1903A3 Stock fitting question

Hello. I obtained a 1903A3 from my uncle when he passed away. It had an original stock (straight stock) on it but also an unfinished C stock. I would really like to "finish" the C stock and mount the barreled action onto it. the problem I have is that I am not sure if he fully finished fitting the action to the stock and just never applied the finish to it. If I mount all the metal, how can I tell for sure that the stock is fitted correctly before I proceed to apply a finish to the wood? Any thoughts? I would like to do this myself if I can as opposed to sending it to the CMP or a local gunsmith that would specialize in these types of rifles (any thoughts on good local gunsmiths that work with US WW2 guns would be great too).

Thanks all.

Rick

Drop the barreled action in and see whether it binds anywhere. If it fits ok then try the barrel bands and front band with the bayonet lug. If it fits you're ok. If it doesn't you have some sanding to do. Once you know all is ok then go ahead and add the finish.

BTW - the C-stock transforms the shootability of the rifle. It's much better to shoot and more controllable than with the standard service stock. Those were real men handling those rifles back in the day.

Look at the internal in-letting of the c stock and try and determine if a barreled action has been placed and tightened into it. Compare it to the marks or wear pattern on the straight stock and gauge any similarities if they are present. Once you have had a chance to make a comparison you can work from there. The most important thing to do is avoid sanding on the exterior of the c-stock or any vintage timber to preserve it's shape and to preserve any markings if they remain. An inverted K in the cut off recess may indicate a keystone replacement, a S indicates pre ww2 manufacture. original C-stocks in any servicable condition are valuable so you must carefully consider the steps you are about to take.

Not all C-stocks are inletted for 03A3 rifles...a C-stock for an original 1903A1 rifle does not have the cut for the ring at the front of the A3 receiver. The stock for the A3 will fit both a 1903 and an A3 but not the reverse without modification.

Heres some notes,
M1903s usually are bedded so that the flat to the rear of the recoil lug and the rear of the tang are uniformly bedded in the stock and the barrel does not touch the stock EXCEPT at the fore end. There, the barrel bedding surface should be about 1” long and contact approx. the bottom 1/3 circumference of the barrel. You can test this by placing some type of marking paste on the receiver flat and tang of the receiver and then installing the barreled receiver into the stock with the guard screws. ( I use a candle black)

Since no epoxy is to be used, the rear guard screw bushing must be in place. The ends of this bushing should be flush or very slightly below the surface of the wood. Traditionally the agent to use has been Prussian Blue, but candle black can be used. While the barreled action is in the stock, use a feeler gauge to see if and where the barrel is touching. If the barrel is bottoming out on the stock when the barreled action is tightened into the stock, it will not do you any good to try and correct receiver bedding problems until this contact is cleared.

After the receiver is correctly bedded go back to the barrel with your feeler gauge, make sure the barrel is not touching except uniformly at the for-end. You can make this contact by reducing the flat to the rear of the recoil lug and the rear tang seat. (slowly and carefully) The flared part of the tang at the end should not touch the wood. The contact point between the barrel and for-end can be made completely by carefully bedding the receiver flat while maintaining full contact.

It should take 5 to 10lb. to pull the forend out of contact with the barrel. Test fire, and see what happens. Do the initial test firing without the hand guard in place.

Exceptions, some 03s prefer to have their barrels free floating,The easiest way to find out, is to go ahead and bed for forend pressure, then place a 0.02” to .03” shim under the receiver flat, this will raise the barrel out of contact with the forend. Then test fire one more, see which way gives the best results. Or make all forend contact with a shim and then remove it, to test how the free floating barrel works.

If everything works out, assemble the rifle with hand-guard making sure the barrel is not completely trapped at the front band. Adjust hand-guard using scrapers or a bedding tool to make the adjustments.

Lastly an o3a3 will need a relief cut for the hand-guard ring at the front of the receiver. Mimic the in-letting on the straight stock removing just enough wood to allow the ring to not effect the final position of the flat bedding surface of he receiver- observe the final position of the bolt root to make sure it does not begin to compress the wood underneath the handle. Carefully scrape with a razor blade to create sufficient clearance.

Some visuals that may help fitting but not all encompassing, go easy with the BFH ( left that one out, its just a rubber/rawhide mallet) just enough to get a good transfer remember the flat behind the recoil lug is a pivot/fulcrum, rear of the tang if its too high on stock bushing can give a false positive for fore-end pressure and allow the action to drive like a wedge rearward like a splitting maul or at the very least allow the receiver to rock transversely causing inconsistency. (see bushing contact area at the tang some wood compression should be evident around it and transferred to the stock). The tang is slightly relieved for this purpose. All very hard to do while allowing enough wood for compression look for a gap at the magazine receiver juncture and maintain, this is where fitting the bottom metal comes in, check recheck frequently this where in-letting screws come in to keep everything straight and finally in-letting on a keystone replacement c vs a prewar Springfield c stock. If you can get the rear guard screw through without rubbing on the bushing all the better, more the reason to plan and go slow. A good Sp. c stock without handguard in-letting is something to consider, there's no going back. Maybe someone else has additional considerations/ tips and tricks they can share, good luck and enjoy your project great fun.

Thank you all so much for the help. Looks like I have a way forward. Now just to find time to do the project! Right now, all this is on hold so I can help fight this new bill BS that the legislature is trying to ram down our throats.

thanks!