Another different topic sighting in and using iron sights with the ladder???

[1911crazy]

So these military rifles were used with a certain weight FMJ bullet.  I found they all shoot high at 100yds using the correct weight bullet.  I find them all to be 1 1/2" to 3" high at 100yds using the 100yd "X" as the aim point.(center of the target)  Some of the military rifles are sighted in for 200yds or 300yds. There not sighted in for 100yd zero unless someone sighted it in before.

If we stay with the same weight bullet as the rifle was set up for we maybe ok with it still being accurate. Touching nothing.

But we can change the front sight height to zero in the iron sights better if its still shooting high.  With the ladder still set on 100yds as we replace the front sight with a higher one so it lowers our POA (point of aim) so were in the "X" and the bull at 100yds.

Now my point and opinions wanted?

If we change to a lighter weight bullet we start all over again sighting it in at 100yds with the sight ladder on 100yds. or on 100meters if its metric.  Once we get it sighted in at 100yds hitting the "X" in the center of the target.  Its adjusted at 100yds "zero" the starting point.

My dumb question is if its zero'd in at 100rds with our lighter bullet the sight ladder should be correct all the way to the sight ladders limit in yds/meters right???

My point is i want to play with the rifles with there orginal iron sights by sighting them in for the round were shooting at 100yds first and  then to see if the ladder sight is correct for the longer  distance. Without a long range place to shoot i'm stuck at 100yds so i'll have to use a ballastics caculator to determind how high it is at 100yds.  I believe i can go by the rise of the bullet with the balastics caculator at 100yds when i'm adjusting the sight ladder at farther distances.  What do you think will it work?

Goal; I would like to hunt yotes with a military rifle with no scope. And use the sight ladder for the longer shots.

I'm shooting my swede 6,5mm mauser with 139gr bullets and it was shooting very high at first so I purchased the 3.50 higher front sight for my swede mauser M96 and i found out the rifle needed a 2.xx something since there all different. I had to file it then to raise it up to the "x" at 100yds. Now she will shoot 1 1/2" - five shot groups in the "X" ring at 100yds if i do my part.  I never tried the sight ladder yet to see if its still accurate at distances yet.

Any thoughts or experiences with iron sights???

On the history channel they said a guy named California Joe made a two mile shot with his black powder rifle. I would think thats a lot of kentucky windage??

[shot1]

You will have to just shoot your rifle at the different distance to really see where to set your ladder sight. The reason that most military rifles shoot high at 100 yards is they have what is called a 300 yard battle sighting. That means with the back ladder sight on it's lowest setting you could aim center mass at a standing man and hit him somewhere between his head and belly. Here is a little trick that I have learned. If you want to raise the elevation in small amounts after you have put on a new front sight and zeroed for 100 yard point of aim. Take pieces of masking tape or duct tape and place under the back sight elevator. At 100 yards I can raise the POI 1/4 inch at 100 yards with each piece of masking tape and 1/2 inch with each piece of duct tape. If you want to cut down on fooling with setting the sights on your 6.5X55 Swede. Use a 120 Nosler ballistic tip and 46 grs Accurate Arms 4350, Rem case, CCI-BR2 primer, OAL 3.050 for right at 3000 fps from the 29" barrel of a M-96. This is a max load for the Swede 96 action according to Accurate Arms Manual. It is a tack driver in all my Swedes. Set you 100 yard zero 2 inches high and you will be on the money at 200 yards and 2" low at 300 yards. That way you don't have to fool with the sights. Just hold center mass of a deer or dog critter from point blank out to 300 yards and you will bust him. The 100 gr Sierra HP running a little over 3000 fps will scatter a groundhog all over the field also. Red mist city.

[1911crazy]

I only sighted in one of my swede rifles so i can use it for target shooting and hunting.  I know the sights are dead on for 100yds.  The swiss k31's are using 174gr bullets so if we stay in the area of 174gr's when reloading it the accuracy should be ok and the ladder site should work.

[Mikey]

Crazy:  If this is a Mauser rifle I would suggest you get a set of Swedish Mauser target front sights, they come indifferent heights from +1 to +3.5, used to cost about $10, and swap them out until your poa is your poi at 100m.  I used the Swedish front sights on a Yugo 48A I have and also on a VZ24:  they all fit right into the front sight slot without any fussing and give you a nice square front target sight.  The only other thing I would do is take a small Swiss file and square out the rear 'V' sight, then you have a nice square set of target like sights that are much better and much easier to sue than the original sights. 

If your rifle is not a Mauser I would pull the front sight and measure the base - I'm sure you can get a square replacement with a proper sized base from Brownells and work it down until you have poa/poi at 100m.  HTH.

[shot1]

1911crazy: Here is a load that I found that really shoots in my K-31's. If you use a 6 O'clock hold on a 6" bull it will put them in the center of the X-ring at 100 yards. That makes it shoot about 3" high.
This is the accuracy load as far as the powder goes out of the Sierra manual.
45.0 grs IMR 4064, Graf/Prvi case, Federal 210M primer, 155 gr Nosler custom competition HPBT, OAL 2.880 and I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die on this load.
Tennessee Gun Parts use to have high front sights for the K-31's.

For the K-31 if you want to make a hunter out of it get a clamp on scope mount. They really work.

[1911crazy]

Mikey; Great tip on the swede front sight fitting the other mausers.  They do look pretty close size wise.

On my swede 1907 CG M96 i already changed the front sight to the 3.50+ one from samco when they had them.  I ended up filing it down alot till it was dead on the "X" at 100yds. with the ladder all the way down to its lowest point.  This is my very first swede mauser and boy can she shoot accurately. I don't want to sight in all my surplus guns, just a few that i may go out to shoot accurately or hunt with.  My others I can adjust my aim to were they hit when i put them on paper.

For my swiss k31 i purchased the drill & tap St marie scopemount already.  I have a St Marie barrel dampener too but i may go with the muzzle brake instead on the scoped k31.  Since the k31 normally uses the 174gr bullets i may just stay with that for now.  I did see some 175gr FMJBT sniper rounds being offered too.  So when i reload i may go with those.  I would like to put together 3 of the k31's, one scoped, one with the st marie doptler sights(peep sights) and another with just the barrel dampener. I just received all my swiss slings and muzzle covers for all my k31's.  I was missing a few because of the low prices they had on some of these swiss k31's at the time.  Some came with nothing while others came with slings and muzzle caps.  Some more winter projects on my list for next year.  I have to purchase the st marie peep sights and they aren't so cheap.