In 1965 a friend introduced me to hunting and shooting with a bolt action rifle.
He had an old 1903 Springfield Bolt gun that went thru a house fire. It was taken to Dudes Gun Shop in Roseburg OR and sporterized. The barrel was shortened to 22", a new stock, bolt turned down, and the barrel floated, and a Redfield 4x scope mounted. This gun would shoot 5/8' five shot groups all day, and would consistantly. The barrel was bright with no pits but was smooth and shiny with a lot of the riflings wore. He said that it had thousands of rounds thru it.
This guy was an excellant Rifleman. I never saw him miss, even at a trotting buck at about 450 yds. This was not common in those days. When ever he shot, he really took his time.
Iv'e tried for 40 years to duplicate his success but have fallen short. Iv'e had about 10 Sporterized Spfgs. and the best I can do is 1 1/4" for 5 shots of of the bench, but most are 1 3/4". He used handloads and taught me how to do it. Iv'e had the best results using 168-180 gr. bullets. I've tried many powders, but 4895 seems to give the best results in all guns. I know that I can get better rifles these days, but I am still wanting to do this with a similar gun. Two years ago I bought a nice 03A3 with a tight chamber { will chamber factory rounds, but not ant out of a new Savage]. The gun is glass bedded, has a really good looking barrel, and a Lyman 4x scope with a Lee Dot.
Iv'e had it for a couple of years and have not shot it yet. But the bug is bitting me to accomplish this goal. I have another 1903 sporter witha 20" barrel and quite a bit of wear in the barrel. Iv'e shot it a few times and it's just over an " at 65 yds for 5 shots. Three were about the size of a nickel, so maybe it will do what I want if I put some effort into it.
Your thoughts? Thanks for any help. Eagle
He had an old 1903 Springfield Bolt gun that went thru a house fire. It was taken to Dudes Gun Shop in Roseburg OR and sporterized. The barrel was shortened to 22", a new stock, bolt turned down, and the barrel floated, and a Redfield 4x scope mounted. This gun would shoot 5/8' five shot groups all day, and would consistantly. The barrel was bright with no pits but was smooth and shiny with a lot of the riflings wore. He said that it had thousands of rounds thru it.
This guy was an excellant Rifleman. I never saw him miss, even at a trotting buck at about 450 yds. This was not common in those days. When ever he shot, he really took his time.
Iv'e tried for 40 years to duplicate his success but have fallen short. Iv'e had about 10 Sporterized Spfgs. and the best I can do is 1 1/4" for 5 shots of of the bench, but most are 1 3/4". He used handloads and taught me how to do it. Iv'e had the best results using 168-180 gr. bullets. I've tried many powders, but 4895 seems to give the best results in all guns. I know that I can get better rifles these days, but I am still wanting to do this with a similar gun. Two years ago I bought a nice 03A3 with a tight chamber { will chamber factory rounds, but not ant out of a new Savage]. The gun is glass bedded, has a really good looking barrel, and a Lyman 4x scope with a Lee Dot.
Iv'e had it for a couple of years and have not shot it yet. But the bug is bitting me to accomplish this goal. I have another 1903 sporter witha 20" barrel and quite a bit of wear in the barrel. Iv'e shot it a few times and it's just over an " at 65 yds for 5 shots. Three were about the size of a nickel, so maybe it will do what I want if I put some effort into it.
Your thoughts? Thanks for any help. Eagle