Need some help with an S'G' front band

[USGI]

I've got an S'G' that I've had for more than a year and hadn't fired yet. The sun was out here yesterday, so I grabbed some ammo and headed up into the hills to try it out. Other than needing a couple of clicks of windage on the rear sight, I thought I was doing really well. Then about half way through the first mag, I lost the sight picture - found the handguard laying loose on top of the rifle and blocking my view of the front sight. I've heard of this happening before, but I've never had it happen myself. I bought the SA M2 stock from What-a-Country and probably just didn't have the band screw tight enough - worried about deforming the wood, I guess. The band had moved forward, and the lug on the band spring hadn't caught it as it went past. After I took a look, I remembered how the band hadn't seemed to fit just right when I had put it together. Take a look at first two pictures and see if you think this looks normal?? To get it going again, I slid the band back until it just "latched" and then tightened it with a dime about a turn tighter than I'd had it. Which position do you think it's best to leave it in, and I wonder if there are any differences in the location of the tabs between band springs? It almost looks like the hole in the stock may be too far forward or something. I only had 10 rounds of reloads left to fill the second mag, so decided to try the 25yd. carbine target that I had printed and taken along. I got my first 7 consecutive rounds in the black, and then shot the rest at a pie plate. Not that good of a group, but I was trying to keep my balance while sitting in a wobbly lawn chair and resting my elbow on my knee. There was a little bit of snow and ice on the ground and the area was in the shade with temps somewhere in the high 20's. - also looking through the top part of my" varilux" glasses and had Harbor Freight "cheapo" safety glasses over top of those. Too many excuses without even mentioning being cold and old! The gun was a CMP "less wood" that was auctioned about 3 years ago and checks out fine for headspace, muzzle wear, and also seems to shoot good! - Bob

PS - I had never had this happen before, but the empty cases instantly freeze to the ground when it's cold and icy out. Soldiers probably wouldn't have noticed this, but maybe reenactors would. Frank, I took the Ford and had to use 4wd.

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