'03 Springfields

Loading Cast Bullets and Accurate 5744

- Mike Venturino 

Today, there is talk of safe spaces for overstressed college students and even giving out teddy bears or live puppies to soothe their nerves. My last semester of college, January to May 1972, was extremely stressful. Because of a lackadaisical attitude in my freshman and sophomore years, every hour of my senior year was necessary for graduation. Furthermore, every one of those classes needed decent marks to get my grade point average above the minimum needed. My “safe spot” was a rifle range and my “puppy” substitute was wood and steel.

It was a different era in so many ways. For example, on a trip in December 1971, I was gifted a U.S. Model 1903A3 Springfield. It was carried home in a cardboard box in the airplane’s cabin. When home, I immediately ordered a Lyman mould 311291 and a box of the company’s .30-caliber gas checks. That mould was single cavity with a catalog bullet weight of 170 grains. It was a gas check roundnose design. The bullets dropped at .310/.311 inch. They were sized .310 inch and lubed with Alox. With my last few spare dollars, I bought a can of 2400 and (get this) a couple of one-pound paper bags of H-4831 priced at a buck each. That was in the era when World War II surplus powders were still around.