30-06 A3 James River / Gibbs / Rock Ridge

[BILLWARDLE]

Hi Service Rifle Shooters:

Has anyone had experience with the refurbished 30-06 A3 rifles manufactured by the companies below? Specifically, I'm looking for comments about their silhouette performance as there are already a lot of reviews of their general shooting ability.

Some links are below, the bottom two are movies of the A4 which we will not be able to use as it has a scope but they still give an idea of what I'm seeking information on.

Thanks everyone,

www.jamesriverarmory.com

www.gibbsrifle.com/1903-a3_rifles.html‎

www.rockridgegunworks.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJCZgjdfc8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcc99z8PPQw

[hermit5]

Bill,i believe Creedmore sports has an 03A3 also.With a steel butt plate,these rifles are a kicker.They are very good shooters at 200yd CMP matches and seem to do well in the 03A4 sniper matches at 300&600.

[boats]

My first Silhouette rifle was a 03 Sporter still own it and shoot it sometimes. 30/06 is best downloaded for CPT, I used 168 gr Match Kings at moderate velocity. Duplicate of the old Olympic offhand load from the 1930's about 2300 fps Rams I needed 190's to get knock down, even full power 168's left a lot standing but that may just be our Club targets. It kicks a lot compared to the 308 then 7/08 I moved too. and a lot more than the 260's guys shoot now. Far as grouping it's about as good as any new factoryt rifle. Recently re-barreled it with a fresh Arsenal 4 grove Barrel. Bench the other day it put 10 into about 8 inches on a steel Swinger at 500 meters. This with a Weaver T 10 Scope. 1 1/2 Moa was the government standard back in the day

NM style rifles no scope recently sold my built of parts 03A1 with type C Stock Redfield Sights front and rear, Nicely tuned and fresh arsenal barrel. Fellow I sold it to is getting very good groups with cast bullets. About 1 1/2 Moa at 200. Either rifle groups are real long run not best 3 shot group ignoring large ones.

Point is 03's can shoot and only take a back seat to what's being shot today in the recoil and 30 caliber bullet coefficients compared to the smaller calibers. Far as build quality it's not hard to set up 03's, if they know what they are doing the rifles ought to be fine. Get a reprint of Capt Crossmans book on 03's for anything you need to know. Fun to shoot and get a lot of style points, want to win matches might be better off with lighter caliber.



Boats

[ajj]

Boats:
Nice post. Enjoyed reading it.

[boats]

What I forgot to mention is lock time. When moving from the 03 to a Remington 700 difference in lock time was obvious. Supported positions not so much offhand very noticeable. 1930s Springfield Armory developed speed locks for match 03s

Boats

[BILLWARDLE]

Thanks for the very helpful posts. I'll keep an eye out for the speed lock and as it is an internal modification it should be permited under the service rifle class rules.

[the ex pom]

You may think that bill, but our rifles are as issued. You may want to ask our all knowing chairman before modifying a service gun.

[boats]

03 Arsenal speed locked actions are rare and valuable, not likely to show up in As issued matches. Our club is strict on as issued. My opinion rifle to have as issued is a 1917. Sight and barrels better than 03a3s. Opinion only.

Boats

[BILLWARDLE]

That would be rule 3.14.4 would'nt it ex-pom? Uhm, maybe, I'll leave mine as is.

Could not find a decent Model 1917 for love or money Boats but I agree they are a better spec'd rifle and were issued in great quantities. What I was after was a service rifle with a peep sight. I would have chossen a 6.5x55 but trying use those mauser leaf sights is a problem. I've learned from cowboy and black powder silhouette that apeture sights are the go; you can basically forget about the rear sight and put the front sight on the target.

[boats]

Our club Service Rifle non NRA rules Silhouette match rifle has to be as issued WW II or Pre no Autos . Offhand on Man shaped swingers at 300 yards. Lot of guys shoot the Swedish Mauser's low recoil & accurate I could not shoot that sight though. 1917 sight is peep and precise. A3 sight is a peep too but clicks can't be trusted unless you are lucky enough to get a good one or can tweak it your self. If your match is all one distance get the A3 sighted in it's not a bad set up. If you can get good front sight focus with a 03 barrel sight it's also a good sight. Used to be able to shoot them well, not anymore too far from my eye.

Most of these matches don't require wonderful rifles. Ours it's a big target compared to regulation Silhouette. Good trigger reliable and able to see the sight more important than ultimate precision

Boats