerance stacking is different between the go gauge, the cartridge reamer and a bolt made in 1941 with a barrel/chamber made in 2018. Finish up by shimming the bolt face and gently finish reaming until the bolt drops right shut with a clink on one of your dummies. Preferably the longest of the bunch out of that 8 pack. Those last few turns are like a knife going through a warm block of cheese and will skate like oiled glass on wet snow. Remember, head space is not a measurement per-se, its a range in that the longest cartridge will fit the shortest chamber but still allow the shortest cartridge to be fired so that excessive stretch doesn't occur.


    Sh1.jpg

    Once your all done and cleaned up, carefully clean everything out with a solvent, clean and dry the bore and exterior then mock it all together for a range trip when it cools off.
    Once we hear back from Steve Earl, we'll drill and tap it all to hell and fit some scope blocks up.

    F41.jpg
     

    fogman

    Active Member
    Looks like a fun project.
    I've got a bubba improved 1903A4 somewhere. Polished and blued, barrel cut just behind the machining for the front sight. Always thought about pulling the barrel, re-parking the receiver and installing a Criterion barrel
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Fitting a popular aftermarket "C" stock.
    Range trip today indicated high potential with irons but more fitting was the result.
    After the new timber was broke in and tension-ed with a sling shots were stringing higher and higher.
    Initially I started out with the rear sight collar and flat behind the lug having as nearly equal bearing as I could get, a method some of my rifles have benefited from but not this one. Rear sight collar completely relieved and clearance- d around the sides.
    Of course additional contact throughout the rest of the barrel channel is the result so you need to start working it out towards the muzzle bearing.

    bedding 1.jpg

    Keep going until you have about the bottom third of barrel contact 2 inches or so rearward from the tip relieved enough to slide some paper from underneath the rear collar and clean on out to the front bearing. (thats a two step process on an 03 because of the in-letting at the forward part of the collar)

    bed2.jpg

    Keep in mind the tech manual declares the barrel "floating" but you need to have a decent bearing at the stock front. Also, for jump and vibration that barrel needs to whip upwards so the front band has to have some clearance from the barrel at the top so it can be move slightly upwards upon firing. Make sure its not trapped. Most rifles average around 4-6 lbs that shoot worth a dam but here, the more bearing you can get the better off you'll be as evidenced by the best shooting examples out there.

    The other thing is the CBI barrels that I have installed always run a tad bit larger outside OD than the take off's so bearing is always somewhat increased.
    Could that be one reason they say they're decent shooting? I don't know but one thing is for sure, if you don't have a whole lot of bearing expectations shouldn't be too high for 75 plus year old rifle with a dried out stock. Easy enough to engineer in to your product line for increased performance without jumping through additional manufacturing steps that's for sure.

    bed3.jpg

    Make sure after all your fitting, additional details like the front of this bottom metal isn't proud or deficient for height and there is no unsightly gaps in between the wood and the trappings. When the handguard is fit, Ill draw file the top of the stock channel down just enough to make sure there is no contact with the top of the barrel and concave handgaurd bottom. Just to the point where the guard is captured by the sight collar recess without tilting up at the front as the action screw is being tightened. It should slide right into place, but be tight enough to not vibrate excessively upon firing.

    bed4.jpg

    Maybe one day my scope blocks will show up and I found some hand guards online pretty cheap that I can butcher figuring out the mods needed to adapt them.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Nice work!!

    Thanks, I just mess around and have some fun.
    If I could ever get my hands on the scope blocks I could finish it up.
    Been a couple of weeks since I heard from Steve Earle, but they'll be here sooner than later by now.
    I did, also happen across a SA C stock but haven't had a chance to go over it in person. If it doesn't bed just so, I'll use it somewhere else or hang on to it. It's not the most stellar example to begin with, but better than nothing.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Wouldn't you know it, went to the mail box and they showed up! I was thinking at least another week and a few days.

    Only problem is, I tore my work bench/shop apart for reorg and because its 900 Deg outside,I'm not sure what sort of progress is going to occur in that regard.
    Might have to regroup at Rita's and go swimming over to the beach or something. The hell with finishing the shop up.

    Anyway,they look pretty good. Worth the wait for sure. Not only are they polished, they can be located opposite side of the smiley cut for install. Even fit the rings very well. As long as I don't screw up fitting them to rifle, should work like a champ. At least Ill have a little motivation to go out into that furnace to get all that mess sorted out.

    SE Blocks.jpg
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,818
    Wouldn't you know it, went to the mail box and they showed up! I was thinking at least another week and a few days.

    Only problem is, I tore my work bench/shop apart for reorg and because its 900 Deg outside,I'm not sure what sort of progress is going to occur in that regard.
    Might have to regroup at Rita's and go swimming over to the beach or something. The hell with finishing the shop up.

    Anyway,they look pretty good. Worth the wait for sure. Not only are they polished, they can be located opposite side of the smiley cut for install. Even fit the rings very well. As long as I don't screw up fitting them to rifle, should work like a champ. At least Ill have a little motivation to go out into that furnace to get all that mess sorted out.

    View attachment 317701

    Tomorrow's weather is looking a tad bit friendlier. :thumbsup:
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    All done and kill dog approved. I zeroed it at 300 yds and it will beat a 8" target black all to hell as long as you want to pull the trigger without even trying. Like as fast as you can work the bolt and top off the magazine.
    But anyway....

    IMG_2160[7456].jpg

    Once you line out your handguard simply cut out the bulk of the wood with a coping saw, blade side out so you can work around the handguard, make off the extra with a chisel to square the hole up and then file off so its flat.

    Remember to continue rearwards a short amount as you reduce the height to permit clearance for the front ring to slide onto the block above the wood.
    A very small bit of clearance is needed at the rear of the front block to allow installation of the handguard so you don't have to continually remove the block for hand guard installation.

    cac.jpg

    I was going to swap out the wood with another stock I have but I don't think its worth messing with. I didn't spend a lot of time making the exterior appearance anything out of the ordinary either. I'll let someone else worry about all that happy horseshit some other time.

    ca2a1.jpg
     

    noahhh

    Active Member
    Jan 28, 2009
    254
    Arnold,Md
    Here's one I built a couple years ago. A Bridgeport mill makes hole location and drilling/tapping a snap, as well as cutting the handguard clearance.

    1Ha7tmjl.jpg


    '03 nickel steel receiver and bolt, Criterion barrel, wartime Keystone replacement C stock, Unertl 8x (note USMC Sniper Unertls didn't employ recoil springs). She'll shoot!

    5IubF3hl.jpg


    (My notation of 15 grains 4759 struck me as wrong, so I went back to my handloading notes and range diary to confirm that I mis-wrote the powder charge info on the target. It should've read 18 grains 4759. So far, around 1000 shots out of that pipe and every single one was a cast bullet - no intentions of ever putting jacketed stuff through it.)
     

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