Short tang screw on 03-A3

[Merc]

The tang screw (aka rear trigger guard screw) on my 03–A3 looks as if it’s about 1/4” too short. I bought a replacement from Numrich just to satisfy my own curiosity, but it’s the same length. OEMs rarely do things without a reason. So, has anyone figured out the reason why the screw is 1/4” too short?

[John Beard]

If the screw engages several threads and tightens, then it's not too short.

On the pre-WWII M1903 rifle, the rear trigger guard screw threaded into a blind hole, which required use of both standard and bottoming taps to thread the hole in the receiver. To expedite and simplify production during WWII, the rear trigger guard screw hole was drilled completely through, thereby eliminating the need for a bottoming tap and a second tapping step. But the screw length was not changed. So on an M'03-A3, the rear trigger guard screw appears too short because it doesn't completely fill up the tapped hole. But that is normal.

J.B.

[Kragrifle]

I recently did a display on 1892 Krags and compared trigger guard screws on early Krags to 03A3’s. TG screws for the 03A3’s are longer than earlier rifles.