First NICE day of the year . . . VERY FRUITFUL

[fn111557]

It was a beautiful day, 60+ degrees, light wind, and almost empty range. Just finished cleaning up my ’43 Tula sniper, so I thought let’s see what it can do. WELL it can do a lot better than I can. At 50 yards I was only about 3 inches to the right and low, with both wheels set to 0. I turned the elevation up to 1, and about 2.5 marks to the -. Next 3 shots were close enough to center for me, so I tried it out on a 8” shoot-N-see at 100yards. A little playing here and there and I think I found the SWEET SPOT.
Like I said it shoots better than I can. I did manage to get this respectful 5 shot group. Let me know what you think.

Information

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[jmoore]

Thanks for the "kick in the pants". I haven't been to the rifle range in several months. It's been all handguns for some time.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Very promising for a first trial. Could you provide some details of the ammo your were using?

[fn111557]

AMMO;
I have a can of the Bulgarian circle 10 “Silver Tipped” in a sardine can that I have not used yet. I did open and use a zinc soldered can that had 22 wrap packs (of 20 rounds) in it. The markings on that can were rubbed off, but the guy at the (LGS) local gun store said it was 147 grain steal surplus? From the information I found on the below link, I believe I have Russian surplus 147gr lead core with “17” / “??” stamped on rim of copper washed steel case. From the pictures on the link it appears to be Russian (has “17” stamped on rim), but there is no “RED seal around bullet-case junction”. I have seen the “Silver Tipped” that I have and it has the RED seal. Does the fact that the ammo I am using NOT have the RED seal, mean it is actually “lead core” vise “steal core” like I was told? I know the case is copper washed steel because I picked up the spent cases with a magnet. I’ll get some pictures later when I open the Bulgarian to show a comparison of the two.

7.62x54r Ammunition Identification

[Patrick Chadwick]

That's pretty good for surplus ammo. Get hold of a pack of good modern ammo (like Norma "Russian Match") and see what it does then!

[fn111557]

*** UPDATE ***
After my first outing I have been chomping at the bit to get out again. The biggest question I wondered about was, How well will the PU scope hold zero after being removed and returned to that funny mount? Well the following pictures should show that.
Went to the range Saturday to get my FINAL contest targets for my “STOCK” Ruger 10/22 (see other posting in the contest thread). It was a beautiful day, 72 degrees, sunny, but a few wind gusts blew in later in the day. It just so happened by the time I got around to shooting my sniper, some of the gusts were flapping my target almost straight out horizontal. I also opened my can of Bulgarian silver tip so decided to run two tests at the same time. I had removed the scope after my first range trip and gave the gun a complete take down and cleaning. At the range I put the scope back on and made sure ALL screws were tightened. The two types of ammo I have are both 147gr. One is Russian lead core with a head stamp of 17 over 49. The other is Bulgarian circle 10 silver tip steel core, with a head stamp of 10 over 71.
With two targets at 100yds, I fired 25 rounds of each type ammo in the following order; I fired 10 rounds of Russian at target “A”, then 10 rounds of Bulgarian at target “B”. Then I fired 5 rounds of Bulgarian at target “B”, followed by 5 rounds of Russian at target “A”, and reversed this process for 5 more rounds each. The last 5 rounds of each type I loaded alternately and fired at its designated target.
Judging from the pictures, I think the results are clear (other than my shooting leaves a lot to be desired). The steel core silver tip Bulgarian, although it has a larger group spread, seems to have a higher point of impact. Compared to my original target picture in this thread (shot with Russian ammo), after removal of the scope not much adjustment is needed to get it back to zero.
So if you are still interested here is the skinny and pictures;
Russian 147gr lead core, copper washed steel case, head stamp 17 / 49
Max spread – 6.3 inches
Average to Center – 1.890 inches
Group Size WxH – 5.5x6.1 inches
Group Center Offset from POA – V -2.026, H -0.058


Bulgarian 147gr steel core, copper washed steel case, head stamp 10 / 71
Max spread – 8.7 inches
Average to Center – 2.038 inches
Group Size WxH – 4.7x7.9 inches
Group Center Offset from POA – V -1.596, H +0.931

[fn111557]

I picked up some HEAVY 7.62x54r ammo for my PU Sniper. I was told by many people that the heavier ammo gets better results. I am FAR from being a rifleman, but I could almost get better groups at 100 yards from my .30 carbines as I was getting from the PU Sniper with 149gr surplus. Long story short, everyone was right! Here is my latest results using the 182gr PPU bullets. That flyer was my FIRST shot and would love to have it back! That is a standard 3” sticky circle on a silhouette target, 10 shot at 100 yards!

TARGET 10 shots at 100yds