M1903-A3 at 100mtrs

[Ex Crab]

Tuesday I decided to test some 30-06 loads that duplicated the guard ammo of way back when.
I used a 165 grn LRN copper coated bullet.
There are 20 shots in the target, but the hole in the centre is not mine!
The second target has a five shot group in the 8ring at 9 o clock.
Not bad for a rifle made in 1944!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Daan Kemp]

An old rifle doesn't mean a poor shooting rifle. It is what it is.

[Ex Crab]

An old rifle doesn't mean a poor shooting rifle. It is what it is.

True, but most rifles of that period didn't shoot that well, apart from which a lot of old rifles have seen a lot of use and abuse and have suffered accordingly.

[Daan Kemp]

My limited experience of 'old' rifles is that they shoot well and usually better than the operator. I think it is a perception that 'old' rifles didn't shoot well because that is what we expect of 'old' rifles. Due, I think, to indifferent ammunition, indifferent sights, poor care, indifferent shooting skills, poor memory, etc.

I have a Stevens 22/410 that will put just about any 22LR ammo in about 12mm at 25m, built in 1937. In spite of the poor sights. My BSA No 1 Mk III*, built about 1922 I think, did about 50mm at 100m with 30 year old military ball.

[Ex Crab]

My limited experience of 'old' rifles is that they shoot well and usually better than the operator. I think it is a perception that 'old' rifles didn't shoot well because that is what we expect of 'old' rifles. Due, I think, to indifferent ammunition, indifferent sights, poor care, indifferent shooting skills, poor memory, etc.

I have a Stevens 22/410 that will put just about any 22LR ammo in about 12mm at 25m, built in 1937. In spite of the poor sights. My BSA No 1 Mk III*, built about 1922 I think, did about 50mm at 100m with 30 year old military ball.

I once read a test report in a French shooting magazine about the No4 T. They got groups of less than 1.5 MOA using ammo reloaded to wartime specs. They also mentioned the action of a British Army sniper in Normandy shortly after D-Day, he got a one shot kill at an estimated 600yds. The conditions were almost ideal, clear blue sky and no wind. Not so ideal was the Wehrmacht inf coy that took exception to having a senior officer slotted right before their eyes.

30 year old military ball? That's new stuff, I still have a couple of hundred rds of Danish M1 ammo made in 1960 that can group to 1.0+ MOA in my Springfield. See my second tgt with the 5 rds group in the 8 ring.

[fjruple]

There is a lot of factors that comes into play with accuracy of "old" rifles. Guard rounds will shoot differently than full power rounds. My experience has been low and a bit to the left or right depending on the twist of the barrel. The guard round load calls for the rear sight to be set at 300 yards and probably i click of right windage to get it dead center. I often use guard loads now as I cannot take a beating from the full power loads especially on the carbines like the Mosin Nagant M44 or No.5 MKI. With the guard loads they are tame. As with any rifle, you have to look at what they were designed to do as far as accuracy. Man size target at 100 meters? I have found that many of the military surplus with target sights and good barrels are tack drivers.