S&T M1903 Conversion

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I've always had a thing for the M1903 but there haven't been any offerings. The M1903A3s don't have the same look but the S&T rifle offered a good starting point for the conversion. 

 

I cut up a reproduction rear sight collar and filed away the inside so that it could fit over the outer barrel. The 1905 sight is a little difficult to replicate so I opted to use a real collar and sight to save time and effort. I had to hog out a significant amount of wood from a late WWII handguard to get it to fit, but it's close enough now. I then added real lower and upper bands as well as a buttplate. 

 

The S&T stock is beech and the USGI handguard is walnut, so I had to use some alcohol based dye to blend the coloration a little. While I still need to sort out the hop up adjustment, reprofile the receiver bridge, and repaint the receiver, its pretty close to being finished.