1903 bbl. Vs. 1903a3 bbl.

[John D.Kopke]

Board Members;

Does a 1903 BBL. ,without the rear sight base, have the same measurements as an 1903A3 BBL. ?

Thanks for any info.

john, a sailor. (Bay of Pigs Yacht Club Member).

[John Beard]

Yes, a M1903 barrel has the same measurements as an M'03-A3 barrel, except that the M1903 breech end has a slightly smaller outside diameter.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[chuckindenver]

kinda

[Peconga]

To clarify a bit, the 1903 and 1903-A3 barrel are both the same length (24.0") and are essentially interchangeable aside from the front and rear sights. However the 1903 barrel is slightly smaller for the first few inches in front of the shoulder, where the rear sight collar would normally fit over it. The 1903 barrel also has a bit of "choked" shape in this area while the 1903-A3 barrel has a straight taper.

Out of curiosity I measured a sample of three different 1903 and three 1903-A3 barrels with vernier calipers and came up with the following average diameters:

0" in front of shoulder: (1903) 1.14" / (1903-A3) 1.18"
1" in front of shoulder: (1903) 1.14" / (1903-A3) 1.16"
2" in front of shoulder: (1903) 0.99" / (1903-A3) 1.02"
3" in front of shoulder: (1903) 0.96" / (1903-A3) 0.98"
4" in front of shoulder: (1903) 0.91" / (1903-A3) 0.94"
5" in front of shoulder: (1903) 0.88" / (1903-A3) 0.90"
6" in front of shoulder: (1903) 0.85" / (1903-A3) 0.86"

Of course this was not a very scientific survey, but I think it illustrates the difference pretty well.