1903A4 restoration and range report

tahunua001

New member
hello all, I decided since my problems with the A4 restoration has been addressed that I would just go ahead and start a new thread to address the final stages of the build. the stock is still on the way, it's coming from the netherlands so shipping is going to take a while. but today I took her to the range for the first time since I got optics mounted.

at first it seemed like a rocky start. I got to the range and let me start by saying that contrary to popular belief due to our proximity canada, Northern Idaho gets REALLY HOT, it was 105 by the time I got to the range with my little brother and the mirages played havoc with my eyes for a while. my very first shot at 100 yards was an inch right and 4 inches high, but the rest were fairly inline but ranged from 2-4 inches high, after looking at the head stamps I realized that I might have been better off grabbing my hunting ammo instead of my surplus because I realized the difference in height also correlated to the dates on the ammo, the 1942(DEN) ammo tended to hit much lower than the lake city 67 stuff. once I figured that out I decided to take a few pot shots at a set of oxygen tanks at 200 yards and was hitting them with boring precision.

THEN: I did something I never do, I decided to bypass my usual max range of 300 yards and decided to try my hand at the 500 meter gong my range has set up, it took a few shots to figure out the holdover(my scope choice just has standard crosshairs) but once I did....lets just say I was grinning every time I squeezed that trigger:D the little brother wasn't quite that good and had to limit himself to the 200 yard tanks and at the end of the day he made a point of making it perfectly clear that he still preferred his Long Branch Enfield to my springfield but it did little to dampen my spirits. I have now moved my maximum confirmed kill shot from 300 yards to 500 meters and that is more than enough accuracy for me.
PS, I'll post pics here when I get the C stock on her.
 
yeah I don't know why they went with yards all the way until the final gong which they set at meters but like I said, my first deer was a desperation shot on the last day of hunting season at 300 yards but I usually keep inside 200 yards for plinking so 500 anything is good shooting for me.
 
I clean usually clean my milsurp rifles shortly after firing just for that reason, most of my plinking ammo is surplus that I took for a song so I'm sure most of it is corrosive.

EDIT: pics are in this thread near the bottom of the first page.
 
Thats one thing I love about Bolt Action Rifles, if you shoot corrosive ammo they are extreemly easy to clean.
Ive got an O3 A3 myself, and its got to be the most naturaly accurate Rifle Ive ever had. I shoot my Yugo Mauser more, but my O3 A3 is more accurate.
 
so far this is the most accurate of my milsurps. my weatherby vanguard and remington 700 are both more accurate but for milsurps this one takes the crown for most accurate followed by my savage no4MK1* and my springfield 1903 in a very distant 3rd.
 
Tahun

I believe your using a Redfield Revoloution on your A3, How do you like it ?
I put a Redfield Revoloution 2x7x33 on my Daughters Savage Springfield 840 30 30 and I love it. Its ever bit as clear as the Leupold VX2 on my Ruger M77.
I think they are excelent scopes for the money.
 
it's got great sight picture, definitely holds zero the eye relief is comparable to any of my Nikon Prostaffs(maybe a little better). for a $150 it is well worth the money.
 
Haunt the sales sights for secondhand scopes.
Leupold made a repro Alaskan for a short time but dropped it for lack of sales of a small tube fixed power scope in an age of monster variables.
It would have better coatings and sealant than the real Lyman Alaskans used on late A4s. And a centered reticle, too.
 
C stock arrived.

hello all. the replacement stock arrived today! it is a semi-blank walnut stock with matching handguard so at least I don't have to worry about mismatched wood but I do have questions. supposedly this stock was shipped to Europe to be used by the french forces but I have no way of substantiating this. there are no cartouches or inspectors proofs on it.

is this normal for an unissued stock or did I just spend my hard earned dollars on a repro?

also I don't know what it's called but the hinged bar that holds the lower band inplace is missing, how would I go about removing the existing one from my straight stock and adding it to this stock?
 
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