Developing short range loads for Mil Surps.

[Calfed]

My sons and I shoot in a vintage military rifle silhouette match every month. The match consists of 10 rounds each fired at chickens @ 220 yards, pigs @ 330 yards, turkeys @ 420 yards and rams @ 550 yards. We use a variety of different rifles to include K31's, Swedish Mausers, Swiss 1911 and 96/11 rifles, 09 Argentine Mausers and Finnish M39's.

Here is the problem-while all of these guns are superbly accurate, many of them have difficulty hitting targets at close range. By close, I mean less than 350-400 yards. Most of my rifles will shoot close to MOA with handloads. The problem comes when I have to shoot at chicken silhouettes @ 220 yards or even, in some cases, pigs @ 330 yards. Even with a "6 o'clock" hold, and the rear sight set at the lowest level, the bullets go right over the target.

Case in point-this last weekend I shot an Argentine Mauser at the match. I had developed a handload (40 grs. of 4064 with a .311 SMK) that shot close to MOA. 1909 Argentine Mauser range report However, I had to aim at least a foot below the chickens and at least 6 inches below the pigs in order to hit them at all and as a result ended up doing badly.

I've decided that I need to develop a "chicken load" for these guns and need a place to start. I'm thinking of loading a heavy, low ballistic coefficient bullet with a light powder charge to lower the point of impact at the silhouette. One possibility is a 30-30 style flat nose 170 grain bullet for the Swiss 1911 and a RN 180 grain .311 bullet for the Argy Mauser. Some of the match shooters suggested a light ball might be better.

Before I start buying bullets willy-nilly and loading them, I thought I would check on line and see if anyone else has already solved this problem or at least experimented with some "close range" loads. I know that another approach is to modify the front sight with a taller post, but would like to try the "close range ammo" route first.

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