Having fun now, aren't'cha Don!

About 18 months ago I acquired a 1903....also proofed in 1939. How is that for a coincident? Before talking loads, I am curious whether your receiver is marked "Made in Germany"? Mine is actually marked "Made in Austria" which is quite unusual for a 1939 build I am told.

Now, loads. I will start off by admitting that I was not, and am still not, trying to come up with a load for long range. I tried various spitzers of different weights and just could not find an OAL where they would feed smoothly. The best spitzer load (again, wrt feeding) was old Norma factory 139 gr loads. I stumbled on a stash of Norma factory loads in the old wood grain box from the 60s/70s and bought them all, primarily for the brass. Twelve of the boxes were the 139 gr spitzers along with one box of 156 gr RN. I shared most of the spitzers with friends. Strangely enough, the 139s chrono'ed 2290 fps out of my rifle while the 156 gr RNs chrono'ed 2330 fps! That velocity concerned me enough that I pulled the other 17 rounds not fired over the chrono and reloaded them with 40 gr of H4831SC.

Those spitzers fed OK in my rifle s long as I operated the bolt smartly! Cycle it slowly and the round would hang up every time. I shot all I kept mostly just for fun except one that busted a little 7 pt whitetail. From this point n I'll be using only reloads. I have pretty much settled on 160 gr Hornady RNs (the .264" version) and Norma 156 gr RN. Loaded to an OAL of 3.05", they both feed as slick as marbles on glass IN MY RIFLE.

As mentioned above, my load is 40 gr of H4831SC and it chrono's at 2025 fps in my rifle. The old period Hensoldt 4X was foggy and the post reticle was fuzzy, but I still shot several MOA and sub MOA groups with it. However, most groups fell into the 1.5 MOA range and I consider it to be a solid 1.5 MOA rifle.

I sent the Hensoldt to Iron Sight, Inc., and they did a great job of cleaning the scope up. They also replaced the post reticle and one of the rear lenses. When I got it back, white trying to get the windage readjusted using the rear base of the claw mounts, I fired this group:

Now, I know this group was a fluke, but it sure made me feel good when I saw it.

My advice to you, after playing with my 1903 for all these months, is to keep playing with different OALs for the bullets you want to use. The rotary magazines are finicky and you have to find their sweet spot. Don't know if I can offer any help other than possibly the above, I'll be happy to try.