03A3 to 03A4rgery - Anybody cut the A4 Bolt Notch in their A3 Reciever??

[jgaynor]

The following lnk will take the viewer to a series of recent CMP auctions of A4's and A4 receivers. The descriptions have good close up pictures and the entire s/n range of a4's is covered

http://cmpauction.odcmp.com/search.a...w=&show=closed

I agree all authentic A4's recieivers have the relief cut for the bolt handle root.

Regards,
Jim

[Dan in NY]

Here's #34235xx. Has the bolt cut.., as does my 4,99 mil A4.

great link above, Jim...very informative..

[chuckindenver]

A5 is right. notching the action is not needed if your using a real A4 bolt..if your using a sporter bolt? all bets are off

[Col. Colt]

While it may (or may not) be generally true that "most" A4 bolts work in "most" 03 Actions without the cut, my friends A4 bolt (from a REAL A4) would not completely close in my unmodifided A3 action without the bolt root cut, even with a genuine, US GI A4 cut stock installed.

And with Remington, by 1943 only doing "Essential Operations" to the 03 and 03A3 to speed up and cheapen production (no lightning cuts on the rear sight base of a Remington 03, for example) why on earth would they add an additional, unnecessary cut to the reciever that they did NOT have to?? Not only do they do the cut for the bolt root, they had to finish the edge of the reciever with a curved corner. If making the bolt correctly completely solved this problem, how come Remington set up to do this cut on three different runs of rifles? If it wasn't needed, why was it done? CC

[Randy A]

Col.
Good question, but I for one have installed an original A4 bolt in a few A3's and they do clear without the cut (no, I didn't leave them there). So I got out the calipers and discovered (I have quite a selection of bolts) that the A4 bolts have a longer root than any other 1903 series bolt handle (the distance from the body to the corner of the bend). With the exception of one A3 bolt handle type which I strongly suspect is the bolt type used to make A4 bolts. I believe, on my A4 it would clear without the cut I can only speculate that there was the one or two (like the one you ran into) exceptions that mandated the cut.

[Jim In Oklahom]

My '03A4, No. 49922xx, received from the DCM in 1964, has a 1/16 inch deep cut in the receiver to give clearance for the bolt.

[Randy A]

Any original A4 I've ever seen has them!

[Col. Colt]

OK, guys - upon further research, it appears we did not answer the most important question. Doing the final assembly of my 03A4gry, after getting my real 03A4 bolt back from Chuckindenver for parkerizing, I noticed the bolt does not seem to close all the way.

In every single standard 1903 non-scoped Action I know of, the safety lug is all the way down on the reciever rail when you close the bolt. Period. It is resting ON the rail, touching firmly. When I install my real 03A4 bolt in my standard 03A3 reciever, even with a light bevel like the photos, if not quite as deep, the safety lug does NOT and CANNOT touch the rail, indeed, the bolt appears to be a few degrees from truely "locked". Is this safe? Or does it matter? I want my "03A4gry" to be mechanically the same as a real one. And safe.

The question I should have asked last November - Those of you with REAL 03A4s - does the safety lug rest on the Right side rail, touching it - or is it held above it a sixteenth or two? What is the width of the remaining rail to the edge of the bolt cut in the reciever? I am trying to figure out how deep I might have to cut the reciever bolt root cut to get the safety lug onto the rail. Thanks in advance. CC

[Cecil]

I'm not sure what's going on with your rifle but over the years I have assembled 3 wanna be A4's. I used USGI parts to assemble all 3 including original stocks. Each one was a drop in with no modification. Each one was built on a previously drilled and tapped receiver.

[Col. Colt]

Mine iis also all GI parts, to include the stock. Built on an 03A3 that was already drilled and tapped for the Redfield Jr. Mount. Just like yours.

The question is - and I think this can only go to owners of verified, for sure real 03A4s with their original bolts - does a Normal 03A4 bolt safety lug rest on the right reciever rail - assuming no stock interference? Or is it a sixteenth or two above it?

What I'm trying to say is that the "conventional wisdom" seems to be WRONG here. Conventional wisdom as firmly told to me is that the bolt root clearance cut done to EVERY 03A4 during WWII was done just for fun, Remington had lots of extra milling machines, cutters and workers during WWII and lots of time to do machining that was Totally Unnecessary. That means that my stock, 4.1M 03A3 Action must have something special about it. Or my verified original 03A4 Bolt is also somehow "different" than the other forged 03A4 bolts made on the same tooling. Because my safety lug is being held off the rail by the 03A4 bolt handle root contacting the reciever.

I'm sure that the gun will fire, and I doubt if it is hazardous. But is it RIGHT? I like bolts completely locked, myself.

Please, someone with a Real 03A4 - answer the question. Better yet, those of you with a verified "real 03A4" Bolt, try it in a standard 03A3 and let me know if it closes to the rail. CC