Collecting and Shooting the U.S. Model 03A3 Rifle

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You can easily load the 03A3 by either a single round at a time or using a stripper clip.

Magazine Cutoff

When the '03 rifle was designed, the U.S. Army still saw the magazine as a reserve for cartridges. The soldier or doughboy needed to load ammo one round at a time and only use the magazine when needed or ordered by an officer. The magazine cutoff switch located on the left of the receiver turns the magazine on or off. The magazine cutoff switch when place in the middle position allows for the bolt to be removed from the rifle.

With the magazine cutoff switch in the on position, the bolt pulls back far enough to clear the magazine follower and will engage and load a cartridge from the magazine.

With the magazine cutoff switch in the off position, the bolt when pulled back no longer clears the magazine follower and thus will not load a cartridge from the magazine. This allows the shooter to drop cartridges into the path of the bolt, one at a time.

Sights

The rear sights on the 03A3 are easy to use. To adjust windage (left or right) turn the windage knob (as shown in sights fig 1). Each click results in a change of 4 minutes of angle in either direction.

To adjust for elevation you slide the aperture up or down (as shown in sights fig 2). The further up the longer the distance. It starts out at 100 yards and increases out to 800 yards, 100 yard increments.

Safety

The '03 safety is fairly simple to operate. It has two positions, Safe or Ready. As show in safety figure 1, the lever is turned to the left for ready (ready to fire).

As show in safety figure 2, the lever is turned to the right for safe (safe from fire). This locks the bolt in the receiver.

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