James River Armory - Bah - Humbug

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CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
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Location
Sudbury, Ont.
A while back, I picked up a new JRA M-1 rifle from the EE and very soon after, I had a chance at a like new 03A4 and I scooped that up. They were both well put together rifles and I was pleased with them, although they were a bit pricey. When I saw that they had a 1942 USMC replica sniper rifle, I had to get one. I ordered one through them and arranged for Irunguns to import it for me. Well, JRA told me that they build them to order and it would be 6 to 8 weeks to complete. I was quite surprised that they called me after two weeks and told me it was ready to ship.

When it arrived, it surely wasn't as nice as the others. There were small gobs of some kind of greasy stuff on the receiver, stock and scope, that stained and discoloured things. When telling them about the problems, they suggested that I return the rifle and after explaining that I was in Canada and returning it would be very awkward and expensive, they suggested that Kroil might remove the stains (It didn't) and that I refinish the affected stock areas myself. I didn't think that was appropriate for something that cost me around $2900 and perhaps some compensation might be in order.

They didn't bother replying. A month later, I asked them if they planned to respond to my e-mail, and again I received no answer.

There were other flaws that I hadn't mentioned or noticed at first. Notice the fine inletting at the rear of the receiver. Also, the handguard wasn't fitted to the rear sight base and sat a bit forward, giving the two barrel bands a lopsided look, since they weren't sitting square to the rifle. Bolt operation was very hard. The collar that holds the extractor onto the bolt was riding above the bolt body and binding in the bolt raceway inside the receiver. I had to put shims inside the extractor to take up some of the collar's slop. The rear sight looked OK, but was unevenly finished and it took about 6 cranks to get some right windage and it wouldn't give any left windage past the zero marks.

After I had ordered the rifle, I found a few postings where other people were disappointed by JRA's service. I could have lived with a few blemishes, and I wasn't wanting any big compensation: a milled trigger guard for my 03A4 and some milled barrel bands, and perhaps a bit of a discount on one of their 03-A3's. However, it's a safe bet that I won't order from them again.
 
Pretty sloppy work in places which indicates a less than professional effort. The metal looks to have been re-parkerized in the process of building this clone. You might try removing the "greasy stuff" from the metal parts with any of lacquer thinner, methyl hydrate or brake cleaner and then re-oil the metal with a toothbrush. The metal to wood gap behind the M1903 rear action tang is essential to prevent the narrow tang from coming into hard contact with the wood where it will act like a recoil lug and split /crack the stock.
The fit of the handguard to rear sight base can be easily corrected with a file. One related area to check is the fit of the upper band. The bottom of barrel should sit against the stock, so that 5-7 lbs pressure is required to lift the barrel out of contact with the wood. There must also be clearance between the top of the barrel and the metal of the upper band when it is installed. If the top of the barrel makes contact with the interior surface of the upper band the rifle won't shoot consistently. I have corrected several of these by using a grinding stone, which is roughly similar in diameter to the barrel, in a Dremel to remove enough metal from upper band so that there is clearance here.
The black discolorations on the stock almost appear to be a stain or marker which has penetrated the wood. You could try some methyl hydrate or lacquer thinner on the spots and then re-treat with raw linseed or tung oil if this works. If it doesn't remove the discoloration and you can't live with it, then the spots would need to be sanded and the wood re-treated with raw linseed or tung.
Binding of the movable rear sight base may be due to the base binding in the fixed base at the front or rear. This can be checked after removing the windage screw and then testing the movable base for free play. If the movable base is too tight you could work it back and forth with a bit of valve grinding compound being careful to check the fit often and not remove too much metal. Could also be that the corresponding surfaces of the fixed base, either the front or rear overhangs, are deformed or burred in which case they can be dressed down with a fine file. Deformation of the overhangs of the fixed base are more likely than the movable base being over-sized. There is also a possibility that the threads in the windage screw are stripped or that the teeth on the front of the movable base which engage the windage screw might be burred or deformed. In this case the movable base or the windage screw would need to be replaced.
 
That's a crappy story and hindsight is always 20/20 but next time you order something and they say 6-8 weeks and then call back after 2 saying it is ready to ship ...take a breath and then ask what's wrong with it? I am guessing you got one someone else ordered and then refused or sent back because of the marks .
 
Sorry to hear you are having issues.

I have to admit I'm disappointed that JRA isn't responding to you. It really doesn't make sense to me from a business perspective to ignore a legitimate concern, especially from an armory like JRA, that has been held in fairly high regard.

I have two JRA firearms, a restored M1 and a repro M1903A4, both superb rifles. Fit and finish is top notch...function flawlessly. They've got a fair number more bumps and dings since this picture was taken...I think they look better now.

m1_and_1903a4_zps594fd9ff.jpg




I sincerely hope they step up and sort this issue out. In the meantime, try to enjoy the rest of those pretty rifles.
 
banditos said:
"Send it to Canada. That's the last we'll ever see of that P.O.S.."
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Maybe some would take that attitude...this is the first I've heard of JRA reacting this way. I'm sure they will take care of it, for the OP's sake, I hope it's soon.

And....not even close to P.O.S..come on
 
Geez...that's too bad after laying down that much $$.
I am very impressed with the quality, finish, and presentation of their A4's.
It almost looks like a different group of people put this '03 together without referencing the standards of their A4 or Garand offerings.
We often do not have a lot of options when ordering things up from here.
It is often a leap of faith that should have "buy in" from the importer to protect our interests.

After all, they are not just doing us a favour....They have negotiated a buying price from the manufacturer that involves a discount to contribute to their profit, they are passing on all costs associated with bringing the product in, and adding a bit more for their efforts and final profit expectations.

If a product is outside the quality and finish expectations of other similar or identical items offered by a company, I would expect the re-seller to work on my behalf with the company to either replace the product or attempt to satisfy a reasonable outcome such as sending it back for them to determine what is reasonable for them to fix the cosmetic issues.....the reputations of Both firms are at stake.....sometimes business people miss this point.

Are we as Canadian consumers suffering from a fire and forget attitude from companies to the south and their re-sellers?
Good luck
 
I had one of the 1903 snipers, put 10 rnds thru it and sold it , I think they are way over priced for a reworked "drill rifle" and a POS reproduction scope.
 
Have to agree - I would NEVER, EVER buy a repro sniper from JRA or any other "for profit" re-manufacturer. I would have no qualms buying a refurbed service rifle from them though, if only they were not so overpriced compared to decent originals.
 
These clone rifles should be considered as shooters, and not collectible MILSURPs. When you start with an original receiver and then re-work it and add on modern parts such as Criterion barrels, repro stocks, scopes and mounts, you wind up with a representative piece which will give you the feel of what the original was like. From looking at this receiver I can see that it was one of the early (Dec '42/Jan '43) Remington 03A3s which had the rear sight lug milled off, and was then finished and issued as a Model 1903 because the 03A3 rear sights were not available at this early point in 03A3 production. These ones are an interesting variation and are collectable in themselves. I would have liked to get hold of the original receiver, re-parked it as necessary, and then installed a NOS military M1903 barrel and all original military parts to restore it to it's original M1903 configuration.

If the barrel is a new Criterion replacement, which I suspect it is, these are fitted with a salvaged M1903 fixed rear sight base. It is a tricky job to remove and re-install the fixed sight base/sleeve w/o buggering them up, especially the front of the sleeve and the overhangs at the front and rear of the fixed base. This may well be the reason why the movable sight base is not operating/moving as it should.

The current manufacture Criterion M1903 and Garand barrels are well made and are good shooters, but they immediately mark the piece as a non-original shooter. NOS or excellent condition GI Garand barrels can be found w/o too much trouble. NOS GI M1903 barrels are very tough to find and cost around $400. New GI 03-A3 barrels are easier to locate and cost less.
 
Jon. said:
Eh, maybe, but I paid 1800$ for what is essentially a brand new Garand at a time when used and abused ones were going for 1600$ in the EE, so I'm pleased.
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If the one I reviewed above had a new barrel, and better attention paid to the receiver sanding / finish (it was left cross-hatch sanding marked) I would have been pleased likely.
 
Hit and miss comes to mind. I had a chance to look at several last month, and they all looked fine, infact they looked damn good. For the money they seemed nice, regrettably none of the guns they are refurbing appeal to me. If they did, I would drop the coin on one as a range gun.
 
I just dismounted the stock from my JRA 1903A4. Apparently, they used a 3/8" drill bit (sloppily) to drill the hole for a 1/8" screw.
Merrican skills at their finest.
 
"...USMC replica sniper rifle..." They're cobbled together from parts rifles. All of JRA's stuff are expensive replicas.
"...re-parkerized..." Yep. There are several companies, Stateside, doing the same thing. Assembling rifles out of parts, some with questionable receivers, making 'em look pretty and charging big. Supply and demand.
"...a brand new Garand..." No such thing. You will never get your money out of it should you ever want to.
 
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