Springfield Article - Williams Gun Sight

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March 2007
No. 230
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RIFLE
FLE
Sportiting Firear
Fi earms Jour
urnal
al
March-April 2007
Volume 39, Number 2
ISSN 0162-3593
Issue No. 230
Page 32. . .
Page 40. . .
8
32
Trigger Pull
Spotting Scope Dave Scovill
14
Style and Elegance
for a Working ’03
7mm Remington
Magnum
Chub Eastman
40
Classic
Cartridges John Haviland
16
Sheep River
Hunting
Camps
Mostly
Long Guns Brian Pearce
20
Ron Spomer
Page 14. . .
22
Weatherby
Vanguard
Guaranteed
Performance –
Right Out
of the Box
Page 66. . .
Brian Pearce
48
Custom
BPCR
They shoot
too.
Man’s Great
Escape
Straight Talk -
Anniversary
Project
Mike Venturino
58
Peep Sights
Small Game
Sporters
Facelift for
a Trio of
Varminters
Down Range Mike Venturino
Stan Trzoniec
26
Scope
Adjustments
Optics -
66
John Barsness
28
Fixing Slotted
Screw Heads
Cooper
Firearms
One-Shot
Competition
Groups Don’t
Count
Light Gunsmithing
John Haviland
Page 48. . .
4
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Rifle 230
On the cover . . .
A custom .30-06 Springfield 1903A3
built by the Williams Gun Sight Company
(www.williamsgunsight.com) features
a Wiseman barrel, Gentry three-position
safety, Timney trigger and Leupold scope.
Rifle photos courtesy of Williams Gun
Sight Company. Moose photo by
Michael H. Francis.
74
Page 58
Page 40
Page 14
German Rifles
Not Just for
Collectors
Issue No. 230
March-April 2007
John Barsness
87
90
Catalog Corner
Sportiting Firear
Fi earms Jour
urnal
al
Special Advertising
Section -
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Associate Publisher – Don Polacek
Page 74. . .
Art Director – Gerald Hudson
Production Director – Becky Pinkley
Inside Product
News -
Contributing Editors
Associate Editor – Al Miller
Clair Rees
00
100
Federal’s
“Fusion”
Ammunition
John Barsness
Ron Spomer
Brian Pearce
Stan Trzoniec
Clair Rees
Mike Venturino
Gil Sengel
Ken Waters
Advertising
Product Tests -
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Al Miller
106
06
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John Barsness
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Rifle 230
Chub Eastman
hen an anniversary of
any kind rolls around,
it is usually a time to
reflect on or celebrate
some notable happening. When that
anniversary hits the century mark,
there’s a little more attention and
appreciation for the longevity. After
all, anything that lasts that long
is worth paying attention to and
celebrating.
W
Anniversary
Style and
Elegance for
a Working ’03
32
www.riflemagazine.com
Rifle 230
For a gun loony, which is what
John Barsness calls some of us,
the year 2006 signified something
special and noteworthy. It was an
anniversary, the 100th anniversary, of probably the most used
military/civilian cartridge since
the advent of smokeless powder,
and it is still near the top of popular cartridges used today.
When Teddy Roosevelt and the
boys came home from their encounter at San Juan Hill, it became obvious to the powers at
hand that the issue rifle and cartridge used were inferior to the
newer designed Mausers they ran
up against. Consequently resources and manpower were appropriated and delegated to
come up with something to keep
our troops even with or ahead of
the rest of any potential foreign
adversaries.
The .30-06 came into being after
Uncle Sam and the designers at
Frankford Arsenal spent more
than six years and lots of tax
money to develop a new small
arms cartridge for the military.
Little did they know at the time,
they had come up with a car-
Project
tridge that would serve our
troops through two world wars,
the Korean Conflict and be ready
for issue during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It wasn’t just a new cartridge
that Uncle Sam wanted but a new
rifle and cartridge system. Almost as much time and resources
were spent developing the new
rifle to replace the Krags that
were in use at the time as in developing the cartridge. That job
went to Springfield Armory.
After a lot of trial and error, the
rifle design finally settled on was
March-April 2007
© 2007 Michael H. Francis photo
a five-shot bolt action that could
be loaded either single shot or
with a stripper clip. On the bolt
two strong locking lugs in front
and one safety lug in the rear
gave the new rifle the strength to
handle chamber pressures generated by the new cartridge. It was
so close in design to the German
Mauser, the U.S. ended up losing
a law suit for patent infringement.
The new rifle was called the
1903 Springfield. Strong, accurate and reliable, the ’03 saw
service right up to the first part
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33
Anniversary
Project
Shown is the 1903A3 Springfield anniversary rifle
before it was sent to Williams Gun Sight for an
overhaul (top) and the finished rifle (bottom).
My fascination for the ’03
Springfield started years ago
while operating a sporting goods
store in Montana. At that time
you could purchase, if you were
an NRA member, a Springfield
from the Director of Civilian
Marksmanship (DCM) for $10
plus $5 for shipping and handling.
Quite a few western Montana
hunters became NRA members
engraving but were pure working
rifles.
Enough of the Springfield conversions
went through the shop
of World War II. As a note, the ’03
that
discarded
military stocks
was the rifle that hit the beaches
were stacked in a barrel in the
of Guadalcanal with the Marines.
corner, eventually ending up as
It was during that battle the
firewood. Hindsight is a great
M1 Garand .30-06 replaced the
thing sometimes. Who would
Springfield.
have thought at the time that a
1903 or 1903A3 Springfield in
Hunters and target shooters
untouched original
were quick to pick
condition would be
up on the new ’03
The 100-year-old .30-06 is probably the
worth three times
Springfield for their
most used military/civilian cartridge since
one converted to a
use. It wasn’t long
hunting rifle?
before modified ’03
the advent of smokeless powder.
Springfields were
seen at Camp Perry setting
records. Hunters with a little ingenuity and custom gun makers
were sporterizing the rifle for
their use in the field, and it wasn’t long before all major rifle
manufacturers started chambering the .30-06.
because of this program, and I
spent a few cold winters converting them into hunting rifles for
the customers. Some were fitted
with commercial peep sights and
front sights from firms like Redfield and Lyman, but the majority
were completely overhauled with
a new high comb stock, turned
bolt handle and a low swing
safety for use with a scope. These
weren’t fancy rifles with highly
figured wood, jeweled bolts or
As any good gun
nut can appreciate, one is always
looking for an excuse to build or
acquire another rifle to convert.
It usually starts with a piece of
wood, a barrel or an action of
some sort or maybe it’s just an
idea that was planted by reading
an article of interest in any one
of the many gun magazines.
When the first of the year rolled
around, I realized there hadn’t
been a real project for awhile.
Pawing through the gun locker,
Engraving is elegant but not too
flashy for a serious hunting rifle.
34
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Details include a Dave Gentry three position
wing-type safety and the Williams Gun Sight logo
engraved on the barrel.
two glaring things were discovered. There was no .30-06 in the
gun rack (the last one had been
traded off at a gun show awhile
back) and there was no ’03 or
03A3 Springfield. I should be
ashamed of myself for not saving
at least one from all the ones
worked on in the past.
Needless to say the light bulb
clicked on. This was the .30-06’s
100th birthday. It gained its fame
when it was designed for the
1903 Springfield, and I didn’t
have either. The project had
started.
The goal was to find a 1903 or
1903A3 Springfield in good condition for a conversion to a hunting rifle. There was a moose hunt
planned in central British Columbia in October, so the idea was to
find the rifle, convert it and get it
shooting so it would be the rifle
to collect a moose for winter
meat. The project kept me going
for the rest of the year.
An 03A3 was found at a local
gun show in February that was
the perfect candidate for the anniversary project. Someone had
cut the original stock to make a
sporter out of it, but no other alterations had been done – and
the price was right.
At the SHOT Show last January,
I had stopped to see what was
new with Williams Gun Sight Co.
and saw a beautiful custom rifle
that was part of its display.
After being introduced to the
company’s new products, the
question concerning the custom
rifle on display was brought up.
Williams has always had a custom shop to service its customers; I just didn’t realize there
were such talented folks in the
back room. The craftsmanship
expended on the rifle on display
was more than exceptional.
After a lot of thought, a call was
made to Kevin Wigton, gun service supervisor at Williams, to discuss the anniversary project.
Kevin is a member of the American Custom Gun Makers Guild.
As most know, to be a member of
this elite guild, you have to be
more than just a gunsmith. Your
work must pass very demanding
scrutiny by your peers. Members
are top-of-the-line gun makers on
par with any in the world. The
more we talked, the more it became obvious Kevin and his crew
Below, the moderately figured English walnut is checkered at 24 lines per inch. Right, Leupold Gunsmith bases
hold the scope rings.
March-April 2007
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35
Kevin Wigton (above) and Rob Canze (right) performed the detail work on Chub’s rifle.
should be the ones to do the
work.
The 1903A3 Springfield that was
acquired in February was on the
way to Williams Gun Sight for
Kevin and his staff to bless
with their talents. As the project
progressed, there were many
conversations concerning every
detail imaginable from stock dimensions to the type of sling
swivels. Since the old barrel was
well worn, I contacted Bill Wiseman to obtain one of his superaccurate, .30-caliber barrels.
Instead of the old-style safety
usually used on Springfield conversions, it was decided that a
David Gentry three-position
safety and bolt shroud would be
used.
The action was surface ground
and the rear tang reshaped. The
rear of the bridge was reshaped,
and Leupold Gunsmith bases
were installed. The bolt knob
was checkered in a three-panel,
30-lines-per-inch (LPI) design
after the bolt was turned and the
internal rails were polished. A
Timney trigger set at 3 pounds
was also installed. The classic
stock designed by Kevin was
English walnut and checkered
24 LPI in his own unique ribbon
pattern.
Above, enjoyable range time was
spent finding the right load for
the moose hunt. Right, after
almost a year in the works, the
anniversary rifle achieved its
final goal in British Columbia –
without spending much time
in a saddle scabbard.
Anniversary
Project
36
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Rifle 230
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A phone call from Kevin came
in mid-August saying the Springfield was in the final stages of
completion. The last time I saw
it, it looked like the typical wellworn 1903A3 Springfield with the
stock chopped off to make it into
a hunting rifle.
The rifle arrived a couple of
weeks later. To say it was a jawdropping experience when the
case was opened would be an
understatement. Kevin and his
staff at Williams Gun Sight had
gone above and beyond what
was expected. You have to look
hard to see any resemblance to a
Springfield; the detail work and
design changes were flawless. It
was more a piece of art than a
hunting rifle.
The next project was to head
for the range and see if it shot
as good as it looked. This was
one range project that was going
to take more time than normal.
This was done on purpose, because I wanted to spend as much
time behind the buttstock as possible before heading for British
Columbia.
I had arranged a moose hunt
with good friend and outfitter
Stewart Fraser, who runs Itcha
Mountain Outfitters out of Quesnel, British Columbia. This was a
meat hunt to fill the freezer.
There are enough big moose
horns hanging on my office wall
with not much room for anymore. The rule set with Stewart
before the hunt was the horns
couldn’t be any wider than his
ears. This rule helps to ensure
tender meat and no problems
with mounted horns.
The only concern was my reluctance to slide the rifle in a saddle
scabbard and then onto the
horse for fear of putting the first
scratch on it. I think anyone who
appreciates fine work would feel
the same way.
Someone must have noticed my
concern, because on the first
day of the hunt, not a mile from
camp, a young bull was escorting
38
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Rifle 230
Manufacturers
Cochise Thumbhole
Harry Lawson
Co.
Since 1965
WILLIAMS GUN SIGHT CO.
PO Box 329
Davison MI 48423
1-800-530-9028
www.williamsgunsight.com
CUSTOM STOCKS - Finished or semi-finished
Muzzle Brakes, Custom Metalwork
CATALOG $2.00
3328 N. Richey Blvd., Dept. C, Tucson, AZ 85716 (520) 326-1117
BILL WISEMAN & CO., INC.
PO Box 3427
College Station TX 77805
DAVID GENTRY
314 N. Hoffman
Belgrade MT 59714
www.gentrycustom.com
LEUPOLD & STEVENS, INC.
PO Box 688
Beaverton OR 97075-0688
www.leupold.com
STEWART AND SABRINA FRASER
ITCHA MOUNTAIN OUTFITTERS LTD.
RR 5 Box 26, Frontier Site
Quesnel, BC Canada V2J 3H9
www.itchamtn.com
a cow and calf across a large
meadow. At 225 yards the carefully brewed Nosler 180-grain
Partition ensured a full freezer
for the winter. There was a second look, as his horns were a
little beyond his ears, but the
thought of having to put the
Springfield in a saddle scabbard
overruled any thoughts of looking further. I did accuse Stewart
of planting the bull in the meadow on the first day, so he didn’t
have to listen to my complaints
about scratches and dings.
Not too often long-range plans
work without a few stumbles
along the way, but this time all
phases of the anniversary project
came in on time. It seemed like
everyone involved wanted to acknowledge and celebrate the
100th birthday of the .30-06 on
time and in a manner better than
what was planned.
This is one Springfield that will
probably be passed on to the
next generation. There is no way
I’m going to let it get away. Too
many people spent too much
time making sure a birthday for
a century-old friend was done
with style.
•
March-April 2007
www.riflemagazine.com
39