five.five-six
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last year I bought a pile of guns from and estate and included was a 1903 project. The guy had a 1903 sporter and was trying to convert it back to original military condition with 03A3 hardware mostly but with a Lyman side mount peep sight. It came with a pretty nice non-issued scant stock, a very nicely done sporterized 1903 stock (which I did sell for $200) most all the 03A3 hardware needed and a low number SA receiver which turned out to have heat treat problems. There was a lot of stuff for $100
The poor guy was never going to get it done and it took me 9 months of diligence to get my first rifle out of the deal. For starters, without the sight collar on the barrel, there was no way to get the handguard to stay on the gun and the wrong profile barrel, so it didn’t quite fit right in the barrel channel. It was a mess. I think every few months he would go to crossroads and buy more parts to throw at the project but didn’t have a plan to get it done. Well, last night I made a rifle out of that mess. I’ve never meet him but I hope he’s happy with it. He clearly put a lot of effort into it.
First I needed to replace the receiver and they had been hard to find. Sarco had/has reconditioned recovered receivers for $695. They seem nice but OUCH! This was a $100 project. After months of contemplating I decided to pull the trigger on the Sarco but before I clicked the payment button, I decided to give gun broker 1 last look. Jackpot! I scored these 3 receivers for $550 shipped after some negotiation with the seller and one of them was already side D&T for my 03A3 build
Hmm. I mean I only wanted 1 receiver, perhaps 2 because along the way I had accumulated a few other parts like a correct barrel (2 grove 03A3 1943 gifted to me) and had just about everything I needed to build a proper arsenal correct early 1903 also.. but what am I going to do with the 3rd receiver?
Sure they looked rough but they were complete and nothing a little rust blue couldn’t fix!
Yes. There’s 3 now….. don’t ask don’t tell my wife. This morning I showed it to her with the admonition “I know you don’t really care but I’ve been working on this one since November”. She says it looks very nice but also looks just like all the other ones. As long as she doesn’t see all 3 at once, I’m good!
One thing I struggled with was if it’s going to be a 03A3 “ish” the forged bottom metal was all wrong. I had a stamped bottom metal but I have no idea how to use a wood chisel…. Well a few videos, several hours of going very slow and a pile of walnut curls later…
I’m pretty ADHD and dealing staying focused on one gun with parts for 3 was pretty challenging. I ended up just picking out parts for this 1 build and setting everything else aside. The math on it worked out pretty good. I had to buy the 1 receiver, and propane for the rust blue but I sold the one stock and if I sell the front sight I didn’t need, I might have made or spent $40 on the deal. The gun isn’t worth jack because it’s sort of a concept gun but it’s beautiful and I plan on using it for club level NRA highpower that I’ve been l’ve been playing lately.
Here it is. There’s some chips in the stock but it does really look nice. I can’t wait to see how it shoots!
The poor guy was never going to get it done and it took me 9 months of diligence to get my first rifle out of the deal. For starters, without the sight collar on the barrel, there was no way to get the handguard to stay on the gun and the wrong profile barrel, so it didn’t quite fit right in the barrel channel. It was a mess. I think every few months he would go to crossroads and buy more parts to throw at the project but didn’t have a plan to get it done. Well, last night I made a rifle out of that mess. I’ve never meet him but I hope he’s happy with it. He clearly put a lot of effort into it.
First I needed to replace the receiver and they had been hard to find. Sarco had/has reconditioned recovered receivers for $695. They seem nice but OUCH! This was a $100 project. After months of contemplating I decided to pull the trigger on the Sarco but before I clicked the payment button, I decided to give gun broker 1 last look. Jackpot! I scored these 3 receivers for $550 shipped after some negotiation with the seller and one of them was already side D&T for my 03A3 build
Hmm. I mean I only wanted 1 receiver, perhaps 2 because along the way I had accumulated a few other parts like a correct barrel (2 grove 03A3 1943 gifted to me) and had just about everything I needed to build a proper arsenal correct early 1903 also.. but what am I going to do with the 3rd receiver?
Sure they looked rough but they were complete and nothing a little rust blue couldn’t fix!
Yes. There’s 3 now….. don’t ask don’t tell my wife. This morning I showed it to her with the admonition “I know you don’t really care but I’ve been working on this one since November”. She says it looks very nice but also looks just like all the other ones. As long as she doesn’t see all 3 at once, I’m good!
One thing I struggled with was if it’s going to be a 03A3 “ish” the forged bottom metal was all wrong. I had a stamped bottom metal but I have no idea how to use a wood chisel…. Well a few videos, several hours of going very slow and a pile of walnut curls later…
I’m pretty ADHD and dealing staying focused on one gun with parts for 3 was pretty challenging. I ended up just picking out parts for this 1 build and setting everything else aside. The math on it worked out pretty good. I had to buy the 1 receiver, and propane for the rust blue but I sold the one stock and if I sell the front sight I didn’t need, I might have made or spent $40 on the deal. The gun isn’t worth jack because it’s sort of a concept gun but it’s beautiful and I plan on using it for club level NRA highpower that I’ve been l’ve been playing lately.
Here it is. There’s some chips in the stock but it does really look nice. I can’t wait to see how it shoots!
