I'm restocking/restoring a 1930-vintage '03 NRA Sporter that had been butchered into a civilian sporter early in it's life.

My question is about bedding such a rifle with a barrel band with mounted sling swivel. The originals were hand-bedded without any kind of bedding compound, but as this rifle will be a serious shooter, I intend to use a Steelbed/Acraglass gel combination with the Steelbed in the high-stress areas.

I've done dozens of M14's, M1A's, M1's, and a few commercial bolt guns but never an '03 or a banded rifle.

My initial plan is to bed the barrel full-length, and form two small (3/8 X 1/4 X 1/16 high or so) pressure points beneath the bbl directly under the band - kinda like the Anschutz and other small-bore target rifles use.

And I'm thinking about using aluminum pilars beneath the guard screws/recoil lug.

I've also talked to smiths who taper '03 recoil lugs but I'm not planning to do that.

I'd appreciate y'all's thoughts on this...



[ 03-06-2003, 07:05: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

Nice find!

My thought is that if you are going for an authentic reproduction stock, use close inletting and no bedding.

Steelbed is heavy. It may have a place on a NM M14 or the like but this is .22 RF

Are you going to carve that blank by hand or are you going to send it off to a duplicator???

I hope you'll post pics of your progress...

Welcome aboard!

Thanx, but it's a .30 Cal that I'll use 190gr bullets in - it'll need the bedding.

And I prefer to shape stocks by hand.

[ 03-06-2003, 10:17: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

Bob---

Your post are confusing....that's a 1903 Springfield, not a M-1922.

Buy a C stock for it and shoot it. You DON'T need pillars, glass or other crap on an '03.

Be SURE that's NOT a low number '03. There's been quite a few showing up lately.

Bob: Love your old turning saws and planes etc. I have my great grandfathers and grand fathers tools which date from the 1850's to early 1900's.
They were both master craftsmen (coaches and carriages, cabinets, inlays, carvings, fine furniture, etc.) as well as master carpenters. They both apprenticed in Scotland and built all their own planes including moulding planes and saw frames as part of their apprenticeship. They built them well as I still use most of them in my shop. Most of the planes have hornbeam wearing surfaces and they only appear to have gotten slicker with age.
There are about 40 different planes to the lot. They also passed down a number of spoke shaves and draw knives, a pile of chisels.
I am able to go to Vancouver and look at specialty work they installed in several of the older hotels and business centers 75 years ago. It's remarkable work done in a variety of decorative hardwoods.
Thanks for the picture.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

The NRA Sporters were '03's put together by Springfield Armory in the '20's and '30's using the 1922 small-bore stock, barrel band and Lyman48C sight. They turned special "star-gaged" .30 Cal bbls for them using the small-bore contours so they would fit the small-bore stocks.

This is a sporter action from 1930 (high-number) with the rounded receiver ring machined to fit the sporter bbl and the holes for the 48C sight. It has an incorrect replacement bbl and needs a new stock. I have a correct 1938 bbl under negotiation right now.

Here's a complete one from 1927 for sale on AuctionArms right now:



[ 03-07-2003, 01:00: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

Thanks, Stocker.

The tools are about 40pct heirloom - my three childless Uncles were boatbuilders and homebuilders, under whom I apprenticed - 20pct shop made, and 40pct purchased.

They all still work hard every day, many are pre-Civil War.

But there's also a shotgun barrel hone set, pull-thru chambering reamer set, and my all-purpose 0000 steel wool wrapped on a 10ga brush chucked in a cleaning rod/elec drill in that photo.

Bob,
I believe you will have a fine NRA styled sporter when done, even the buttplate and barrel band look right. Your first pic looks much like the contents of a box under my bench. I have everything so far but wood and time. The barrel won't be "right" as it's a new Douglas contoured just a tad heavier than the std. 03 contour, a M1922 contour maybe? (that's a subtle hint that maybe you could post some dimensions of your barrel). You need to check out this month's issue of "Precision Shooting". Fred Barker wrote an article titled "New Life For A Springfield Sporter of 1926". It's not particularily technical but a good read anyway. If you don't have a copy contact me at Antietamgw@aol.com .Nice Tools!

Seems my last reply didn't address anything you asked about... Regarding the bedding, I like MarineTek and typically bed from mag well to chamber and under rear tang with full contact. I'm sure your inletting will be such that there is no need for bedding compound to show. I use a pillar on the rear and no contact between bottom of recoil lug and bottom metal. The front, sides of the recoil lug have .010 clearance by using card stock glued in place while bedding. I use .020 clearance on the bottom of the lug. I'd fit the barrel band to the stock snugly and allow clearance between the band and barrel. You can always bed the barrel full length if you like but I wonder if tight sling pressure and bedding points near the band might not cause some change in forend pressure. Easy enough to try it and see and then scrape some clearance to float the barrel if it causes trouble.

Thanks for the reply, like I said, I've never tried a pillar, but I believe I will on this one in the rear.

Looks like I'll have the correct barrel here in a few days, so I won't have to use the one that's currently mounted.

I used to use Marine-Tex almost exclusively on Service Rifles, but I don't like the color (even on the inside)of a fine sporter. And the newer Acraglass compounds are excellent.

I'll take your advice and full-bed the barrel with some clearance under the band, for starters. But I insist on bedding - we already have a fine .308 for light-medium game. This '06 will be loaded heavier, depending on what fodder it likes.

I'll post a photo and target when complete.

Thanks again, all,

Bob

If you're planning on all this bedding we're discussing, then your use of the word "restoration" is more than slightly incorrect.

To borrow your word, you're planning a "butcher" job of your own. The only difference is, yours will be internal, rather than external.

Restoration is what it is: returning something to its ORIGINAL condition, in all respects. I know pillars and glass are the flavors du jour (I've succumbed to the temptation, myself). But, most rifles, and especially this one, don't need all this "crap," as so poetically stated by Jack above.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

RSY

p.s. Kudos on your correct spelling of "y'all." I don't often see that, even aong my fellow Texans.

Having done some preservation work for museums in the past, I understand and appreciate the sentiment.

But it ain't like I'm wrecking an original stock.

This rifle will be a shooter used by a former serious Hi-Power competitor/coach - 2.5-3 MOA isn't good enuf.

So butchery is a matter of opinion. My reference is to craftmanship.

Fair enough.

I do agree with you regarding "craftsmanship." If I'm not mistaken, that's how they used to make a "shooter" before glass and pillars were around.

RSY

A lot of my experience is with 1000yd match rifles.

190gr and heavier beats the wood up pretty bad - many of the teams would literally rebed them every season - which is a pain in the butt as you lose an entire season's scorebook data on your zero's. And that's with glass.

In pre-WWII days, I'm told the serious competition guns were restocked regularly - for the same reason - CMP did a heavy business in stocks and bbls back then supporting competitors.

It's not a question of whether the inletting can be done to the 1930 standard, it's a question of how long that "bedding" will last. I get 5000rds out of most barrels - 8000rds out of a Krieger - the bedding needs to last that long, and be consistent in the humidity fluctuations of the Olympic Peninsula, where rain ranges from 25"/yr (rainshadow) to 200"/yr on the coast.

Roosevelt Elk deserve to be humanely hit where I aim, regardless of weather. And God gave us these magnificent classics to be used, and used well. If my '53 Dodge FourBy runs better on today's roads with 4.88 ring gears than the original 5.88, then I can make the truck look right and still be effective.

And I learned how to spell "y'all" at Clemson A&M nearly 4 decades ago.

[ 03-09-2003, 02:57: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]