Range report 1943 BSA Shirley No.4 Mk.1 (FTR'd 1949)

[spinecracker]

This is my first actual range report, so bear with me. I have been having all sorts of trouble zeroing in my L.E. No.4 Mk.1, and decided that it was either me, the rifle, the ammunition, the scope, the scope mount or a combination of these factors that was to blame. After careful experimentation (i.e. me swearing copiously at the gun range), I found that the rifle was grouping very well, the ammunition (1944 Canadian surplus with headstamp of "DAC 44 VII") was more accurate than I thought, and the scope mount (S&K instamount) was as solid as a rock and aligned correctly. This left me with myself and the scope. I binned the scope and replaced it with a Tasco 3-9x32 Pronghorn (hey, I'm not made of money, and I couldn't really bin myself). Today I managed to get to the range. It was foggy with 200 yard visibility at times. Not a good start. It was also cold (that moist cold that gets into your bones) at about 25 degrees F. The only thing in my favour was a total absence of wind. I zeroed the rifle in quite quickly. For fun, and to see if I could hit a jackrabbit at 100 yards, I put a small dried pumpkin out at 100 yards - photo of the result below:



The pumpkin is 4 inches across. I fired 8 rounds, which formed the inverted "T" shape, all rounds landing in about a 1 inch diameter circle. I turned the pumpkin round a little and fired another 4 shots (as is seen on the left side of the image). 2 rounds went a little high, the next 2 a little low, but the spread was less than 1 inch. There were no misses.

The reason for my experiment was to see how much of a variable the ammunition was. It performed extremely well, even though it was over 60 years old and may not have been stored in the best of environments. I also noted that I was slightly more accurate shooting at the pumpkin (a tiny orange blob in the distance) than shooting at the normal target (VERY tiny orange dot in the distance). All I need to do now is try the rifle out with commercial ammo and see the difference in point of impact, and to improve my skill with a rifle. I will be repeating the experiment in summer, when I am not having my (insert expletive) frozen off, and I will be trying targets out to 500 yards (when I sort out some steel plates to shoot). Thanks.

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[BruceV]

Cool! Given the temperature in which you were firing, maybe I should say, "Way cool! I will restrain my Monday Morning impulse to offer coffee cup advice on zeroing/firing your rifle. From what I've read, working with the Lee-Enfield series of rifles is different compared to working with a Mauser type rifle. I will look forward to further reports of your experiences with your Mk. 4. No. 1. I wish you every success. Sincerely. BruceV.