How many 1903 lovers out there?

[MountainBear]

Any of my fellow aficionados out there have a Lyman 48S 03a3 sitting around unused and unloved?

Went to work on a project today and realized my 48S had the wrong base...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Hey Bear, any chance you could post a photo of what your after, I May ( Maybe, Maybe not) might have one!
And I'm also looking for a 03 Rear sight assembly, so we might have some tradin!

 

[MountainBear]

This is the horse...

 

[Ura-Ki]

This is the horse...

View attachment 510570

Negative!
Mine is a Winchester Mod 54 pattern!
Sorry Brother!

 

[MountainBear]

This is what I have. Note the top of the scallop on the base. The rear ring of the 03a3 comes further over than the 1903. I can alter the 48s I have, but I'd rather save that until I need one for a 1903...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Mine has a squared off base and stops short up top and it's the wrong side! Doesn't fit a 1903 or a Mauser 98, so it's no use to me! And it's too tight a radius for a Remington 721/722/700 and such.
Haven't checked to see if it fits a Mod 70 or Ruger round side ether!

 

[Mikej]

If you ever get south @Mikej, you are welcome to fondle and shoot any of the ones in my collection. Some are original, some are arsenal rebuilt, many are arsenal rebuilt by me, and some are reimagined and put together versions of guns that may or may not have existed as experimental guns...

I should be able to give you a general idea of what to look for, where markings should be, what markings should be there, and how much you should look to spend.

South to where? I seem to remember you had a shop, but were forced to close? That's a great offer. I'd like that sometime. A member I'd done some biz with and was full of info and super nice, invited me to his house to see and fondle a couple Swede's and a couple Mosin's, that I'd also been looking at. I wasn't really sure which one, or if, I was going to buy. So now I'm into the early rifles from WWI-II. As original as possible. Some dings and some scratches are part of the allure. A good bore is the important thing.

 

[Ura-Ki]

South to where? I seem to remember you had a shop, but were forced to close? That's a great offer. I'd like that sometime. A member I'd done some biz with and was full of info and super nice, invited me to his house to see and fondle a couple Swede's and a couple Mosin's, that I'd also been looking at. I wasn't really sure which one, or if, I was going to buy. So now I'm into the early rifles from WWI-II. As original as possible. Some dings and some scratches are part of the allure. A good bore is the important thing.

A visit to the Bear is a must, his knowledge is vast and he's a cool Bear too!
Bring Root Bear and plan several hours!

 

[MountainBear]

Sweet Home. Shop is closed, but the gun room at the house has comfy chairs, lots of reference materials on the book shelves, tools in the shop, and there's usually a refrigerator full of Diet Coke nearby.

And Albany Rifle and Pistol club is a quick 35 minute drive when things need shooting...

 

[MountainBear]

Does your Lyman sight have a number and suffix on top @Ura-Ki?

 

[Ura-Ki]

Does your Lyman sight have a number and suffix on top @Ura-Ki?

#48-WJS-3

 

[MountainBear]

Here's directly from the good book (the Stroebel sight book, that is)...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Wonder what the dash 3 means?
I Have a Mod-70, might put it on that one!

 

[MountainBear]

Probably third variation. There were three or four variations on the bases...

 

[MountainBear]

Got bored and needed to tinker with something today. And after the disappointment of not having the right Lyman 48s 03a3 sight in my parts bin, I moved on to this one.

It has a 20" barrel and had an original rear sight, which do not have the best adjustment. So I dug around until I found a Redfield 70/80 series laying around and screwed it on. Even with hunter knobs, it ought to work well.

This means I will likely need to get out a chunk of ebony (or more likely, African Blackwood) for the tip, a steel or blackwood grip cap, and a red recoil pad to get rid of all the white line spacers on this old Fajen. The tiger stripe in the stock is spectacular, but the grain flow doesn't flow through the wrist well. I will bed it and relieve the necessary parts then hope to hell it doesn't split.

It's possible I can get this done before the end of this deer season...

 

[Ura-Ki]

That is one beautiful Rifle!

 

[MountainBear]

I removed the white lines this morning. Need to order more acraglas to finish putting the tip and cap on. The holes for the reinforcing screws are in, the all-thread pegs are cut, I just need to glass it all together.

Haven't decided to give it a steel cap or a wood grip cap yet. Steel ones are getting expensive. Still need to get another red pad. Once I can get the parts ordered, I will be done quick.

Progress pictures later...

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Steel caps are very nice...but I like the notion of matching a grip cap with the nose cap.
A similar idea to the very general rule when building a "Kentucky Rifle" of "The rule of Three"

The rule of Three is , three things of the same as embellishment...such as :
A brass butt plate , a brass trigger guard and a brass nose cap....or...
A silver inlay on the cheek piece , on the wrist and silver front sight....
Again this is more of a general notion , rather than a hard and fast rule....
Andy

 

[MountainBear]

African Blackwood it is!

If I was a more talented woodworker, I would buy a skeletonized grip cap and set it over an inlay of African Blackwood.

 

[Ura-Ki]

It's harder with a Rifle like this, a Recoil pad sort of messes things up, so the grip and nose cap don't match no matter what you do!
I tried a polished nose cap with matching grip and steel butt on a bolt action one time, they didn't look bad polished but were pretty gawdy, so I color case hardened them and they looked much better, but I ended up with a polished piece of german silver between all three pieces to give it that extra bit of "POP", combined with a polished bolt body, really looked nice! Should have kept that one!