Grumpy after attempting zeroing....

[Edward Horton]

Hmmm...I wonder what effect an extremely loose (as in almost about to fall out) front trigger guard screw would have on aim....I thought I had checked every screw, but I must have missed that one - what a newbie move to pull lol. I have yet to get hold of feeler gauges to check for a gap between the fore-end and the receiver socket, but the fore-end did fall off rather easily when I was stripping it off. I have noticed that, since putting the rifle back together, the barrel is now free-floating at the business end (at least in an upwards direction), and a controlled "tug" upwards of a couple of pounds moves the barrel upwards - this was not present beforehand (the fore-end of the barrel was firmly held between the fore-end and the upper hand guard, and there was no movement in any direction).

Try and remember what I was taught in the military, you want your rifle tight and your women loose.

[spinecracker]

I headed back to the range today after tightening up the loose front trigger guard screw (boy, did I feel silly...), loaded up with Sellier and Bellot 180gr FMJ and blasted away on my homemade 25 and 100 yard zeroing target. At 25 yards, the MPI is about 3/8" above the expected level, but at 100 yards the MPI is right on where it should be (would be interesting to see the location of the MPI at 200 and 300 yards, but I don't have that good an aim). Of course, I am a crap shot, so my grouping was all over the place, but it appears that my problem has been fixed, and I can now hit a head shaped and sized object at 100 yards using the iron sights without too much difficulty. All I need to do now is work on decreasing my grouping size and then fine-tune the zeroing. I do find the rear sight aperture a little difficult to use (the sun was right behind me today, so there was a little glare off of the rear sight), especially after cutting my teeth on No.1 Mk.IIIs. Thanks for your kind help, and I have learned a huge amount that may come in handy if I ever do get my hands on one of those high-shooting No.4s that were mentioned.

[jmoore]

Ain't it great when things work out so easily? I'm glad you had no major dramas after all.

To cure rear sight glare try some "sight black" or a hat w/ a brim. Whatever works (including a tape sight hood) in your particular situation, run w/ it.

[spinecracker]

I ended up putting a towel over my head (would come up with a "Hitch-hikers' Guide to the Galaxy" quote if I were not so tired lol). I will try the sight black (if I can find it), and I will remember to throw my wide-brimmed backpacking hat in the back of my car next time. The wonderful thing about being a newbie is that every little thing is a challenge and an adventure.

[jmoore]

I don't think it ever ends! As your skill set increases, so do the things that confound you. As long as you're making progress overall, no worries. What fun would it be it if was easy?

[spinecracker]

Now my question is this -

What might be a reasonable expectation regarding grouping size/MOA using the Mk.III backsight at 100 yards/200yards/etc on a 65 year old rifle? As I mentioned above, I can hit a head-sized object at 100 yards when shooting from prone, but I know I should be able to do better. Does anyone have suggestions for resources for improving shooting technique with milsurp rifles?

[Alfred]

Now my question is this -

What might be a reasonable expectation regarding grouping size/MOA using the Mk.III backsight at 100 yards/200yards/etc on a 65 year old rifle? As I mentioned above, I can hit a head-sized object at 100 yards when shooting from prone, but I know I should be able to do better. Does anyone have suggestions for resources for improving shooting technique with milsurp rifles?

There should be downloads of marksmanship manuals available on this site.
You can also find many WW1 and WW2 era Range regulation and musketry manuals available at the Internet Archive.

[spinecracker]

Reading "Shoot to Live" as I type

[jmoore]

Acceptance standards of new rifles weren't all that tight, 5 MOA give or take a bit, depending on the platform and country. I generally expect something in good shape to shoot 3 MOA or better.

On the internet it seems that you're nobody unless you can shoot 1 MOA or better w/ iron sights!

[spinecracker]

Hmmm.....I do not think I'll ever be that good lol. Hitting a football at 100 yards should be my gold standard, unless I slap on a scope