I took the 1903A4 out today to see how she would perform, yes “she,” her name is Darlene. I’ve not shot this rifle but once and that was some time ago. With the Vintage Match last week, I thought I’d break her out and see how she would perform with some differing ammo. So, a CMP papered 1903A4 with a M73B1 series 3, which is correct for the SN range of the rifle.
A view back down the line from the rear berm where I was setting clays. Stupid me, you can’t shoot clays at 100 or 300 when you have a Known Distance (KD) target up!
Setting up at 100 to do some sighting. I was shooting some CMP Talon FMJ (147gr?), some 168gr FGMM and 168gr Hornady ELD-Ms. Stupid me did not bring enough bags to really get the rifle settled. I had a front bag, but no rear bag. I thought I would just shoot off my left hand, but I didn’t take the reticle into account and that any movement translates easily to the target. Next time I’ll bag it in so I can get a better feel for how well this rifle performs. Oh, and bug spray, lots of bug spray.
Alright, first shots out with the CMP ammo. I think the crosshairs may have been stuck as I dialed in corrections with no change in POI. I dialed in 5 MOA up, 5 MOA down and the same for windage and I think it resolved the problem. Here are the first shots from 100.
I dialed in corrections and fired on another target.
We were out of time at 100 so I quickly fired 3rds of FGMM and then 3rds of the Hornandy. I'm thinking this rifle is liking that Hornady. What bothers me is I could have done better with a rear bag.
We moved back to 300 and I was in a valley. I had to flip the front bag and grab a shot bag to try and get some stability. My groups showed the problems. I dialed in 5MOA and fired and thought I was too low, so dialed in another 2.5 MOA, which turned out to be too high. I dialed back 1/2 MOA and then we were out of time again at 300 so I quickly fired some of the Hornady.
300y ball ammo:
300y Hornady:
A view back down the line from the rear berm where I was setting clays. Stupid me, you can’t shoot clays at 100 or 300 when you have a Known Distance (KD) target up!
Setting up at 100 to do some sighting. I was shooting some CMP Talon FMJ (147gr?), some 168gr FGMM and 168gr Hornady ELD-Ms. Stupid me did not bring enough bags to really get the rifle settled. I had a front bag, but no rear bag. I thought I would just shoot off my left hand, but I didn’t take the reticle into account and that any movement translates easily to the target. Next time I’ll bag it in so I can get a better feel for how well this rifle performs. Oh, and bug spray, lots of bug spray.
Alright, first shots out with the CMP ammo. I think the crosshairs may have been stuck as I dialed in corrections with no change in POI. I dialed in 5 MOA up, 5 MOA down and the same for windage and I think it resolved the problem. Here are the first shots from 100.
I dialed in corrections and fired on another target.
We were out of time at 100 so I quickly fired 3rds of FGMM and then 3rds of the Hornandy. I'm thinking this rifle is liking that Hornady. What bothers me is I could have done better with a rear bag.
We moved back to 300 and I was in a valley. I had to flip the front bag and grab a shot bag to try and get some stability. My groups showed the problems. I dialed in 5MOA and fired and thought I was too low, so dialed in another 2.5 MOA, which turned out to be too high. I dialed back 1/2 MOA and then we were out of time again at 300 so I quickly fired some of the Hornady.
300y ball ammo:
300y Hornady:
