Went to the range to try my reloads, and to try my M1 Carbine which I still had not fired yet.
I reload .3006 LC military brass with pulled M2Ball 150 gr. fmj bullets that I bought in bulk from Wiedners. I use 48.5 Grains of Accurate XMR 4064, which should give me about 2700 fps. I used Standard Large Rifle CCI primers. I havent chonyed it yet, but it should be close to that.
My CMP 03A3 was first. It has an original banged up dark and dinged stock, and a new not matching handgard, all the metal was in good condition and the barrel looked like a mirror inside once I cleaned it. The front sight blade is so narrow, that you can take a real fine bead with it. I only shot it off the bench, but all the groups were between 1.5" and 2". I didnt think a 2 grove barrel could shoot that good. the bolt is so smooth, and the emptys come out of the chamber, cool to the touch, no pressure signs at all. I was extremely happy with its performance.
My Danish VAR M1 Garand was next. I have used my garand in about 3 or 4 local Garand matches so far and it is a solid performer. I used a sled clip for single loading for the first time. I''m left handed and it would make it easier on the slow fire stage. I think it was harder to load the rounds into the sled with my left hand than it is to load a round and depress the follower without the sled. My garand got 2.5" groups with my reloads. Not as good as it gets with the military surplus, I have got 1" to 1.5" group with it in the past. It is still ok, but I will see if I can tweek the reloads to shoot well in both the Garand and the 03A3.
The M1 Carbine is one that I bought from the CMP thru my Club just before they stopped shipping them. We have some younger shooters who like to come to our club, and its good for a few of the members to have an M1 Carbine for the smaller shooters to use.
I hadnt shot it yet, I ordered some original GI mags for it, some new and some used. The new mags worked great, the used ones did not feed the last round. I put 50 rounds thru it without hiccups other than the used clips did not feed the last round. I benched the last mag of 15 rounds at a target at 100 yards with a 6" black center. 13 of the 15 were in the black spread evenly, 2 were just outside. I was really impressed with the Carbine, I can see why it was popular in WWII, atleast by those who didnt have to shoot it in anger!
Because my club shoots the Garand match at both 100 or 200 yards, I decided try and sight in for a dead on hold instead of a 6-o-clock hold. I always used a 6oclock hold on targets in the past, but changing the setting for different yardages always takes me about 5 or 6 sighters. We wont know the distance till we show up on that day, it depends on what other shooting is going on at the range. I havent shot a match with the dead on hold yet, but I will try it at our September match. I will use the 03A3, I love that narrow front sight blade.
The best part about shooting these rifles is the history of them. These are the actual rifles used in WW1, WW2, and maybey Korea. Just carrying my Garand around the range you begin to notice how HEAVY it is. It gives you a real appreceation of the GI''s who carryed it thru the hot humid jungles of the South Pacific with a couple hundered rounds of ammo, and other gear, all while people were shooting at them.
Now if the CMP would only start selling M-14''s and M1-Thompsons, then we could really have fun!
