Springfield '03 Sporter?

[S.B.]

I have a '03 that has been sporterized, I put an A3 bolt(military low bent for sniper rifle,  bolt), and have just had a scope mount installed but, the bolt will not clear the scope rear bell. My question is, will it clear with high rings? What ring height did the military use with a scope set up, I know they used 3/4" tubed scopes for a while but, also used 1" tube scopes. Did the armorers have to forge these bolt handles to fit the indivigual needs?
The scope I'm going to use is a Redfield Low Pro, so it doesn't have much bell.

[Wynn]

The Model 1903-A3 was a later upgrade of the original 1903 using some stamped parts and a rear peep sight.. It was a infantry rifle; not a sniper rifle. The official issue sniper was the 1903-A4. Some A3s were modified as snipers but it was done at military depots. 1903-A3s and A4s were built mostly by Remington and Smith-Corona for WW11 until Garand production caught up.

[S.B.]

Sorry, your right, I should of said an A4 sniper gun. Still, one of the upgrades was a bent bolt to facilitate using a scope. I never said it was a Springfielld sniper gun but a Springfield '03 that I put a A4 bolt in so I could use a scope on it.

[Barstooler]

I have a 1903 A4 that I re-barreled to 6.5/06 and put a milled 03 trigger guard on and Timney trigger.  I used a Redfield one-piece scope mount base with high rings and installed a Leupold VII 3X9 scope on.  The bolt handle has just enough clearance.  In the process of re stocking the rifle now.

Barstooler

[Mikey]

S.B.:  Many of the military rifles modified for sport and adapted for scope use often need the bolts cut and re-welded to clear scope bells.  I believe the SMLEs are the only ones that may not if you intend to use a action mounted scope. 

Although the A4 bolt handle was bent, the rifle was designed, I believe, to use the straight tube scope of the day (without an eye-relief bell) and the bent A4 bolts would work fine with that.  Many of the Mausers (similar to the Springfield) that came with bent bolts still had to have the bolts cut and re-welded to work with scopes of current (today's) design and often need higher rings to get enough clearance.  I've had a dickens of a time finding the right sized scope for some of my military bolts because when I work the bolt I work it the way a military bolt was designed to work, and that ain't with two fingers and a bunch of hesitation and that means the scopes with good sized eye relief bells usually get in the way. 

My gunsmith is a wonderful guy but he heads toward the back door whenever he sees me bring in another Mauser or something else for him to work his magic on.  We have spoken often about the clearance problems of military bolts and modern day scopes and we both believe one of the best routes to go is with a new bolt handle that can be welded to sit almost straight down. 

Most of the bolts of that era had 90 degree throws; same with the bent bolts.  Lots of gunsmiths cut a half moon from the outside of the bolt handle for clearance and even cut and rewelded those but I think that if you get a straight bolt handle, like a spoon handle or something and have that welded to set almost straight down, you will still have your 90 degree throw (can't change that) but you will have much more clearance for proper bolt handling.  HTH & JMTCW

[S.B.]

Problem solved, I took it to a gunsmith and had him bend the bolt.