Quote Originally Posted by Kirk View Post
HXP77 was issued by the CMPicon at Camp Perry a few years ago. Many M1903 shooters, including me, reported bolts were difficult to open. The ammo did not seem to be too hot, just caused the bolts to be difficult to open, a bad thing during rapid fire strings.
I've seen a very similar problem at the range where I shoot. When we examined the Ammo and compared it to some that was working fine, we found that the case rim area, Extractor groove, was a lot thinner on the ones that caused that problem. You didn't need a magnifier to see it either, it was plain as day. They stopped shooting it the garands, and sold it to a couple of guys down there that were shooting 1903 Springfields. It seemed to work well for them all day long. So there must have been a reason for that. I can't recall what they finally said about it, just that the 1903 guys were glad to get it.