1903A3 feed and eject issues

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119er

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I have fired about 400 rounds or so through this rifle mostly trouble free. The majority of that was de-linked non-corrosive Korean surplus. During the last 30 or so rounds it began leaving the empty in the action although it would pop free of the extractor. The more briskly I operated it the more it happened. Too slow and the same. The ejector is there and looks fine but it flops around. I think that is the way it is supposed to be but can't remember if it had spring tension before.
Also, most of the time the bolt will override the cartridge and fail to feed. That may be a sticking or obstructed follower which should be easy to fix.

Sound familiar to anyone?
 
I sounds as though the ejector might be broken. While that is a remote possibility, it kind of makes sense, as it is not spring loaded and is activated by the rearward travel of the bolt. Also a remote possibility is the ejector pivot may have broken or fallen out.

It is easy to check; with the bolt pulled back, see if the ejector sticks out far enough to contact the head of the case. If it doesn't then you will need to find out why. The failure to feed issue is usually a magazine spring or debris in the magazine causing the follower to not be pushed up far enough.

Both of your issues are rather rare in the 03-A3.
 
Along with the ejector, check and make sure that the magazine cutoff is in the right position. What you described sounds like what my 1903 does when the magazine cutoff is in the 'OFF'/down position. It won't eject the empties, but just lays them there in front of the open bolt.

Matt
 
What you described sounds like what my 1903 does when the magazine cutoff is in the 'OFF'/down position.
In fact, the symptoms described exactly match having the magazine cutoff in the OFF position. Weak ejection because the bolt doesn't come back far enough, and failure to feed because the rifle is designed NOT to feed when the magazine cutoff is OFF.
 
Everything looks fine and seems to be operating normally. I always shoot it with the magazine "on" where it locks the bolt when empty. If it was "off" it would never feed from the mag.

The rifle is a build purchased through AIM Surplus. I have put it into a Minelli "C" stock. The rifle has been working fine though. I'll have to look closer.
 
It's probably a Gibb's Rifle. You might call them and see what they say.
Is your surplus ammo clean? It might be worth the time to tumble it.
I have some of that ammo and it was gritty and sticky when I got it.
 
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