Drill Rifles

[BigGreen2000]

Are 1903 drill rifles safe to re-activate? Does the weld at the front receiver ring ruin the heat treat?

[Prince Humperdink]

I have "re activated" several over the last few years,and still use them. All of the ones that I received had fairly light weld on the ring,so I never worried...this being said,don't do something just because I did

[Punch The Clown]

Since there are tons of them out there and I have never heard of a failure I would have to say they are safe. Merry Christmas

[ronin]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a question about my drill rifle restoration so....
Ok, Remington receiver, NOS barrel, '42 born on date, when I go to chamber a round, the cartridge stops, as if there's an obstruction. I can pull the bolt back and the cartridge will then go home. Inspecting the chamber, I see no obstructions. The case however has a big scrape mark on the case just below the shoulder. Looks as though it's striking the mouth of the chamber or something. Thoughts?

[Punch The Clown]

Did you finish ream the chamber? Easiest way is with a pull-through reamer

[ronin]

Have to plead ignorance here, I sent the action to a gentleman in Colorado, who installed the barrel that he had. (Apparently he has a shop specializing in this work) I would have to assume he did that. A round will slide into the chamber easily, just not by the bolt. I tried with the magazine cut off in the on and off position, didn't matter. The bolt will close on a chambered round once it's in there, but it will not feed via the bolt. I'm not well versed on '03s and definitely not versed on barreling one. Is there a way for me to check that it was or was not finish reamed?

[Punch The Clown]

Sent it to Chuck in Denver aka Warpath? He does a lot of work on these rifles. I didn't see the part where you said the bolt will close on a chambered round so it seems the chamber was finish reamed. 1903's are strange as the slightest issue with the stock fit, follower or extractor will give you feeding issues. Do you have another bolt to try?

[ronin]

I forget his company name, but yes he's in Denver. Gave me a good deal on the barrel and install so I assumed he did finish ream it. I do have another stripped bolt, do I need to move the extractor etc. over to it and try it? Is there other things I should check also?
I try to do as much as I can since the whole shipping issue has turned stupid. Cost me a fortune to send an M1 to Tim for a G conversion. Hopefully I can (with your help?) diagnose this thing and get it running without having to send it off again!
Thanks so much for the help!
Chris

[ronin]

Just to clarify, don't know if this is an extractor issue or not, but when you feed a round from the magazine, the round jams in the chamber, at about the shoulder, so am I correct the extractor may not be holding the round in alignment with the chamber? If so, is this an indication of a worn extractor? I though the parts kit I bought was NOS but of course I don't know if that's true or not. I suppose there are new extractors out there? It just makes sense to me that since this is controlled feeding, an off extractor wouldn't hold the round in alignment with the chamber. Of course, only two sexes makes sense to me but what do I know....

[Punch The Clown]

It is a pretty complicated system believe it or not. You are correct that It's a controlled feed as opposed to a push feed. Difference being that the rim of the cartridge has to slide under the extractor when stripping from the magazine. If any part of the workings is off it won't feed. If all the parts look good the easiest way is obviously throwing new parts at it starting with the extractor.

[ronin]

Yeah that was going to be my plan, start buying replacement parts for what seems the most obvious, then go into the minutia. I'll try the extractor first. I'll keep you posted, if I may, and get your feedback as this progresses. Thanks Punch!