Weekend Range Trip...

[amadeus76]

Sorry, this doesn't really fit in well with any of the sub-forums and I didn't really feel like making multiple threads...

So this weekend I went out to the range with a few rifles... I went out with a Swiss K31, M1 Garand, and a Lee Enfield No 4 Mk2 to mostly blast away with to allow the barrel on my 1903a4 build to cool between groups.

The Garand and No 4 were essentially just throw away shots and I didn't really even try to seriously aim. The Garand honestly probably won't see much action in the long run. It's fun, but in terms of milsurp rifles I prefer bolt action guns. But the K31 is something else. Some of you will probably remember a thread I did on this rifle a while back. Well this was my first range trip with it and all I had was cheap PPU for it. I took the time to zero it, finding I had to raise the rear sight to 400 for POA/POI at 100 meters, but windage was dead on. I then went thru 3 boxes of PPU at 100 meters off hand. Even with this cheap ammo I was easily hitting a 6 inch plate! I didn't shoot for groups but I probably should have. I now get why these rifles have such a following... I'm sold on the K31!

The No. 4 is the recent mint and virgin Mk2 I picked up a little while back. It only has about 120rds thru the barrel so far and at this point I'm not worrying about accuracy yet. Good thing too as my generic 174gr reloads shot horribly. I'll put another 80rds thru her before I start to seriously look at accuracy and round recipes.

But the real reason I went out this time is I'm starting to work up accuracy loads for my 1903a4 build. This rifle is built off a recovered Remington receiver and is barreled with a 1943 2 groove barrel. I have a Hi-Lux/Malcolm repro 2.5x G82 scope. I went out with 5 different load recipes, all using Nosler brass and loaded with IMR4350 with 168gr Sierra Match King pills. I shot 3 5-shot groups for each recipe using powder charges of 48.8, 50.6, 52.4, 54.2, and 55.5 The best charge (50.6) gave me an average of 1.18 MOA from the 3 groups, with a best group of 1.02! For such a thin barrel and an anemic scope that seems pretty damn good. Next time out I'll tweak the charges by tenths of a grain and see if I can improve on the accuracy. After that I may or may not try different bullet weights/brands.

Overall a good day and I'm pleasantly surprised with the results.

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[mrclark303]

1" inch group's from an A4 is very good indeed!

I'm quite happy to get 3" inch group's from mine.

Agree with the K31, superb rifles, beautifully engineered and lovely to shoot.