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View Full Version : Remington 1903 fitted for 6.5mm Rem


bassfishindoc
August 29, 2010, 05:58 PM
Hey everybody, I have a question about a unique gun I am looking at. It is a Remington 1903A3 action that has been fitted with a FLAIG'S PREMIUM 24" barrel and re-chambered for 6.5mm Rem. I am curious if anybody who is more familiar with the 1903 action could comment on this re-chambering, i.e. is it safe, can the action handle it, the technical differences between the 30-06 and the 6.5, etc. Thanks for the help.

PetahW
August 29, 2010, 06:14 PM
While the action can certainly handle it, there's no way to tell the headspace's correct w/o checking.

Since the 6.5 Rem Mag is a belted magnum, and the -06 is not, the bolt face would also most likely have had to have been "opened up" so the larger case head would fit it.

God only knows how the differently-shaped magnum cartridges feed from the magazine - which depends upon how/who reworked the feed surfaces built into the action underside @ the magazine well.
In short, until it's tried at different feed rates, you may/may not have a single-shot rifle.

Of course, the belted magnum will exert more recoil forces on the stock, so I'd also want to ensure the bedding was correct, to preclude any stock-splitting in it's future.

I'm not saying it's to be avoided, just that these things should be considered when calculating how much you're willing to pay for it - Now, and/or later.
A written guarantee, from a retail store/FFL, is different from some aquaintance saying "It'll be OK".

.

James K
August 30, 2010, 12:03 AM
There are exceptions, but as general advice, I recommend avoiding military actions that have been "sporterized", especially those reworked to a different cartridge. The fact is that one rarely knows who did the work, what exactly was done, and how it was done. Also, many of those alterations didn't work very well, which may be the reason the gun ended up being on the market.

Unless there is some reason you specifically want an old 03A3 reworked for 6.5 Remington, it might be best to just buy a more suitable sporting rifle.

Jim

bassfishindoc
August 30, 2010, 08:51 PM
Hey thanks for the advice, I have decided to avoid the rifle. The only reason I was interested was because I happen to come across it in a local gun shop for a reasonable price but I needed more info before I made any sort of decision. Thanks again for the replies.