Okay, in my youth I did many foolish things. Besides once being a Domino's Pizza Delivery Boy and setting a local record for the most pizzas delivered in one night I also....ummm.....ahhh....
....ummm...
....sporterized a Springfield 03A3.
Well, sort of. I bought it already sporterized, for $100. It had a Bishop Monte Carlo stock, a Lyman 57 Receiver sight, and a replacement bolt that was turned down for scope mounting. The GI rear sight was gone, but it had never been drilled & tapped for scope mounts, just for the receiver sight. I was told, "it's an old army rifle, not safe to shoot". I did have enough sense to know that opinion was bogus.
The headspacing checked tight, the 2 groove barrel from 5-42 looked pretty good, except for a dark spot about halfway down the barrel. I carved down the Monte Carlo hump to use the receiver sight, polished off the parkerizing and did a crappy cold blue job, that left it green, refinished the stock, & started shooting.
Without much effort I got 180 grain Noslers to go into 1.1" at 100 yards. Later on I dabbled with checkering it, gave up after concluding I didn't have the patience for it. The rifle languished for a few years.
About 6-7 years ago I realized the dark spot in the bore was actually a slight bulge I haven't shot it since then. This weekend I decided to clean out some dead projects out of the safe, and the 03A3 came to mind.
I guess I could screw on a new barrel, find a bolt, sights, stock & hardware & get it reparkerized as a restoration. It wouldn't be original, of course, and it still would have holes in the receiver for the sight.
The other option is to scrap all but the bolt & action and slap in a .338-06 or .35 Whelan barrel, finish it out as a bear/hogs/elk rifle.
The third option is to just stick it on the bulletin board at the local range and sell it, telling people what's wrong with it.
Opinions?
....ummm...
....sporterized a Springfield 03A3.
Well, sort of. I bought it already sporterized, for $100. It had a Bishop Monte Carlo stock, a Lyman 57 Receiver sight, and a replacement bolt that was turned down for scope mounting. The GI rear sight was gone, but it had never been drilled & tapped for scope mounts, just for the receiver sight. I was told, "it's an old army rifle, not safe to shoot". I did have enough sense to know that opinion was bogus.
The headspacing checked tight, the 2 groove barrel from 5-42 looked pretty good, except for a dark spot about halfway down the barrel. I carved down the Monte Carlo hump to use the receiver sight, polished off the parkerizing and did a crappy cold blue job, that left it green, refinished the stock, & started shooting.
Without much effort I got 180 grain Noslers to go into 1.1" at 100 yards. Later on I dabbled with checkering it, gave up after concluding I didn't have the patience for it. The rifle languished for a few years.
About 6-7 years ago I realized the dark spot in the bore was actually a slight bulge I haven't shot it since then. This weekend I decided to clean out some dead projects out of the safe, and the 03A3 came to mind.
I guess I could screw on a new barrel, find a bolt, sights, stock & hardware & get it reparkerized as a restoration. It wouldn't be original, of course, and it still would have holes in the receiver for the sight.
The other option is to scrap all but the bolt & action and slap in a .338-06 or .35 Whelan barrel, finish it out as a bear/hogs/elk rifle.
The third option is to just stick it on the bulletin board at the local range and sell it, telling people what's wrong with it.
Opinions?