I just got a Smith Corona 03a3 from my dad. It's been sporterized, probably in the 50's, and not a bad job either. I know I may loose a few of you, but I plan on keeping it this way. It's got a Fajen stock, which looks new after all these years. Lyman 48s peep sight and it has been blued. As I said it's a Smith Corona, and checking the serial # indicates a 1943 build. It shoots great when I tried it with some 165 grain nosler partitions over imr4831. In fact 1/2" @ 50 yards from a barrel that hadn't been cleaned in 30 years. I've cleaned it up now and it looks like a 2 groove.
1. The barrel is stamped R.A. and 7-44. Is this a Remington barrel? If so how do you suppose it came to be on this rifle? I'm thinking either Remington sent some to SC, or it was rebarreled after being sold to a civilian.
2. What is that third lug for on the bolt. It misses contacting the receiver frame by about 1/16" when the bolt is closed. Normal?
3. Anyone know where I can find a reasonable .280 remington or 7x57mm barrel? I've seen .243 and .270 on Numerichs, and don't want to spend the bucks for a custom barrel like from Pac-Nor. If it continues shooting so well I'll leave it as is, but I've seen what looks like slight pitting in the bore and think maybe the 2 or 3 groups so far are just a fluke.
I've had a lot of fun working with it to this point. At just a bit over 7 pounds it recoils severely. Much more than my other 30-06. Maybe I'll get a recoil pad as well.
1. The barrel is stamped R.A. and 7-44. Is this a Remington barrel? If so how do you suppose it came to be on this rifle? I'm thinking either Remington sent some to SC, or it was rebarreled after being sold to a civilian.
2. What is that third lug for on the bolt. It misses contacting the receiver frame by about 1/16" when the bolt is closed. Normal?
3. Anyone know where I can find a reasonable .280 remington or 7x57mm barrel? I've seen .243 and .270 on Numerichs, and don't want to spend the bucks for a custom barrel like from Pac-Nor. If it continues shooting so well I'll leave it as is, but I've seen what looks like slight pitting in the bore and think maybe the 2 or 3 groups so far are just a fluke.
I've had a lot of fun working with it to this point. At just a bit over 7 pounds it recoils severely. Much more than my other 30-06. Maybe I'll get a recoil pad as well.