To me the M1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer is the ultimate. In fact I found a dandy one a couple days ago and like a fool walked away. I shall correct that on Monday. Thanks for the impetus.
I've owned a couple and regret letting them go. Time to correct that. Been doing a lot of that of late.
You've forgotten more about the 1903 MS than I will ever know...but I did discover something regarding the bore dimension discrepancies. A lot of guys, including myownself, tried .266 ish Carcano dimensioned bullets (usually without much improvement or joy). I gave up and used some Nosler Partitions, got better results but not quite what I had hoped. A friend gave me a bag of Privi Partizan 156 semi round noses, the most unlikely charge of 39gr of the much unloved H380 in Norma cases. Bingo, a 3 moa rifle shrinks to about 1.3, at a very respectable 2,340 fps. It's worth a try if you are disappointed in the results of more traditional load recipes.
I have two 1903s, both measuring .268 groove diameter. I tried the Carcano bullets too, but couldn't even get them to chamber. So far I've had best luck with the soft Hawk 160 RN bullets.
