Remington 03 won't group

[musketshooter]

It appears to have European style express sights. You probably are not used to them and need a little practice to learn how to use them. Move the target to 100 yards and try it again. Don't ue any of the "fancy" sighting in targets. They are hard to maintain a sight picture on. Just cut out a 10 inch circle out of black paper and paste on a white background.

[Johnny in Texas]

what is the trigger like smooth or not. That rifle should shoot as good as it looks.

[jisii]

Musketshooter', I have never seen open sights like this rifle has, very high and square and the rear has a very small square notch and appears to have no adjustment.
Johnny, It still has the original 03 trigger: not bad but definately not a Timney or a Paul Jaeger like I have on my other 03 sporter (see PIC) bought at auction Spring 09. Ive kinda gotten in old sporters lately, I guess it's nostalgia from building my first bolt rifle as a teenager in the early 50s.

[Gus Fisher]

Couple of things to check before doing any mods...
Is the top of the magazine assembly bearing against the bottom of the receiver?
Are the action screws tight?
Your description would lead me to believe that the whole assembly is moving around in the stock.
At this point, I don't believe that I'd worry about the shots being high, that can be dealt with after you start getting some groups that resemble groups. (when you get there, you'll probably end up with a taller front sight)
I'd use something to mark the bottom of the barrel and action, like lamp black, anything that will transfer from the metal to the wood, then assemble it, disassemble it, and see just exactly what IS bearing, and where there's clearance, and adjust the fit accordingly.

I very much agree with this advice. On a sporter stock forearm, the barrel should not touch the wood from about 2" going forward from the front of the receiver. I would bet there was a poor bedding job done when that stock was installed.

I can't see the front sight in the picture well enough. Most of the times these ramps were installed, you could put different size front sights in the dovetail. Williams still makes front sights for this kind of ramp in different heights and you can get them from brownells.

Personally, I would install a front sling swivel in the stock and take the sling off the barrel. Even moderate sling tension is going on the barrel is going to play heck with your groups.

[jisii]

I agree on the sling Gus. Even shooting off bags, there was probably some tension on the sling. Next trip to the range I'll leave the sling at home. Regarding the sights, I've looked through old catalogs and even have a book on old gunsights and scopes and have seen nothing like these ones, very high and very square looking. This stock looks distinctly German in style with a short fore-end and a grooved Schnable tip unlike any I've ever seen (PIC).

I'm wondering if this rifle was built in Europe possibly for an American serviceman post WW2.

[Gus Fisher]

It looks like rifles I've seen done in Germany for American G.I.'s while they were stationed over there.

[Randy A]

Can't tell if barrel is aftermarket or shortened, but noone has mentioned crown, might have that checked out!

[45B20]

Randy A

Look at jisii’s first post, first two lines under the photo.

45B20

[Randy A]

45B20
"Bullet test " is only a fair indication of muzzle wear, it won't tell you if crown is true.