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safe load for M1903A1 / Unertl Rifle

J

Jager408408

Private
Minuteman
Aug 24, 2022
8
2
UK
the rifle I have I believe is about 80 years old and the two grove? barrel looks original to me.. with this in mind I was looking for a light accurate load I could use, I have loaded 170 Lap at 2500fps but only got 3/4 MOA at 100yds but have not shot it at distance.
any advice would be gratefully received.
 

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Jager408408 said:
the rifle I have I believe is about 80 years old and the two grove? barrel looks original to me.. with this in mind I was looking for a light accurate load I could use, I have loaded 170 Lap at 2500fps but only got 3/4 MOA at 100yds but have not shot it at distance.
any advice would be gratefully received.
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The standard load at that time was 48.5 gr. of 4895, under a 150 gr. bullet. We didn't have dedicated sniper loads like we do today. Also, 4895 was THE most common powder. They did not differentiate between Hodgdon and DuPont (it was all actually made by DuPont, Hodgdon bought it by the rail car after WWII).
 
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Something to consider is a 125gr Speer TNT or a Hornady 110gr VMax on that load. Would do fine out to 200. I’ve run the 110 VMax with 47gr of H4895 in 03s and Garands.
 
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I have loaded 170 Lap at 2500fps but only got 3/4 MOA at 100ydI have loaded 170 Lap at 2500fps but only got 3/4 MOA at 100yds.
Click to expand...
What recipe did you use? Powder charge, brass and primer? I have some of those bullets, hence the question.

I run moderate power loads at 300 and 600 yards with my old M1903. Often a 175 SMK with 46.5 to 46.7 grains of Varget will usually work. With 170 Lapuas, 46.5 to 47.0 grains of Varget should work well out to 600 yds. Also use H4350, but it’s more of a full power load I use at 600 yards matches.

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hi... thanks for your message great looking rifle..
I used Lap brass, Fed primers..RCBS comp dies and 170 lockbase.... I found 45g of Vit N140 seams to work best doing around 2500 fps which I think is pretty light.. I worked up to 50g but that seamed a bit stiff. and I wanted not to over work the old girl..)
I like the idea of the 175s as I alway prefer the heavier end of bullets..but I not sure of the twist, ive tried to gauge this and can only get somewhere between 1-10 to 1-12 twist so the 175s should be fine.
 
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