Eyeglass Peep and 1903A3

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  • Last Post 17 March 2012
onondaga posted this 14 March 2012

Today I tested at the range some new loads for My 1903A3, a peep for my eyeglasses that I made and a new 26 pound mainspring for the firing pin of the rifle.

The new spring has made the action time modern  fast but slightly increased the trigger pull.

The peep helped very much with the sight picture and sharpness of sights and target to my eyes.

The new load is the Lee CTL-312-160-2R, these are cast in Lyman #2 and sized/ checked .0025” over G to G. This is a pointy spire looking bullet.  The bullets have an all up weight of 174 grains. Brass is neck sized and the charge is 33 grains of H4895 for approximately 2140 fps.

Group is 0.773” Maximum, 5 shots at 50 yards.

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ElDorado posted this 15 March 2012

Impressive groups and good velocity, too. 

I like the aperture you built.  I bought a commercial one last year that works, but it's held in place by a suction cup that's stuck to the lens.  That clip-on that you made won't leave a smudge on your glasses.  Good idea.

I'm glad to see that rifle is turning out to be such a good shooter.

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.22-10-45 posted this 15 March 2012

Hello, onondaga. Glad to here that glass appature helped. I used to be heavy into IHMSA silhouette (handgun) back in 1970's and 80's. took a few state championships. Twenty years later & I haden't shot a handgun...Boy what a surprise I got when I could no longer see sights! tried the Merit..but one fall when weather was cold..darn thing wouldn't stick. Have since bought Ghemman clip on with multiple appature settings. I can still shoot peep sights as well as ever without any sighting aids. Nice shooting!

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onondaga posted this 15 March 2012

Here is some additional info on the Eye Loop that I used:

http://www.harborfreight.com/165x-jewelers-clip-on-eye-loupe-94364.html>http://www.harborfreight.com/165x-jewelers-clip-on-eye-loupe-94364.html

The item is only $3.99 on sale right now at Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_14882.jpg>http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image14882.jpg

Here is a laugh, the black plastic I used to make the black disk with 3/32” hole in the middle is from a container that previously had naturally unsweetened Hershey's Cocoa. I cut it with scissors and shaped with a nail file before drilling the hole.

Gary

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onondaga posted this 15 March 2012

ElDorado:

Thanks. That pointy nose bullet also shoots excellent from my .308 Win Sako rifle, but sized a little smaller. Unfortunately the pointy nose on it makes It a poor choice for hunting, but it sure groups well from every rifle I have tried it in.

I just cast up some bullets in a different mold, the Lee C-312-185-1R. These weigh in several grains heavier and have a very blunt 1R nose. Even if I hollow point them with my Forester tool, they will still be heavier than the pointy nose bullet. I got high hopes for the round nose and will report on them soon.

I hope the additional info on the aperture peep is helpful. The clip on feature should be better in cold weather instead of a suction cup. If you get one you will see that the spring compression for the aperture arm is even adjustable and can be set very firm. For $3.99 it is a steal !

Gary

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shastaboat posted this 15 March 2012

Very good shooting and groups and in a hunting vel load. I'm having my son pick me up a couple of those eye pieces at Harbor Freight. Our eyes are not getting any younger.

Because I said so!

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onondaga posted this 15 March 2012

shastaboat:

Thanks, the 03A3 has been shooting well. I got it as a backup and for one of my grandsons to use. It was an inexpensive rifle at $215.00. I will be putting a scope on it too. The peep sight on the rifle has been doing fine and better than expected with the Eyeglass Peep. Target acquisition is just too slow for hunting without a scope, so one will have to be put on for the 03A3 to really be a decent backup rifle for us. I did break down and order an arsenal replacement walnut wood upper hand guard to replace the black plastic one that came on the rifle. I also bedded the rear action lug and put a bedded brass sleeve in the hole for the rear action screw. This will firm up the action in the stock and hopefully  even squeeze more accuracy out of the rifle.

I just sized/checked some Lee C-312-185-1R cast bullets at .3112” and will load them tonight for about 2150 fps with H4895 also to see how they do at hunting velocity.  H4831 is also planned for testing. I will be at the range soon.

I have gotten heavy deposits of bullet lube and carbon on the case necks with every load tried so far. I have begun to think this is chamber neck/throat size related. It is just ugly on the brass, that is all and the gunk comes off easily, so I am not upset about it because the rifle shoots well.

Gary

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ElDorado posted this 16 March 2012

I actually looked up the Harbor Freight loupe last night after I read your post, and I noticed the sale. I stopped and picked one up on the way home today. There is quite a bit of adjustment available on this thing. It should be easy to find a place to position the aperture for comfortable shooting. Thanks for the idea.

By the way, I have a Remington 1903-A3 that I plan on developing some cast loads for this year. The moulds I have are a little bit heavier than yours, but I must say that your posts here are certainly encouraging.

Jeff

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onondaga posted this 16 March 2012

ElDorado:

I'd sure like to try some heavier bullets also. I've read so many comments that the heavier bullets shoot better.

I am on sort of a borderline of what works for me with the Lee C-312-185-1R. This round nose bullet seated to an LOA of 3.105” in the 30-06 is kissing the lands in my rifle. That LOA is also the place that 1/2 the gas check is not in the neck and open to fire.

Gas checks start behaving badly for me when they are down a little farther hanging in the fire completely exposed. They start coming off and slamming into my chronograph. I have no way of knowing if they all fly off like this or not, but I get a wider extreme spread in my velocity numbers when they start flying off and hitting the chronograph. This happens to me in all my bottle neck calibers with an alarming regularity. Sure I read that it doesn't effect other shooters and their checks don't fly. I wish I knew why, but this happens to me with both Aluminum and Copper checks regardless. I can tell you that the copper ones leave bigger dents  in the face of the chronograph too and I have replaced the label on the face 3 times to cover the dents from checks seated below the neck.

Gary

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shastaboat posted this 16 March 2012

So are your grandson's going to carry a full stocked military rifle to hunt with? Will they be shooting your cast loads? Are you crimping your gas checks? Have you thought of using a .5 gr of kapoc filler? I find that the kapoc filler increases accuracy and tends to scrub the bore at each shot. (might cut down the accumulated lube) You don't need any accuracy enhancement, for sure. Can you seat the bullets out so that the base of the bullet is in the neck? Is your bolt bent for scope mount?

Because I said so!

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onondaga posted this 16 March 2012

Brent:

The boys have curiously become fond of heavy weight rifles and they both have 10 pound  squirrel rifles. They learned shooting at the bench with my preferred heavy rifles and find that light sport rifles wave all over the place for them. Hunting they use wide slings to carry and drop to sitting or prone to shoot...like me, of course!

And yes, we only shoot cast bullets for bench and hunting.. The only jacketed ammo I have is bunker stored for emergency civilian defense. I do use filler in my .500 S&W rifle loads and my .458 Win Mag loads, The filler I use is in compressed loads with BPI Original Ballistic Filler.

The H4895 and H380 loads so far are all well over half a case full of powder so I don't really need a filler with them. However I will likely change to H4831 powder soon and this will load to near capacity volumes at hunting velocities with less pressure than H4895. Also H4350 is nearly as bulky of a slow powder and that is another option for the 30-06 with a good history.

I do crimp the gas checks with the Lee push through dies.

My bolt is bent for scope and I have a mount but prefer to get accustomed to the rifle with the peep first. The 1903A3 has passed the test. It will group less than 1 inch at 50 yards with open sights. I won't set up a scope for a rifle that won't do that well and usually will sell it then.

Currently all loads tried so far have been set to the LOA where the bullet kisses the lands. I will test seating them out farther as I have with other rifles to .020” engagement of the lands, but that is as far as I go and that will cover the gas check in the neck with the Lee CTL-312-185-1R and the diameter modified Lee C-309-170-FN.

What is so funny is both the boys play combat computer games online and both prefer the 1903A3 rifle in the games. They were both  very excited when I got the rifle. I don't think the 8.5 pound weight or the full stock would ever be an obstacle to them enjoying the rifle. They like heavy bolt rifles and shoot well with them.

Gary

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shastaboat posted this 17 March 2012

Good shooting to all of you.

Because I said so!

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