Ready for the Big Match |
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Posted: October 31 2022 at 4:20pm |
I finally got myself a 1903a3 to compliment its cousin, the M1. So I now have all “three guns” for shooting in the CMP GSM Matches, that is Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Matches. These are three separate 30 round matches, all shot at at 200 yards, 10 rounds prone slow, 10 rounds prone rapid and 10 rounds standing slow offhand.
The 03a3 needed some work. Barrel very badly fouled with a lot of copper and carbon. Underneath the fouling I found a decent 2 groove Remington barrel that gaged at 0.3010 minus. Stock had a crack that needed repair. Trigger had about 1/8 inch of creep! All has been corrected. Just waiting on the reduced diameter rear sight aperture and the USMC wide front sight blade to come in. M1 has been restocked and now shoots great. Shot a 291 with it (of 300 possible) in a practice match on the weekend.
Here’s the lineup: Can you tell I like the 1907 Sling? Something to be said for consistency… Telladega 600 annual match is in two weeks. First time I’ll be in the running for the 3 gun aggregate… |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Best of luck!
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shiloh
Senior Member Joined: January 08 2019 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 2369 |
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I`ll second that, Good luck.....
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Lead from the front; eliminate all obstacles...
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scottz63
Senior Member Joined: November 08 2021 Location: Mid Mo Status: Offline Points: 829 |
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Yes, good luck! Take your 3 beautiful warhorses to the winner's circle.
My Smith Corona 03A3. |
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14EH AIT Instructor-PATRIOT Fire Control Enhanced Operator/Maintainer
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Thanks guys.
I did a bit of dry firing tonight with the 03a3. Wow, that is going to take some work to build up some speed in the rapid fire stage. The further forward bolt handle, cock on opening, 90 degree bolt rotation and long bolt throw is so much more difficult than the LE action. No just “flicking the wrist”. It also throws my point of aim much further away than the LE while cycling the bolt. It may all just be what I’m used to, but I bet I cycle the LE bolt twice as fast as the 03. And that’s a big deal for getting thru the 80 second rapid stage. |
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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congrats - you look to have three competitors there
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Got to test fire the 1903a3, good thing, as this revealed a few more issues that needed to be corrected before the match next week.
First, the second stage trigger creep was just unworkable. Really throws my shooting off. I’ve worked it back again, careful stoning on the second stage hump on the trigger and taking some off the top of the sear. I want to see how that settles, still some creep, but it’s about half what it was. Second, the upper barrel band migrates forward on recoil. The hole in the stock for the small cross screw was way too large, not securing the band to the stock. That has now been fixed. Third, the rear sight moves forward/down from recoil. That has now been fixed. Despite the above issues at the range yesterday, the rifle is showing real promise. Here’s a prone slow fire group (200 yards). That last shot was me, trigger creep threw me off. Heres the prone rapid fire group. Just a shade too wide with the 9.8 and 9.9 shots #2 and #3. That can be improved upon as I get used to shooting the rifle. The good thing is that this rifle seems to shoot my M1 match load with the Speer 125 grain TNT bullet just fine, so I won’t have to load up ammo specific to this rifle. I tried some 168’s, and they shot well too, same POI as the 125 grain load. |
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Zed
Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 5585 |
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That's looking good!
Best of luck for the competition!
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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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That looks great. I usually put a small (q-tip schmear) of grease on the sear face, humps on the trigger & front face where it engages the sear of the cocking piece. That seems to smooth & slightly lighten pull, with minimal change to the feel on release.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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shiloh
Senior Member Joined: January 08 2019 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 2369 |
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Good shoot`n, and with an un-tuned rifle. Best of luck(skill) next week.
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Lead from the front; eliminate all obstacles...
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Yes, I first disassembled, cleaned, reassembled and greased the sear faces and humps on the trigger. Then dry fired a few dozen times.
The pull weight is good, 4 lbs (Rule Minimum is 3.5 lbs). It’s smooth, except it just has a lot of second stage creep. Not at all conducive to accurate shooting. I suspect I will have to do some additional stoning to the top edge of the sear. Have to be very careful to stop before the cocking piece has any chance of slipping off at the end of the first stage. If it does then I’ll need a new sear and start over.
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Thanks for the good luck wishes guys. Should be interesting for sure. I’m shooting five different rifles in five different matches over three days. A bit of a shooting marathon.
I’ve not shot my No. 4 since the D-Day Match! I’ve been concentrating on the AR Service Rifle matches this year, and getting my M1 restocked and shooting well. Sure hope I don’t screw up with the No. 4 after having some success last year. I missed out on the current record score in the Vintage Military Rifle Matches by one lousy point! Augh….but pleased for being at the top of the CMP score list for 2021 tho. I wished I had started this when I was MUCH younger! |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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"I suspect I will have to do some additional stoning to the bottom edge of the sear." The sear or the cocking piece?
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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The sear, this is a 1903. I should have said “upper edge of the sear” to reduce its engagement with the cocking piece.
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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i see you found one in a "C" Stock , most ive seen were in the scant - i found that less than optimum for competition , what little i did of it , i reverted to my springfield M1903A1 in lieu of the A3 , i realy liked the "C" Stock
BTW , i also had a nice 1943 smith corona version of the A3 , i did have a remington M1903 modified but it was not a shooter made in the first batch after pearl 1942
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Yes, I was particularly looking for a “C” stock, which makes it very similar to the M1. Quite comfortable to shoot, although noticeably more recoil than the M1 with the same ammo.
I was surprised how many a3s were made during the war, presumably mostly for the Marines? Were any US army units issued with the a3 in 42-45? |
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