psteinmayer wrote on Mar 21^st, 2019 at 9:29pm:

. . .I just noticed Para's recommendations on blade heights.  Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not quite sure which height I need, so if someone can please explain to help me understand. . .

OK, first thing would be to determine where to measure. You could measure from the top of the blade to the top of the base, from the top of the blade to the top of the barrel, or even from the top of the blade to the bottom surface of the band that holds the base on the barrel. If you want to remove the blade, you can measure it from top to bottom or from top to pin hole.

Once you've chosen where to measure, apply that choice to your existing front sight and measure it as precisely as you can.  Then make, buy, or alter a new blade that will be shorter than the existing one when measured in the same way. How much shorter depends on your load and your hold.

If you'll be using the same hold ("6:00" for example) at 1000 yards as you do at 200 and your 03A3 puts your long-range handloads in the center at 200 with the existing blade, you'll want your new blade to be about .050 shorter than your existing blade.  Leave the blade a bit tall and bring a file to the range for final adjustment.

You can check the new blade at 100 yards by setting the elevation to 800 and looking for a group ~39" above center bull - or ~74 at 200 (presuming a MV near 2650 fps and BC near .500.). If using a 6:00 hold at 100, use a 4.4" aiming black to emulate the size of the 44" LR target black at 1000 yards. At 200, use 8.8" bull.