War relic picked up at gun show

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Oh ... OK, in the words of Emily Litella, "never mind". :) Shooting in miserable circumstances is not high on (or even on) my Fun To Do List, either.

I like to get the milsurp (especially) bore cleaned down to steel, too. Not only do I like being able to assess its condition by visually inspecting it, I also very much like knowing that any crap in there was put there me and not some mystery crap deposited by a former owner. ;)

Hmmm... I guess a "Battle of the Bulge" match is out... I recall, 10-15 years back, seeing threads come up about those all the time, but I don't know that they're that big a deal now. From what I recall the vets saying about the real thing, if somebody under 40 said "we held a match in memory", the vets probably said "you did what?".

From what I get, these old bores can be cleaned as far as powder and bullet fouling, but with plenty of rifles you'll never see a clean patch... they'll always stain. I've heard of plenty you shoot-clean-shoot-clean and so on because the old fouling literally has to be shaken, or rather blasted loose.
 
I've never seen the kind of results with any other cleaning system to compare with using Bore Tech Eliminator, coated rod, nylon brushes and proof positive patch pullers and jags. Best this 67 year old USMC veteran lifelong shooter has ever used. Might be worth a try.

When cleaning using Eliminator, I start the rod with a patch puller in the breech, put it about 2" from the muzzle and put some eliminator in the bore, just enough to wet the patch. Run it up and down the bore a few times and then let it sit muzzle down for a few minutes. Run a couple of clean patches next. Then do the same thing with the nylon brush and more clean patches. Repeat until you get clean patches that suit you. Wet the bore one more time and clean with patches and jag. Repeat until you are happy. It doesn't take many repetitions for me to get happy. I finally run one patch using the patch puller that has a light dose of CLP.
 
I am making progress with the old lady. I have been using CLP and JB. My Kroil arrives via Amazon on Sunday. There is no Kroil available in my town so that was the cheapest route to take. Boattail, I will follow your suggestions if Kroil does not finish the job.
The o3' is slowly succumbing to me and I won't give up easily. Thank you all for your suggestions.
 
The 1903 brought back from WW1 by my wife's grandfather, then Butchered by whoever.... (nobody really wants it), is now in our home.

Who Butchered it...we have no info, and the mismatched bolt could indicate a gun which is unsafe to shoot. Somebody even ruined the front sight etc.
*I'm aware that sometimes the "sporterizing" is done because of some previous damage, sometimes the result of an accident, or ignorant "home improvement".

total recoil: Very cool gun you have which wasn't neglected, disrespected .....etc.
 
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We and others of my age can remember the utter cheap values placed on these fine pieces (rifles) of history... it's a shame. I also suffered from the delusion when I was young.
In my youth I had no respect for the rifles that won our freedom. I did have lots of respect for those who fought for me and my family and country.
Now, I connect with those of the past who fought for my country and connect with the arms that they used whenever I come in contact with them. When I contact these old arms, I feel a comradeship with the old soldiers that once served.

I was never shot at during my stay in the military. Nobody tried to kill me. I was lucky. My friendship with the older guys at the American Legion is a privilege and now gives me a sense of guilt that I never had to live their harsh circumstances.
Semper Fi from the Navy!
 
My love of history and guns is what got me into collecting surplus weapons.
My love of working with wood got me into doing stock repairs.
When I combine these hobbies together they bring me much joy.
Here’s a 1903 that I found at a pawn shop a few years ago.
F12C2EAB-EE0B-44BD-A851-5EC4E8D0CEF3.jpeg


With a little time and care it looks like this now.
430EF461-2323-4709-98BB-D83E373762A7.jpeg

I love the history that these guns are part of , but I do not wish to feel what the men that used them felt. My sig. line will tell you why.
 
I took the gun to the range and fired 5 M22 training cartridges and 5 std. rounds at short range (25 foot) The gun shoots 5" high at that close range. Windage was almost perfect. Back to the house to resume the cleaning.
After all these days of cleaning I still failed to get the patches cleaner than gray. I even bought the Felt cylinder pads and used Kroil and JB bore scrub on the gun.
You old vets with more experience than I were right. The gun can't be "clean metal" clean. I concede, give up, surrencer, and fail!
The training cartridges were lots of fun and the report is suppressed for a 3006. Absolutely no recoil!
 
The gun shoots 5" high at that close range.
It's been at least 65 years since I've shot an '03. Were you using the peep sight? IIRC, it shoots high at lowest setting w/peep. If you can see it :cool: (I can't), try the open sight. If that fails and you can't find a taller front sight, you can always build up the old one. I used JB weld to get my M1 Carbine down to 100 yd. zero rather than weld on front sight.

Regards,
hps
 
HPS1 I'm shootin' over the open iron sight at it's lowest. The front sight looks like factory height. My 76 year old eyes can see this sight just fine. I have a feeling the zero will be closer at 100 yards. We'll see about that.
I'm gonna' blow off a lot of ammo from my bunker storage , then put the rifle on the wall, in my collection.
After a final cleaning I will run a greasy patch thru it for long term storage.
I had some alcohol based stain left over from my M1 work to try on this gun and it worked fine.
Thanks to the GunnyUSMC I have matched the replacement upper hand-guard with the lower stock and it looks like a million dollars.
 
If the sights are way off at rifle ranges, a chap named Bill Bentz makes 03 and A3 front sight blades in various heights. Look him up on the CMP board.
 
If you look at my first picture, the upper hand guard being a different color and age (replacement) stands out like a sore thumb only not as red.
I removed it and gave it a treatment, or several really with a somewhat diluted "Gunny's" formula alcohol based stain. It looks like it belongs to the gun now.
After03.jpg
 
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