Quote Originally Posted by Bill H View Post
I doubt that you can see any difference at all between a 2 groove and a 4 groove barrel.
I second that. My first RA 03A3 was a 9-43 two groove barrel that shot like it was on fire. With USGI WWII surplus M2 AP rounds it was good for near MOA out to 200 yards. With handloads that I crafted from the 1X fired M2 brass, I used CMPicon surplus 173 grain match bullets for a near MOA load out to 300 yards using surplus 4895.

At our old 300 yard range we had a round steel bearing out of a boxcar that measured 3.5" across a flat face. It was about 3" thick (looked like a very large steel aspirin). With those CMP bullets, my 2 groove 03A3 could ring that steel bearing more than 75% of the time.

After I shot out the original barrel throat I went though the same agony over 2 groove vs. 4 or 6 groove. I found another RA 9-43 two groove barrel for sale on no other than the old Joustericon board. I had the rifle re-barreled with the exact same dated barrel as it had. And it shoots just as well.

I shoot a lot of cast loads in it now, mainly the Hensley & Gibbs #99 GC (which is nearly identical to the Lyman/Ideal 311299) and 17.0grs of 2400 for a very accurate 200 yard load.

When I load jacketed bullets I tend to use either the Sierra 168's or the 175's and have always had near MOA performance out of this rifle. A quick check of my filed targets shows some really spectacular groups with the 175's.

The point is...two groove rifles can shoot just as well as 4 groove. I would not argue the point that the average 4 groove shoots better than the average two groove, but two groove barrels are nothing to sneeze at in the accuracy department.

I would pick a better shooting two groove over an average shooting 4 groove anyday.

And for disclosure, I own three 03A3's. One each in 2 groove, 4 groove, and SC 6 groove. The Two groove is a range favorite.