1903 sporter project moving along

timc

Got the stock in and did a Tung oil finish, found a nice old Weaver K3 scope pretty cheap, add a little sand paper, a few hours of work and got a pretty decent looking rifle starting to emerge. I think I may do a second one just to see if I can get better at it although this one is not turning out too bad. I still need to get some medium scope rings to bring the scope down a little lower. I had these Warn rings laying around so I figured I would slap them on to get an idea of what I wanted to get. As I said before she will never be completely period correct but I still like the look much better than before.

Before pics...



After...

jaywapti

I'm not into Mil. rifles, but it looks like a hellava nice job.

Was that an original 03 stock?

JAY

timc

jaywapti wrote: »

I'm not into Mil. rifles, but it looks like a hellava nice job.

Was that an original 03 stock?

JAY

Band new stock and hand guard from Numrich. Still have a little work to do on it but it is coming out better than expected, right now I have about $675 in it counting the rifle and scope.

snake284

Well I must admit I thought you were crazy for wanting to go backwards with that old war horse. I mean it was a nice looker as a sporter. But it IS coming along quite nicely.

timc

snake284 wrote: »

Well I must admit I thought you were crazy for wanting to go backwards with that old war horse. I mean it was a nice looker as a sporter. But it IS coming along quite nicely.

Thanks, I thought I might be a little off too when I started into it and I probably am! The front sight gave me all kinds of fits and the hand guard had a lot of fitting to get it sitting right. The lower stock was perfect and needed nothing. I bought another Remington 03 that I am going to do the same thing to for a buddy of mine it even had a nice old Weaver scope on it so it will cost a little less to put together. I don't really make anything on these projects but the help me improve my gunsmithing skills a little more each time an I just love doing them.

snake284

timc wrote: »

Thanks, I thought I might be a little off too when I started into it and I probably am! The front sight gave me all kinds of fits and the hand guard had a lot of fitting to get it sitting right. The lower stock was perfect and needed nothing. I bought another Remington 03 that I am going to do the same thing to for a buddy of mine it even had a nice old Weaver scope on it so it will cost a little less to put together. I don't really make anything on these projects but the help me improve my gunsmithing skills a little more each time an I just love doing them.

Tim, the " I just love doing them." is really all that needs saying. That's more than reason enough to do them, at least it would be for me.

timc

snake284 wrote: »

Tim, the " I just love doing them." is really all that needs saying. That's more than reason enough to do them, at least it would be for me.

I am no gun smith by far but I do enjoy a nice refinish job, a little trigger or whatever needs done to make a gun shoot just a little better. I've even done some barrel threading for flash hiders with great success. I guess I would put my skill level at just good enough to be dangerous but no real knowledge. I would love to learn more and may try to get a job in a gun shop when I retire just to learn more. I do find it fascinating!

Big Chief

Looks good. have you fired it sine the Retrograde to compare accuracy?

farm boy

That has turned out real nice.

timc

Big Chief wrote: »

Looks good. have you fired it sine the Retrograde to compare accuracy?

Not yet, but I will get it out some time in the next couple of weeks. I would like together the second one done as well so I can try them both at the same time. I'm hoping accuracy has not changed.

timc

farm boy wrote: »

That has turned out real nice.

Thank you sir!

:beer:

timc

Bent the bolt this afternoon and installed a set of Weaver medium height rings. I have a set of low rings on order but don't know if I want the scope any lower, its looking pretty good where it is. Should be finished with this one pretty quickly. The other one should be here in a few days. I won't have as much to do on it since it already has a bent bolt and scope mount we are going to have some fun playing with these rifles when the weather cools down and we get back to terrorizing the pigs.

Bigslug

timc wrote: »

As I said before she will never be completely period correct but I still like the look much better than before.

Yup. Hard to work around the shiny bolt. While you're at the mercy of whoever drilled the holes, it'd be worth checking to see if the period-correct Redfield 1-piece will work.

timc

Bigslug wrote: »

Yup. Hard to work around the shiny bolt. While you're at the mercy of whoever drilled the holes, it'd be worth checking to see if the period-correct Redfield 1-piece will work.

I'm not even going to try on this one, the odds of the screws being in the right place are slim to none. This rifle is probably the one my buddy is going to want anyway and he isn't really to into if it is period correct anyway. The other rifle I am doing has the right mount on it already as well as the bent bolt so it will be much closer to right.

Antonio

Nice work! Any activity that keeps you away from the couch & TV is time and money well spent.

Weatherby

I like it Tim.... I haven't heard much about a weaver K3..... K 4's and 6's yes any rarity to them?

I want to see the range report too

timc

Antonio wrote: »

Nice work! Any activity that keeps you away from the couch & TV is time and money well spent.

Most certainly! My grandson is showing a lot of interest in helping so I think I will let him help on the next rifle with sanding and doing the tung oil finish.

timc

Weatherby wrote: »

I like it Tim.... I haven't heard much about a weaver K3..... K 4's and 6's yes any rarity to them?

I want to see the range report too

There are a few out there on ebay and gunbroker but there is not a lot out there. Hope fully I can get some range time and give a report on both rifles in the next couple weeks.

Here she is with the lower rings and bent bolt completed.

Jayhawker

Really nice work....very good seeing a hussy back in military drag...

Zee

WOW!! Quite the change! I like what you've done.

KENFU1911

Zee wrote: »

WOW!! Quite the change! I like what you've done.

Ditto....that "sporter"....was hideous...... what ya have now....much Mo Betta......Ken

2Aman

Great looking rifle. Pretty work.

timc

Jayhawker wrote: »

Really nice work....very good seeing a hussy back in military drag...

I think it looks best like she is now too.

timc

Zee wrote: »

WOW!! Quite the change! I like what you've done.

:beer:

timc

2Aman wrote: »

Great looking rifle. Pretty work.

Thank you

timc

Alrigty, Finally got the pair complete! This little project took me a while and had some unexpected bumps along the way but they are now officially ready for the range. I think I will pack up and head out there Friday to see how they shoot. One big surprise was to find that one rifle had about 1 1/4" shorter barrel which made for some intense stock modifications but it all came out fairly nice. Now if they will only shoot I will be all giggly like a school girl!

farm boy

Those both turned out awesome! I will PM you address so you can get them in the mail right away.:tooth:

timc

farm boy wrote: »

Those both turned out awesome! I will PM you address so you can get them in the mail right away.:tooth:

Hey it could happen!

BigDanS

nice!

timc

BigDanS wrote: »

nice!

I just hope they shoot as good as they look, that I will find out tomorrow!

Zee

Envy.