Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick View Post
I know one of those types. After a bore-scope investigation, he told me that my original Winchester 94 in 3240 was only fit for a display cabinet, not for shooting. But my WIN94 doesn't understand Germanicon and therefore continues to shoot as well as I can point it (well OK, perhaps that's not so good any more).

So in which competitions does your friend participate, and how well does he place? I'm not being sarcastic, but there are some shooters who are so wrapped up in load fiddling, that they lose contact with actual shooting performance. I have a 6mm BR that will produce an 0.2 MOA group at 100 meters. Unfortunately, my PWF is larger than that. In other words, I am the limiting factor, and even if the rifle could produce 0.1MOA mounted on a lead sledge, that would hardly produce any visible improvement in my scores.

Twice as much time spent in practice under competition conditions would help me more than twice as many steps in producing "perfect" ammo. There is an old saying " a bad workman always blames his tools". Certainly, some spend more time optimizing their tools that actually learning to use them to best effect. OK, I'm old-fashioned.

Getting back to the 30-06 (or .308 for more modern types), I think it is not correct to conflate the Garand with its .308 successor, as the distance between the muzzle and the gas port on the Garand is much shorter than on the M1Aicon. So where the Garand op-rod receives a short "puff", the MIA gets a comparatively "slow blow". Still, I appreciate the warning and will seriously consider N135 - which, by the way, is the fastest powder in the Vihtavuori loading tables for 30-06 with 130gn or heavier bullets.
JUST WANT TO SAY...YOUR ATTITUDE STINKS...HE ISN'T ONE OF THOSE GUYS!

Wasn't trying to start a internet war. I guarantee he is beyond anal about accuracy and has developed a load for a M1a1 that rivals the majority of bolt guns he competes against. I have been at military matches (I shoot in a different discipline) and he does amazing in open sniper. He usually places in the top 3 and competes against custom built rifles with his Springfield.

Last competition there were 11 shooters in "open sniper" and he placed 2nd. Considering the fact a .223 has an distinct advantage over a .308 in recoil alone I personally know his efforts pay off time after time.

He is a Canadianicon who joined the US Army and served as a forward observer in Vietnam. He is in his early 70's and considering the 15 shots at 200m are prone off elbows with no part of the gun touching the ground. The other two distances are timed/prone and a bipod is used. He competes against some custom built AR style .223's and up to Sako TRG22's so very formidable competition for a Springfield MIA1.

Yes practice is important and he does a lot of that however every other single thing about reloading the very best round counts. Everything from neck tension to uniforming the primer pocket has a bearing on accuracy...ask the F Class shooter! His objective was to prove to us he could give the best bolt guns a serious run in competition at 200m/300m and 400m... for anyone not familiar with the metric system that is 217 yds/328 yds and 437 yds.

Do me a favour, don't accept anything he says as having merit, I could care less.