I've purchased several splendid newly-made 1903 bolt sleeves with 3-position M70-style safety from Precise Metalsmithing Enterprises (James Wisner), but it's essentially the same basic design and uses the original issue striker nose. I possess all the tooling necessary to convert to an improved multi-piece design that not only is much safer but also greatly minimizes the lost motion and even repairs a broken striker nose at the same time; this alteration was detailed by Ludwig Olsen in an article in Rifle No 92, page 29. Unfortunately I'm not aware of anyone making a 1-piece striker for the 1903 today but they may be out there somewhere. Back in the '60s I ordered such a beast from an outfit in SoCal that promptly went bust after cashing my check, and I haven't seen anything like that since then.
I've owned 2 1922s, one issue w/8X Unertl and one that I sporterized. Both were more accurate than all other RFs I've owned except one 10/22 with Volquartsen bbl; either was a genuine sub-0.75-MOA performer at any range. I used a PME 3-position sleeve on the sporter and had 2 M2 mags with one stored under the butt trap. Of course it also had a band ramp front and Lyman 48 rear in addition to the Leupold scope & Canjar trigger. I ended up giving this one to my best friend.
There were indeed slight differences between the 2 mags (even though they were both marked the same) and one didn't feed quite right sometimes. I suggest on any conversion that you use a commonly-available magazine instead of an expensive original, especially since the first try may not work out so well (BG). You don't hafta ask how I know this...
I've never converted a 1922 to a hidden magazine but would imagine that it would be very practical & doable to use an original 1903 floorplate with some sort of available magazine attached to it, and actually not be required to make any alterations at all to the receiver or TG other than removal of the mag catch. Theoretically, of course (G).
Regards, Joe
