Remington 03A3 action strength

[retnav05]

Dear old Dad's favorite hobby was to sporterize 03A3 actions. His last project before he passed away was to build a rifle based on an old remington 03A3 action, s/n 31542xx. He had the barrel chambered for the .338 win mag. It is truly a beautiful rifle, but I questioned him as to whether that action was suitably strong enough for that cartridge or a disaster in the making. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rbernie]

The '03 is plentry strong. As far as I recall from reading Hatcher, the basic '03 action has been proofed by the Army to well in excess of 125Kpsi. Early receivers from Springfield and Rock Island (WWI vintage) were overly brittle, but a Remington shouldn't have any issues with that. In fact, post-WWI '03s such as the Remington used a reformulated steel alloy which proved stronger than earlier alloys.

In reviewing Hatcher (pp 226/227), S/Ns over 3mil were definitely WWII production using improved alloys. You are good to go.

 

[retnav05]

Thanks rbernie. Saved me a lot of worrying! Here's a pic if youre interested.

 

[bobsmith]

That's a very nice rifle. Quarter rib and all. I have a copy of an article that appeared in an old issue of Varmint Hunter magazine. According to the article, the later Springfileds (high serial number and later such as yours) are tremendously strong. You have no worries regarding strength. Also, anyone that could handcraft a rifle such as you picture had to have good knowledge of what he was doing. Griffin & Howe of New York made many fine custom bolt action rifles on 1903 Springfield actions. Many of them were in magnum calibers.

 

[Jim Watson]

That's the prettiest A3 I ever saw; stock and safety like a Winchester 70, quarter rib and band front sight like (from?) Ruger No 1.

The receiver bridge isn't clear in the photo, what did he do about the big receiver sight dovetail there?

Norma brought out the .308 Norma Magnum for the purpose of rechambering sound 03s and other .30-06s, so I wouldn't worry about it holding the .338 which is the same case and pressure rating.

 

[orionengnr]

does your dad want to build one for me?

I think he could have a very lucrative "retirement hobby" going there...provided he has a good supply of raw materials.

 

[Rockstar]

Maybe you missed that his dad passed away?

 

[retnav05]

Jim, he shaped a Reinhart Fajen stock blank and mated a Douglas barrel to the receiver. I think he just removed the rear sight, the dovetail is still there. Im not sure what the front sight is off of but he used the same type for all of his rifles. I have to admit, he was one particular old cuss! He just loved it when Id visit and call him Daddio! Here's a better pic of the receiver, hope this answers your question.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

There are really only two problems with 03A3 conversions like that. The first is feeding. The magazine lips have to be altered subtly to feed the wider magnum cases, and the gas-handling capability is somewhat inferior to the '98 Mauser.

The last is really not a problem if you don't produce loads that pop primers and if your headspace is correct. In any case, it's not inferior to the Model 70 Winchester -- which no one finds fault with.

And if that's a LaPorte safety, it should have a tiny flange blocking the left raceway, which improves gas handling quite a bit.

 

[orionengnr]

Yes, I did miss that.

Please accept my apologies and my condolences, and my undying respect for the gentleman's obvious skill and talents.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I'm a closet sporterized 1903 junkie. I think it is the most beautiful action ever built. Some will argue that the lock time is too slow, but mine work for me.

A Rock Island my dad bought for $12.95 in 1945 and sporterized in the 1950's. I recently rebarreled it to .270 AI:

A 25-06 I built in the 1980's from a new, never barreled nickel steel action:

My gunsmith has the remnants of a 1903 25-06 which was blown up by the owner. Seems the guy was in a hurry to load up antelope loads on the night before season opened. He grabbed the can of 3031 instead of the 4831. The blowup was quite spectacular, shearing off two lugs and cracking the third one, blowing the barrel and scope off, and the stock in two. Gunsmith estimated the pressure at 300,000 psi.

BTW, my gunsmith said that the actions are designed to take three times the pressure of the 30-06 round. I don't know how true that is.

Also, I just promised to quit posting since my post count was 1903. Now I guess I'll go for 1911.

 

[Jim Watson]

Retnav05,

Best I can tell, that is NOT a 1903A3 action, it is a 1903A1 action produced by Remington in 1941. It has no vestige of the big lateral dovetail for the A3 receiver sight, and A3 serial numbers did not start until 3348086, anything from 3000001 to that number was either a 1903A1 or 1903 (Modified) made by Remington on old Rock Island Arsenal and Springfield Armory tooling.

The picture is too dark for me to be sure of the markings but it looks like it says "Model 1903" not "Model 03-A3."

Gives the rifle smoother lines without the work of removing or using the receiver sight dovetail for a scope base.

I am pretty sure the quarter rib is from a Ruger No 1. The barrel band front sight might be Ruger, Lyman, or Redfield. Does the dovetail for the blade run lengthwise (Ruger) or crossways (Lyman or Redfield)?

 

[retnav05]

Jim, I checked and youre right. The markings read 1903. No A3 there, no A1 either. The dovetail runs lengthwise also. Do I still have an issue with the strength of this action?

 

[Jim Watson]

Strength is fine, materials are up to date as of 1941, over 20 years after the low number Springfield flap. Of peacetime manufacture, maybe nicer quality than wartime rifles.

All that 1903A1 signifies is a pistol grip stock, no change in the action, and not marked as such.

Sight is most likely a Ruger as is the rear quarter rib.

 

[Gewehr98]

Whether it was a 1903A1, 1903 (Modified), or 1903A3...

It still appears in the picture that some grinding happened at the rear receiver ring where a 1903A3 would have the rear sight dovetail. See the two different metal colors/heights just in front of the bolt handle? (Lightened it up and flipped it around 180 degrees)

 

[Jim Watson]

I saw that. At first I thought it was from grinding A3 to 03 contour till I checked the SN. Now I dunno. Shouldn't affect action strength, though.

 

[retnav05]

This is about as good as my camera will do. The receiver ring doesnt look polished down to where it would change the contour but Im no expert. I appreciate the help!

Steve

 

[Gewehr98]

That explains it.

I was looking at what appears to be a semi-circular relief cut in the rear receiver ring, nearest the bolt handle. (Dunno why it's there?) I agree with Jim, it's a 1903 pattern, not the later 1903A3.

 

[bobsmith]

That semicircular cut seems to be a standard 1903 Springfield feature. All 1903's have that. Maybe just a lightening cut to reduce weight?

 

[retnav05]

Maybe to make it easier putting the bolt back in? Anyway, if I want to mount a scope, it looks like drilling and tapping is going to be a must. You think?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The cut is formed in forging for clearancing the anti-bind or safety lug.

 

[Gewehr98]

I just dragged my October, 1918 1903 out of the safe.

It has the same semi-circular cut. Funny that it wasn't considered necessary on the 1903A3, and my 1903A4 doesn't have it, either. Cost of production and all, I guess...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Are we talking about the same cut -- on the left rear of the receiver bridge? Both my 03A3s have it, as does my sporterized '03 and my M1922.

 

[bobsmith]

I thought we were addressing the semi-circular cut at the top rear of the bridge.

 

[Gewehr98]

Yup, I'm talking about the cut in the rear receiver bridge.

Bobsmith, you're correct, that's what I'm looking at - where the 3rd safety lug passes through, that half-round relief cut that faces the bolt shroud when the bolt is in battery. My 1903 has it, my 1903A4 doesn't. It was definitely a clearance cut for something, but wasn't necessary for the later 1903A3 and 1903A4 versions.