I got a Navy Arms 1903A3 action, have trued it up, tapped for scope base, and now I'm working on the safety. I have seen a few after market jobs, but no one seems overly impressed with them, besides, it seems that it's impossible to get the long, low-profile safety so popular years ago.
So, I marched my happy butt into the shop this evening to see what I could do...
The safety on the 1903A3 is sort of a rotating cross-bar, across the firing pin. There is a clearance in this cross bar, at one specific location, such that the firing pin can "bypass" the safety, and the gun fire. Great.
In order to use the original factory Springfield safety, and to likewise have the safety on the right side of the scope, I theorized that if "I" milled a firing pin clearance location on the opposite side of where the original factory one is located, that I could make the gun fire when the safety was positioned "down and right", instead of "down and left".
I milled the section off, and everything catches, holds and releases beautifully.
Now, for the rest of the story...
The safety mechanism itself consists of a 3/4 inch stub, on the end of which half of the body is cut away. It's this "half cut" at the end of the shaft, which prevents the action from opening when in "full safe".
Now, the question: If I were to grind off this "half cut" at the end of the safety shaft, it seems to me that the gun will STILL have a fully functional cross-bolt safety. Further, it seems to me that I'd be able to open and close the bolt when the gun is "safe". About the only thing that grinding this stub off will really harm is that I won't be able to "lock" the action closed, and on safe...
I need some experienced gunsmiths to shoot holes in my thought process.
And PLEASE, for you purists out there, don't bother me with the "how dare you butcher a 1903 A3" comments. This action came cheap, and I intend to make a real shooter out of it, instead of some safe queen.
So, I marched my happy butt into the shop this evening to see what I could do...
The safety on the 1903A3 is sort of a rotating cross-bar, across the firing pin. There is a clearance in this cross bar, at one specific location, such that the firing pin can "bypass" the safety, and the gun fire. Great.
In order to use the original factory Springfield safety, and to likewise have the safety on the right side of the scope, I theorized that if "I" milled a firing pin clearance location on the opposite side of where the original factory one is located, that I could make the gun fire when the safety was positioned "down and right", instead of "down and left".
I milled the section off, and everything catches, holds and releases beautifully.
Now, for the rest of the story...
The safety mechanism itself consists of a 3/4 inch stub, on the end of which half of the body is cut away. It's this "half cut" at the end of the shaft, which prevents the action from opening when in "full safe".
Now, the question: If I were to grind off this "half cut" at the end of the safety shaft, it seems to me that the gun will STILL have a fully functional cross-bolt safety. Further, it seems to me that I'd be able to open and close the bolt when the gun is "safe". About the only thing that grinding this stub off will really harm is that I won't be able to "lock" the action closed, and on safe...
I need some experienced gunsmiths to shoot holes in my thought process.
And PLEASE, for you purists out there, don't bother me with the "how dare you butcher a 1903 A3" comments. This action came cheap, and I intend to make a real shooter out of it, instead of some safe queen.
