BIGBOREFAN: Good on ya, those beasties can shoot very well indeed. You said this one did not have the bayonet on it - on my brother's M44 we took the bayonet off and ground down the bayonet attachment and she shot much better than she first did. Then I bedded the stock and that little beast would group under an inch at 50 yds with 10 shots of rapid fire S&B ammo in 200 gn.
You can always use those for 'beaters or truck guns', but don't sell them short - they are rugged and can be quite acurate. Once scoped, they can be as accurate as a new hunting rifle and there is nothing to take a back seat to with a 200 gn 30 caliber bullet at near 2400'/sec (have to check on that velocity). My brother bought his as a 'beater' to hunt hog with down south because the 308 he had wasn't 'eyeball' accurate with 180 grainers unless he loaded them to accuracy speeds, which aren't all that great. His 7.62x54R outshot that 308, and that was all she wrote about that tale. Mikey.
