to bed or not to bed 1903-a3

[modwerdna]

I have a Springfield 1903-a3 with a 2 groove ra-44 barrel on it. It looks like the original stock was cut down into a sporter. I tried bedding the barrel with acraglass
but I am not sure it made any improvement. I was thinking of free floating it instead and maybe installing a tension shroud. I am going to use the tubbs polishing system and switch to lee collet dies and doing a trigger job to get the most out of it.

Anybody have any pointers on accurizing these bad boys

 

[mnrivrat]

Bed the action and not the barrel - free float the barrel .

 

[nicholst55]

Personally, I'd bed it and do the trigger job and shoot it with some good ammo before I bought the Tubbs polishing kit. Unless the bore is visibly rough, you may well not need it.

Also, be realistic in your accuracy expectations. That barrel was not intended to shoot bughole groups. While it may be quite accurate, I'd be very happy to get it shooting consistently under 1".

You might want to take a critical look at the muzzle crown, and invest the relatively few bucks necessary in a professional recrowning job, if needed. That will probably do more for your group size than the Tubbs kit.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

I agree. Float the barrel. And if its smooth,those two groove barrels give super cast bullet accuracy.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

yea Ide bed it, man I posted on the wrong thread, sorry guys

 

[Slim Pickens]

Have you ever used the Tubbs polishing system before? I just used it last weekend in a 1917 Eddystone. The Eddystone had some pitting in the barrel and I wanted to smooth it out a little. I got the "lapping system" instead of the "throat maintenance system". It was a complete waste of time, and I had to go back and clean the bore with some lapping compound on a patch instead. The Final Finish bullets appear to be 175 gr MatchKings that have been tumbled in abrasive media, with very little abrasive left on the surface. They are not coated like sandpaper or anything. It is hard for me to imagine that they produce any significant effect beyond the throat area.

Coincidentally, I loaded these on a new set of Lee Collet Dies. The only thing special about these dies is the big ugly scratch they leave on the side of the cases. I much prefer RCBS for economical dies.

I agree with the other posters about trying different ammo, or re crowning the muzzle. Enjoy your A3.