I was looking on the Internet and found this link, as to 303 factory accuracy with Lee Enfield’s
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I have been used to shooting Lee Enfield’s with 144 – 155grn 7.62mm ammunition. I have found that the RG L2A2 green and black spot 144grn works well at short range 300 – 600 yards, with groups of around 1.5 to 4.5 inc, as a target rifle shooter I have found that my rifles, work best with RG L42A3 155grn, which shoots groups comparable to modern rifles.
7.62mm GGG 147 – 155grn sierra Match King or M80 http://www.midwayusa.com/product/205...mmo-can-of-640 is very good from 200 – 1000 yards producing some very tight groups, as with anything it all depends on the shooter the day and the rifle.
If I were to have ammunition made for my Lee Enfield, I would go to http://www.lonestaraccuracy.com/. I have used this ammunition at international level at home and abroad, it is simply the best.
I'm confused by your references to 155 SMK with regards to GGG and RUAG. The GGG is loaded with 147 grain bullet and I don't find a reference in the RUAG site for a 155 SMK load. Would you please clarify?
Keith
Based upon the discussions above I went and inventoried my 7.62 NATO ball stocks and found the following L2A2:
RG 30 11 87 This is one can of ammo packed in 50 round plastic boxes
RG 09 02 82 This is two cans with the ammo packed in 20 round cardboard boxes all marked with a black dot, as is all the rest of my L2A2 ammo
RG 25 07 90 1000 rnds
RG 19 05 88 400 rnds
7.62mm NATO Ball Short Range - British Military Small Arms Ammo is an excellent article on this cartridge, and has a very tantalizing comment: "In several years (at least 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1992) L2A2 ammunition was manufactured by Hirtenberger in Austria headstamped as British L2A2 complete with "RG" marking. These can easily be identified by the different, heavier font used in the headstamp." That being the case I intend to try the Hirtenberger I have in stock from those years to see how it performs in the L39A1. In other guns it has performed very well.
I'm confused by your references to 155 SMK with regards to GGG and RUAG. The GGG is loaded with 147 grain bullet and I don't find a reference in the RUAG site for a 155 SMK load. Would you please clarify?
Keith
In the Uk RUAG made 7.62mm for the NRA of UK for use in the imperial meeting at Bisley, this has been the target rifle shooters stable 7.62mm ammunition since 2008, when the RG contract was changed in favour of the RUAG contract in 2009 – 2014. more information about this ammunition can here www.nra.org.uk/common/files/news/09/ammotests09.pdf
In 2014 the contract for ammo was won by GGG, this had been shot in NATO format with clubs in 144 – 147grn ammo for some years, as a more cost efficient round than the RUAG counterpart. For the imperial meeting in 2014 the ammo used was to the specification http://www.uploadlibrary.com/Nationa...-notes-GGG.pdf and https://ukshootingnews.wordpress.com...ct-tech-specs/. This ammunition is shot with a SMK 2155, but as the L39, L42 are designed to shoot NATO rounds the L2A2 is similar to the GGG, RUAG, FN NATO rounds.
7.62mm NATO Ball Short Range - British Military Small Arms Ammo is an excellent article on this cartridge, and has a very tantalizing comment: "In several years (at least 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1992) L2A2 ammunition was manufactured by Hirtenberger in Austria headstamped as British L2A2 complete with "RG" marking. These can easily be identified by the different, heavier font used in the headstamp." That being the case I intend to try the Hirtenberger I have in stock from those years to see how it performs in the L39A1. In other guns it has performed very well.
Keith[/QUOTE]
The RG “Green Spot” in the grey box with 144grn was used for target rifles shooting up until 1999, in 2000 when the adoption of the Target Comp 155grn RG round, this was in a blue box shown http://id.gun.fm/images/ammo/7.62x51..._155gr_002.jpg this 155grn was used up until 2008 for target shooting, but is still in use with the MOD.
Are we SURE that Ruag made the ammo (see thread 14, para 1) - or did they simply make the cases on contract for RG as others have done before. I don't mean NRA contracts or other commercial stuff but UK Military spec NATO Ball.
I'm not an ammo tech but hope Bombdoc and Ensci come in to clarify this. I just feel that it could cause all sorts of confusion, not to say problems, if we had RG 'made' ammo made somewhere else with no means of identifying it except for the notion that the case stamping was '.......not as deep'
Just me being a bit suspicious after years of knowing (sorry....., fumbling) my way around the ADAC system and how it works. And this isn't how it works in my opinion
I did some direct side by side comparisons today at 100 yards: Hirtenberger vs Portuguese vs L2A2 vs Australian Mark 1 vs ABT M118. The ABT had in the past shot very sell indeed in this gun, I had never tried Hirt and Port and was never very impressed with L2A2. As for Aust Mk1, I didn't know what to expect. All of course are slightly different loads except for the ABT which is a knock off of the M118 match/sniper round issued a few years back to US forces. Before I show the results let me admit to a terrible transgression: I apparently had not assembled my L39A1 properly a few months back, in that the steel plate through which the king screw inserts into the action was not pushed all the way forward, preventing the trigger guard from seating flush as it should. Small thing but given how sensitive the gun is to being set up right, it was bound to have an effect. Prior to shooting today, I made sure all parts were in their allotted spot and tightened snug but not tight. Let the abuse begin.
Portuguese ball top left, ABT M118 right
L2A2 top and bottom
Aust Mk1 top, Hirtenberger bottom
Conclusions:
a. Given that one group does not a trend make, the L2A2 has held 2MOA very consistently over the months
b. The ABT does not shoot the way it did in my limited test when first I got the gun. Don't know why.
c. The Portuguese ball seems to shoot tighter than the L2A2 and I have a lot of it.
d. The Aust Mk1 seems to shoot the best but getting my hands on more is problematical.
Bit confused, this Aussie Mk1, do you mean the F1 practice round?
Developed and used by the services and rifle clubs in training. It proved very accurate and consistant, L2A2 was not allowed in competition because of the pressures developed in converted Enfield and Mauser actions, the F1 ball proved to be easier on the service rifles, much less kick and far better grouping.
The end result of those changes left me with a few thousand L2A2 rounds, that I am only just getting around to using.
Cprher it is VERY important to ensure that the rifle bedding is setup correctly, this ensures the consistency you are trying to attain, and will show in you final results (at the target end).
The RG L2A2 seems to be consistently getting a 1MOA or 1” at 100x yards group top to bottom (if they are 1”x1” squares) I must assume some wind on the left and right shots, but they are still not bad and certainly within the specification of the ammunition.
Within the target rifle community it has been found that for the best accuracy, a hand loaded SMK 2155 tuned to the rifle, and in the case of the L42/L39 allowed to fit in the magazine will produce the best and most consistent results. Every rifle is different like every shooter, if you are using the L2A2 and others for practice then you have some good practice ammunition from the results shown.
Remember that the target dimensions this ammunition was designed to hit are shown below:
1972 short range target dimensions
200x 3” (V-Bull) 4.5” (Bull) 9” (Inner) 14” (Magpie & Aiming Mark) 24” (Outer)
300x 4.5” (V-Bull) 6.75” (Bull) 13.5” (Inner) 21” (Magpie & Aiming Mark) 36” (Outer)
500x 8” (V-Bull) 12” (Bull) 27” (Inner) 36” (Magpie & Aiming Mark) 72” (Outer)
600x 10” (V-Bull) 15” (Bull) 27” (Inner) 36” (Magpie & Aiming Mark) 72” (Outer)
(From the book target rifle shooting by major e.g.b Reynolds and Robin Fulton)
Bit confused, this Aussie Mk1, do you mean the F1 practice round?
Muffett.2008,
The headstamp on the round is AFF 88. On the bandoleer is printed (from left to right) 50 7.62F4 AFF24 3 88 AUST/MK1 CP 1 (with an N below that) and 12/67 (which I first thought was a date code.
Keith
---------- Post added at 08:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 AM ----------
DanL96a1,
You of course are absolutely correct. It was a silly oversight on my part, but once found out was easily corrected. I can't blame the lateral dispersion on wind. While not wind free, it's a pretty protected range. I think what is more to blame is my left hand on the forearm not providing a consistent grip shot to shot. I found myself gripping the forearm to tightly and as I learned to relax my grip the groups settled down side to side. The vertical dispersion I found with ABT and Hirtenberger I think might be due to them being a bit more vigorous in their velocity and recoil. When I shoot this ammo in my FAL I can detect a distinct difference between these rounds, to the point that on my FALs set up for Hirt, the L2A2 will not cycle the action. The dude that made the video you posted also has made one about how to grip the L42/L39 (on Youtube.com) which explains how to read targets and deduce from them the problem with your shooting. I found that very helpful. Bottom line - based on what the gun does with Aussie and Portuguese ammo I have no doubt the gun can hold some very tight groups if I do my part.