Range session with two No4 (t)'s

Good evening all,

I took out two of my T's today after building a batch of handloads over the holidays. One is an early 1941 Maltby converted to T, then FTR'd sometime post-war. Its wearing a HBMC No32 mk1 scope that has Mk 2 drums retrofitted. Mount is a Roger Payne repro.
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This rifle shoots extremely well with Sierra 180's over N-140. However, I was all out of N140 and Sierra 180's, so I built a few 150 and 174 grain loads with what powder I had on hand. Here are target pics. Keep in mind the accuracy standard for the No4T was a 3 inch group of five shots at 100 yards. I was shooting 10 round groups, and nothing exceeded 3 inches.
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Then, the rifle did something amazing: it printed a .75" x 1" five round-group! I was too scared to shoot another five through it, as I didn't want to mess up the target. Needless to say, I quit shooting this rifle after that, as I doubt it would have gotten any better.
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Rifle number two is a 1943 No4T. Never seen an FTR, and probably served somewhere in India post-war. Rifle still sits tight in its stock and can still shoot better than the standard. Although it looks rough and worn, its a solid performer (so long as I do my part).
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Thanks for posting. :thup:

Glad they worked out. The second reminds me of what Peter L said about they could be rough as guts and shoot while a brand new one sometimes didn't... Nice looking rifles.

Two of my favorite type rifles. I also have two snipers,, An early Trials and a 1944 dated one. Ray

This makes me very happy.
I love my no.4, but I can’t get her under two inches, if not in some really unique moments.
Usually it prints around three.
That must be a realistic accuracy for an average rifle.
Sincerely I always hoped to get better results out of it, but I don’t seem to be able.
My dispersal no.1 is way better, although it starts shooting low if I get it hot.
I need a lot of patience with her, but she outshoots my no.4.
Thanks for sharing!
Milsurps are no easy toys:lol:

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Originally Posted by Ovidio

but I can’t get her under two inches, Usually it prints around three.

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What was the standard for them anyway? Is there one?

Nice shooting. Smle addict is correct that the MoD standard was 3" at 100 yards with Mk.7 or Mk.7z ball ammo. I've managed to keep all of my restorations shooting under 2" at 100 so far with Mk.7z and I'm not a world class shooter by a long shot. They will probably do 1 MoA with a properly worked up load and an eagle eyed shooter in command. To BAR's point, it's true barrels that are sometimes not cosmetically pleasing to the eye, (or borescope!), will still shoot as good and sometimes better than a newer replacement. I've experienced it first hand many times. As long as the barrel gauges in spec, they are usually good to go.

About 3 years ago I read in a French gun magazine a test report on the No 4 T. Using duplicage military loads they obtained groups of around 1.5 MOA or less. They also mentioned a one shot kill by a British Army sniper shortly after D- Day. At an estimated 600yds he hit a Wehrmacht officer, the conditions were ideal*, no wind, good visibility and good lighting. He did however overlook the presence of infantry coy who took an instant disliking to him and filled the air with lead and mortar bombs.


* Not ideal for the officer.

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Originally Posted by Ex Crab

He did however overlook the presence of infantry coy who took an instant disliking to him and filled the air with lead and mortar bombs.

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Well...he was supposed to relocate after the shot anyway...

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Well...he was supposed to relocate after the shot anyway...

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He self relocated, crawling at warp speed.

In Sepp Allerberger's biografy, Sniper on the Eastern Front, he tells about one of his first missions.
He shot at a Russian from underneath a disabled tank and did not relocate. After the second shot, he got immediately one back, which hit his spotter in the face and killed him after much suffering.
He wrote that he learned the lesson very well that time.
That book is very interesting.