Strange incident at the range yesterday. Shooting the M39 with Russian light ball and Bulgarian brass cased heavy ball. Started out normal, but when chambering one of the brass heavy ball, the neck split and I pulled back and ejected it into my hand, and the bullet fell off in my hand. The next two rounds had severe case splits after firing, one down the neck into the case body. About the same time, I noticed a distinct change in point of impact from center of target where this rifle always shoots, over to the left. The rest of the ammo fired fine with no case splits, just a change in point of imact for both light and heavy ball ammo.
I also noted that the barrel seemed to rattle a little in the forend more than normal. I got the rifle home and checked it out. The sights were fine, and the action screws were not loose. Removed the stock and noted several thin shims under the action at the stock contact points. All seemed fine and I put it back together. I note that the barrel contact point at the forend is the top of barrel on the top of the forend, not bottom tension like in my Springfield 1903s. Could something have shifted? What is the correct forend contact point for the M39 barrel?
