I shot my No.4(T) scopeless and was underwhelmed

[Brian Dick]

Maple Leaf Eh, Your rifle needs a servicing/tune up to spec as they all did and still do. I've done more than I can count in the past 20+ years and you can't just leave them alone with loose screws and dried out wood, then take them to a competition! It's a good way to screw them up worse that they may already be. A little careful and basic maintenance won't hurt anything if done correctly and will cure the problems you have for the next 10 years at least. There is a happy medium. Guys who think they need to tear perfectly good rifles apart once a year to clean them are on the other end of the spectrum. before yopu know it, the forend drops off by itself and accuracy will surely be on the decline. I've fitted a lot of new wood to them in the past several years doing ground up sporter restorations. When the forend is fitted correctly and you have to give it a tap with a block of pine to get it off from the rear end, that's when they are perfect. So much so that all the ones I've sent out of here would do 2 moa at 100 yards and probably 1 moa in the hands of a young, competent shooter with good eyesight which I'm not. They were never sending me to sniper school, that's a fact!

ColinA states it short and sweet. Sometimes a good drink of raw linseed oil will work wonders and bring the forend bearings back where they should be after a long year hiatus. I haven't been disappointed yet as long as the bore gauges in spec, wood is fitted correctly, and the screws are tight.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------

Sorry for the typos. I have a No.4 to breech up and I'm in a hurry!

[browningautorifle]

What happened to make them inaccurate then?

You'd need to query Peter, it was his statement of fact from his past experience.

[bob q]

A question for you guys shooting those rifles . What size 5-shot groups are you getting at 100 yards / meters ? I mean average of many , not just a one off .

[Daan Kemp]

A comment. The lack of military cartridges leads to hand loading. Which has its own delightful challenges for small group sizes. And may lead to a lot of discussion of the best handloads.

[CINDERS]

Unless I have other indications of wild inconsistency, I'm not going to touch the bedding of this T

If your not inclined to do that then get it to someone who knows the craft like Brian said they may have sat and dried out over a long period of time mine was apart from the draws malady the collar was holding the action off the bottom wood hence the rocking motion. I checked the guard trigger front screw and it was tight but that was a falsehood as it was too long and with shrinkage of the wood from drying out guess that's what induced the rocking and smashed draws.
I was only pointing out the things that were wrong with my T and how I accidently discovered it and finding more out when I disassembled the rifle.

As a matter of practice I'll run over the screws of my rifles occasionally its uncanny how they come loose at a critical point and when your aiming for a 1/3 of a MOA group you do not need a loose screw or dried out wood.

Pics of a couple of 3 shot groups at 150m from my 6.5 x 284 handloads with 140 VLD Berger's & 100m from my APRS Rem 308 with 168gn A-Max reloads this is what we need from our rifles to even come close to some of the top shooters at our club, I class myself as a mediocre shot.

[Brian Dick]

The military specification was 3" groups at 100 yards. As I said, A well maintained rifle with a straight and properly fitted forend will shoot 2" groups with good quality ball ammo. At least, that's as good as I can shoot off a bench. I'm no master class shooter so they will probably do better in the hands of someone more capable. I've been using Portuguese FNM 1972 Mk.7z which is the most accurate surplus ammo with non-corrosive primers we've tested to date. I socked in 12k rounds of it when it was cheap and cheerful many years ago from Century Arms. My supply is starting to get low after many years and selling off half of it over time. We accuracy tested South African, Greek and Portuguese Mk.7z when my friend Bob Maze hosted the pre-telescopic sight sniper shoot on the Blue Ridge in Virgina back in 2015 and the FNM came out on top. Look up Galilean sights on NRA.org and you can find the video taken during the test. It's still what I use to range test restorations and repairs. At least until my supply is exhausted.

[Peter Laidler]

Words of pure magic there from Brian Dick, especially thread 11. Every No4T owner and shooter ought to remember this or better still, learn it by rote.

And something else too. There is just far too much fuzzy or irrational logic surrounding No4T's. A lot of enthusiastic amateurs too. Just get a copy of the EMER's and look after it to those exacting standards. And when you range test it for accuracy or zeroing it, use NATO Mk7 Ball.

[CINDERS]

Good to hear from you again Peter hope your keeping well.

[Peter Laidler]

Yep, keeping really well Cinders. A bit of an ordeal, but life is good.

As a matter of interest, the Military police (not the real police incidentally) stated in the court paperwork that between the 4 defendants, our naughtiness amounted to £500,000 (or 11 brand new specialised Army Land-Rovers at 2018 prices). Part way through the FIRST court case (there were 3 eventually...) this alice in wonderland figure had fallen to £370,000. At the END of that case, it had fallen to £48,000. By the end of the THIRD court case after I had employed a forensic accountant, my naughtiness had fallen to £3,784. £1,001 of this was an arbitrary figure put on an item by the Judge after the MoD stated in open court that the value to them was NIL - scrap! So in fact the property I had kept/disposed of/given away (including to the NZ, Indian and Aust Army) amounted to £2,783. The Judge refused to award costs against me but said that the harsh (? it was open conditions and easy...) custody was to reflect on the abuse of my authority. So there you have it.......

So due to the investigating sergeants lack of scholastic achievement, his mathematical calculation of £500,000 had been over egged to the tune of some £496,000. Mind you, according to an inadvertent release to a Barrister during the court case, it had cost them £2.2 MILLION just to get to the first trial. There were a further 2 afterwards..........

[Eaglelord17]

As mentioned on accuracy above, they weren't made to shoot needles at 1000m. It is one thing I always find a bit funny about shooting military surplus is due to how well modern firearms can shoot, people expect surplus ones to shoot just as well if not better. From a honest standpoint a modern made Savage Axis has the same if not more potential for accuracy than a No. 4(T). That doesn't mean I would prefer the Axis though.