Quote Originally Posted by TBone550 View Post
I've got an heirloom RIA 03A3 that was sporterized by my grandfather in the years following his service in WWII. He's been gone since the late '90's, and while I was going through my safe, I pulled this rifle out to have a look and consider taking it back into the field. It's got a 20" .30-06 barrel on it that I'm almost certain is a Douglas, a Reinhart-Fajen stock with rollover comb and ebony tip, a 2-position safety, jeweled bolt, and aftermarket trigger of some type. Pretty sure it's bedded but I'm not pulling it apart to look. In short, it's a really nice rifle.

Two problems. It's wearing a period Bushnell Sportview 3-9 that I don't trust and it has a hard-as-rock red Jostam "Anti-Flinch" recoil pad. I need to fix both of these while keeping the rifle looking clean and classy.

Looking for recommendations on a good quality lightweight 2-turret 1" tube hunting scope, no illumination, objective 40mm or less with 32mm probably looking best on it, 2-7x, 3-9x or something similar. Probably from a classic maker like Leupold instead of Vortex, for example. Realistically this rifle's future use will be deer and groundhogs at 50-250 yards. Scope budget, let's say $700 or less. Half that is fine, I'm not a price snob.

The recoil pad, I'm thinking Pachmayr Decelerator because of issues I've heard with Limbsavers turning gooey over the years. I've never fitted a pad before but it sounds like if I get a belt sander and am careful, I can do that myself. Your experiences / opinions welcome.

Thanks for helping put an old rifle back in service. If some good quality pictures would help, I'll see what I can do.
Nice rifle. Several comments come to mind.

I’d clean the bore down to bare metal with Sweet’s 7.62 solvent or something similar. There’s no telling how much fouling has accumulated in there over the years and solvents now are a lot better than they once were.

30-06 ballistics have improved over the years. It earned its reputation before chronographs were common so loads were more like the 308 than what the factories claimed: 2,850-ish with a 150 and a bit north of 2,600 with a 180. Your rifle will probably shoot well with cheap factory ammo, much of which is loaded to that level. With careful handloading, the 30-06 will run almost with a 300 H&H, but I wouldn’t try that in a 1903. 55 grains of IMR 4350 and a 180-grain bullet usually runs 2,650 fps in a 24” barrel and provides all the accuracy a given 30-06 can muster. You don’t need premium bullets at that velocity and cases will last until you get tired of looking at them.

A fair amount of foreign FMJ ammo that the CMP released onto the market is still available. I’ve shot a few thousand rounds of the Greek stuff over the years, and it’s fine. Avoid the Korean. Any commercial FMJ ammo loaded for the Garand will be a hoot in a 1903. Before the pandemic weirdness, you could buy cases of it at a discount.

Try that scope before you toss it. Bushnell optics of that period were actually decent though yours may have seen some wear and tear. Older Weaver and Redfield scopes are solid, inexpensive, appropriate for that rifle, and have enough tube length to work well on it. A fixed 4x would be perfect in my book.

The 1913 Picatinny rail system is based on the Weaver rings and bases that are on your rifle. They’re strong, cheap, and they return to zero. Mounting a scope in them is a drag because the tube tends to rotate as you tighten the screws. Just start with the scope tilted a little in the opposite direction and it will line up as you crank it down. After 50 or so years, Weaver finally addressed that with these: https://www.weaveroptics.com/rings/d...s/1000239.html

Recoil pads area great place to screw up and it doesn’t take much to ruin the lines of a nice rifle. I’ve seen so many done so badly that I’ve always paid someone who understands the problem to get them right. Typical mistakes include squaring off the toe, not rounding the edges properly, and not aligning the heel with the comb, all of which you can see in picture 13 at https://www.gunbroker.com/item/885715204. You can also screw it up by leaving little flat spots so it looks like it was done by some guy with a pocket knife and a hangover, as seen in picture 21 here: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/880960132 Here’s a gorgeous rifle with a poorly executed pad: http://www.hallowellco.com/kimber_of...ica%203006.htm If it just had another 20 minutes of work by someone who understands how recoil pads should look, then it would look like this one, which I think is perfect: http://www.hallowellco.com/dakota_mo...16%20R0189.htm

Enjoy your new/old rifle.


Okie John