Winter Warrior 2022-2023 Postal Match for Iron Sight Military Rifles

[Mountain]

Yah, I just checked again. I don't have anything to compare it to, and this CMP gauge my be a little off, but it's right at 4, maybe a bit over. It has been through a metric shit ton of shooting, I bought 500 rounds of PPU M1 150gr rounds when I got it and have reloaded them a few times. In addition a few spam cans of HXP and that brass is now on reload #4. I keep brass separate for each rifle so I have a rough estimate of round count. It's definitely above 3,500 for this rifle.

I just did my annual strip, inspect and clean on this rifle. Everything is in spec, but I suspect the mainspring will need replacing next winter. It's a bit compressed (20.25 inches last year, 20 inches today, about 600? rounds this year) compared to the measurement I took last winter, but still in spec. Re-peened the front sight grooves on the barrel as well, so it's nice and snug with no slop. That being said, next week I'll put 40 or so rounds through it to re-settle the action in the stock. After that, I'm thinking I'm going to go after 168s again with some LC68 brass I have. That brass is really good, heavier and thicker than most brass I have on hand and really consistent in all my bolt guns, so maybe it'll show me something different in the M1.


The accuracy of this M1 does frustrate me, especially compared to how the rest of collection fairs, but there is definitely room for improvement in my technique.

Re: Pembroke: Sounds good, I'm out in a burb of Boston but my parents live around the 2/495 interchange. I make the trip out to that area every weekend for HSC anyways...

Same story for me if I take one out of the stock. It takes a few rounds to settle back in. Yep, that's a lot of rounds. Had to look it up: Criterion says ~5,000 rounds is the life of a barrel for decent match accuracy. No clue if an accurate statement but someone had posted that some commercial throat leads were 'gentle' and might purposely gauge higher than a G.I. barrel. What's the muzzle wear on that barrel?

IIRC the rule of thumb is if the spring is compressed to ~19" or lower it needs to be replaced. 20" supposed to remain in the OK zone, though the real spec is that via a 5lb weight the spring must compress to a length of between 16.75″ and 17.75″. I've had some pretty worn out springs in some of my M1's yet they all went bang and cycled fine. Any M1's I'm going to shoot a lot get an Orion7 spring lubed up with Mobil1 grease. ~$9 and free replacement if it ever rusts (it's stainless) or wears out (it won't in our lifetime).

Trigger pull? A decent trigger job is always a plus for better groups.

 

[mac1911]

Same story for me if I take one out of the stock. It takes a few rounds to settle back in. Yep, that's a lot of rounds. Had to look it up: Criterion says ~5,000 rounds is the life of a barrel for decent match accuracy. No clue if an accurate statement but someone had posted that some commercial throat leads were 'gentle' and might purposely gauge higher than a G.I. barrel. What's the muzzle wear on that barrel?

IIRC the rule of thumb is if the spring is compressed to ~19" or lower it needs to be replaced. 20" supposed to remain in the OK zone, though the real spec is that via a 5lb weight the spring must compress to a length of between 16.75″ and 17.75″. I've had some pretty worn out springs in some of my M1's yet they all went bang and cycled fine. Any M1's I'm going to shoot a lot get an Orion7 spring lubed up with Mobil1 grease. ~$9 and free replacement if it ever rusts (it's stainless) or wears out (it won't in our lifetime).

Trigger pull? A decent trigger job is always a plus for better groups.

Yes a nice clean crisp trigger goes a long way even at 4.5+ lbs

 

[mac1911]

Good shootin'!

I hear ya regarding losing brass in snow. I've found some of my own brass a couple springs after a bigger snow winter. Not that we've had a ton of snow, but somebody left me over 40 pcs of once fired PPU .30-06 this winter. That's a full set for a CMP match, LOL.

You sure that Criterion barrel is a 4+? Though many USGI barrels can actually gage at ~1 even when new, a Criterion usually starts as a '0'. A 4+ would be a metric shit ton of wear on a Criterion. If indeed that's the measure, scoring in the 90's at 200 yards is very good.

If you have a chance to borrow a proper service rifle sling and can set it up and use it correctly, that should tighten up your group quite a bit, not that a score in the 90's is bad- but you just might bump that into the high 90's.

As mentioned by Mac, there is some fine tuning for Garands that can tighten up the groups as well.

Guess I need to drag out one of my Garands over the next few days. Probably will be the National Match clone I cobbled together a few years ago.

I have seen articles that new M1 barrels could be at higher measurements when new.
I have a M1 that has High MV and TE and it groups pretty well.
I also have a low numbered GI barrel that would not shoot. Cured by the last upgrade: new criterion.

 

[45collector]

Got the Finn captured M91/30 out today. Not cold enough to qualify so don't enter my score I just wanted to show how accurate this old girl is. Resting on my range back at the bench, 100 yards standard SR1. A little wind but mild. Russian surplus ammo.

 

[mac1911]

Yah, I just checked again. I don't have anything to compare it to, and this CMP gauge my be a little off, but it's right at 4, maybe a bit over. It has been through a metric shit ton of shooting, I bought 500 rounds of PPU M1 150gr rounds when I got it and have reloaded them a few times. In addition a few spam cans of HXP and that brass is now on reload #4. I keep brass separate for each rifle so I have a rough estimate of round count. It's definitely above 3,500 for this rifle.

I just did my annual strip, inspect and clean on this rifle. Everything is in spec, but I suspect the mainspring will need replacing next winter. It's a bit compressed (20.25 inches last year, 20 inches today, about 600? rounds this year) compared to the measurement I took last winter, but still in spec. Re-peened the front sight grooves on the barrel as well, so it's nice and snug with no slop. That being said, next week I'll put 40 or so rounds through it to re-settle the action in the stock. After that, I'm thinking I'm going to go after 168s again with some LC68 brass I have. That brass is really good, heavier and thicker than most brass I have on hand and really consistent in all my bolt guns, so maybe it'll show me something different in the M1.


The accuracy of this M1 does frustrate me, especially compared to how the rest of collection fairs, but there is definitely room for improvement in my technique.

Re: Pembroke: Sounds good, I'm out in a burb of Boston but my parents live around the 2/495 interchange. I make the trip out to that area every weekend for HSC anyways...

I will say getting shots in the black is a very good start. Think of it like this
90x3 for cmp games mach is a 270/300 I struggle to keep close to that and honestly shooting the M1 well has been a struggle for me.

Although when tour shotgunning and using every corner of the black to get that score something is not repeatable.

1. Hows the lower band?
2. Any tight wood contact where it should not be?
3. Stock fit
4. Hand guards.
5. Barrel tight.
6. Sights tight

Work on your sight picture and make sure its the same

Because of the way I physically end up behind the rear sight I have to struggle to maintain a good sight picture. If Not I tend to drop my eye down behind the rear aperture which causes my shots to go high.

 

[cjrubes]

I was able to get to the range this past Saturday...it was cool (around 35F) with a slight breeze. I decided to take two rifles I haven't shot in a long time...my Steyr M95/30 in 8x56r and my Russian capture K98k.

First up was my M95/30 with some handloads (PPU 208gr FMJs over IMR4064)

Target #1 - 85-1X?
A little low but not too bad. I couldn't remember my hold so I was winging it here


Target #2 - 86-0X
Better elevation but I yanked a few left. Shooting a light rifle that has a pretty good kick can really test your fundamentals!

 

[cjrubes]

Second up was my K98k. It's a typical Russian capture originally produced at ERMA in 1938. This rifle was my gateway to milsurps so it holds a special place in the collection. It has an excellent bore and it shoots quite well. I was shooting some handloads...170gr Speer Hot-Cors on top of some IMR4064





Target #1 - 91-0X
First couple of shots went high as I was figuring out my hold and settling in.



Target #2 - 91-1X
It held a really nice group here...too bad it was about 2 inches too high! I had a couple of fliers which were on me but I'll take a group this size any day. I may need to try this rifle again and get my elevation dialed in before shooting the Winter Warrior targets.

 

[cetme24]

It was a little warm by the time I got out this morning. Just hit 40 but I was in the shade so I’m calling it 39. Fresh off the project bench Italian Bren in 30-06. Rechambered 303 barrel in semi auto. Ammo was Austrian surplus 30-06. Ran good and I think I’m done with tweaking the gas ports.

 

[mac1911]

It was a little warm by the time I got out this morning. Just hit 40 but I was in the shade so I’m calling it 39. Fresh off the project bench Italian Bren in 30-06. Rechambered 303 barrel in semi auto. Ammo was Austrian surplus 30-06. Ran good and I think I’m done with tweaking the gas ports.

Just awesome ! Wish I knew you where down there , I could have snuck over while I was out and about.

 

[cetme24]

I’m surprised we still havnt run into each other

 

[mac1911]

I’m surprised we still havnt run into each other

Im usually there lunch time weekdays. WHEN I can get out.

 

[Mountain]

It was a little warm by the time I got out this morning. Just hit 40 but I was in the shade so I’m calling it 39. Fresh off the project bench Italian Bren in 30-06. Rechambered 303 barrel in semi auto. Ammo was Austrian surplus 30-06. Ran good and I think I’m done with tweaking the gas ports.

Another awesome project and damn, it is much more accurate than I would have expected.

 

[Mountain]

Second up was my K98k. It's a typical Russian capture originally produced at ERMA in 1938. This rifle was my gateway to milsurps so it holds a special place in the collection. It has an excellent bore and it shoots quite well. I was shooting some handloads...170gr Speer Hot-Cors on top of some IMR4064

View attachment 723682

View attachment 723685

Target #1 - 91-0X
First couple of shots went high as I was figuring out my hold and settling in.

View attachment 723686

Target #2 - 91-1X
It held a really nice group here...too bad it was about 2 inches too high! I had a couple of fliers which were on me but I'll take a group this size any day. I may need to try this rifle again and get my elevation dialed in before shooting the Winter Warrior targets.

View attachment 723687

That's a great shooter. Looks like the POI would be dead on for 200 yards.

 

[cetme24]

Another awesome project and damn, it is much more accurate than I would have expected.

I was a little surprised as well. It is a relatively low ware 303 barrel but I figured the slightly larger bore would have more of an effect.

 

[mac1911]

Its cold today and either ash or snow is coming down.
Going to get out for a quick run
1903a3 with some ranchdogs and 5477
Remington 513t
Wish me luck

 

[mac1911]

Finally Finally got out.
The line up :1903a3 ,Glenfield 25, 513t US Property
I shot all rifles as zeroed previously. I generally dont touch my sights and just shoot for groups. Unless I am shooting a match

Glenfield 25 : yeah yeah I know.
My first rifle spring 1979 I was 8
Lived most of its life shooting shorts. Dad knew a few guys at a few town dumps and we got to do some rat control for several summers. Never a accurate rifle but always provided 25 yard fun. This scope has lived on it since mid 90s
The trigger is marginally acceptable. By design you cant get to much past 2.5lbs or the trigger will fail to retain the bolt when cycling.
Today was a test between tenX and SK standard plus.
50 yards , a better scope and or target sights could help I think.
I used a 200 yd SR 1 center its all I had on hand. TenX on the left SK on the right

 

[mac1911]

1903a3 100 yards
165 grain cast flat nose. Loaded with 5477< I forget the charge. Its a bit more stout than I aim for with cast. Not terrible other than the flyers.

 

[mac1911]

513t
It was cold damp and windy when I first arrived at the range. It cleared up and settled down for the last 30 min I was there

TenX vs SK 100 yards was not easy waiting between gusts of wind and the now numb fingers.
These sights are just awesome
This rifle shoots well for 81 year old rifle.
These sights where zeroed for CCI SV that I have used through it for the past several years.

TenX extreme spread 1.75”
SK 2.50”
I will take sub 3 moa All day with 22lr on a border line shitty day

 

[Mountain]

View attachment 725085View attachment 725086
Finally Finally got out.
The line up :1903a3 ,Glenfield 25, 513t US Property
I shot all rifles as zeroed previously. I generally dont touch my sights and just shoot for groups. Unless I am shooting a match

Glenfield 25 : yeah yeah I know.
My first rifle spring 1979 I was 8
Lived most of its life shooting shorts. Dad knew a few guys at a few town dumps and we got to do some rat control for several summers. Never a accurate rifle but always provided 25 yard fun. This scope has lived on it since mid 90s
The trigger is marginally acceptable. By design you cant get to much past 2.5lbs or the trigger will fail to retain the bolt when cycling.
Today was a test between tenX and SK standard plus.
50 yards , a better scope and or target sights could help I think.
I used a 200 yd SR 1 center its all I had on hand. TenX on the left SK on the right

I count the 513T as 'milsurp' for Winter Warrior because it was a gov issued trainer.

The Glenfield no, but those are special to me. That was my first firearm and I still have mine as well. At an early age it became my "payback's a bitch" gun. Before I bailed on Boy Scouts I was in a troop that regularly attended 22 rifle matches. I showed up to my first match with the relatively new Glenfield 25. One of the adult leaders who was also a match organizer said, "Hey, new rifle? Can I check it out?" I handed it to him, he turned to face his friends, then proceeded to laugh while working the action and pulling the trigger while saying "What a piece of shit!" "Here you go kid, good luck with that." was his comment when giving it back to me. He STFU'd when I proceeded to win that match and was very pissy when I showed up to win the next couple matches. I don't recall the exact model he had bought his kid but it was a nice one like a Remington 40X or Winchester 52. I had started shooting pests like sparrows and starlings with a BB gun at around age six at my grandparents farm so paper targets seemed easy by comparison.

 

[cetme24]

Mac1911 is that a usmc style front sight cover on the 03a3 or just the standard style.

 

[CulperJr]

I took my M1 out today at HSC. 8 degrees at first shot. I used the trick an old timer taught me a few years back: stick the fired brass in your pocket as a make-shift hand warmer.

I loaded up some PPU 150gr projectiles earlier this week and used a Lee scoop for the charge. All I wanted to do was re-settle the action after doing a full disassembly, but figured why not shoot a 10 round group for record. Forgot my sling, and this wasn't a group to write home about. I also didn't adjust the rear site from 200 yards and held "kentucky windage" for this group. Good practice I suppose, and will be working up some 168gr loads for next weekend.

Rifle looks real smooth with a fresh coat of linseed oil though!

 

[mac1911]

Mac1911 is that a usmc style front sight cover on the 03a3 or just the standard style.

USMC and USMC .100 front blade

 

[mac1911]

I took my M1 out today at HSC. 8 degrees at first shot. I used the trick an old timer taught me a few years back: stick the fired brass in your pocket as a make-shift hand warmer.

I loaded up some PPU 150gr projectiles earlier this week and used a Lee scoop for the charge. All I wanted to do was re-settle the action after doing a full disassembly, but figured why not shoot a 10 round group for record. Forgot my sling, and this wasn't a group to write home about. I also didn't adjust the rear site from 200 yards and held "kentucky windage" for this group. Good practice I suppose, and will be working up some 168gr loads for next weekend.

Rifle looks real smooth with a fresh coat of linseed oil though!
View attachment 725414

I often leave my sights alone unless Im shooting for score. I just shoot for groups. Unless of course you end up off paper.

 

[mac1911]

I count the 513T as 'milsurp' for Winter Warrior because it was a gov issued trainer.

The Glenfield no, but those are special to me. That was my first firearm and I still have mine as well. At an early age it became my "payback's a bitch" gun. Before I bailed on Boy Scouts I was in a troop that regularly attended 22 rifle matches. I showed up to my first match with the relatively new Glenfield 25. One of the adult leaders who was also a match organizer said, "Hey, new rifle? Can I check it out?" I handed it to him, he turned to face his friends, then proceeded to laugh while working the action and pulling the trigger while saying "What a piece of shit!" "Here you go kid, good luck with that." was his comment when giving it back to me. He STFU'd when I proceeded to win that match and was very pissy when I showed up to win the next couple matches. I don't recall the exact model he had bought his kid but it was a nice one like a Remington 40X or Winchester 52. I had started shooting pests like sparrows and starlings with a BB gun at around age six at my grandparents farm so paper targets seemed easy by comparison.

Knowing your glenfield pos shooter is why I put it in.
I have the trigger down to 2.5lbs and still had the bolt slip past the trigger stop a few times. I might try to sharped the edges to help it grap netter but the trigger return spring needs to be a bit stiffer .
I have thought about adding a second action screw and making a bedding plate.
The action to stock fit sucks and it will pivot in the stock.
I will eventually mount some match sights on it.
The trigger is at least crisp and consistent on mine its just a cheap crap design.
You get that shit in the match world at all levels.
I got shit many times for showing up to skeet with 870 express ,
I shot Jr rifle a few years with the club guns , mostly 5xx series remingtons and a few mossbergs.
We had 2 52. But those where reserves for the ones going to all the matches and practice. I was shooting in between MotoX schedules

 

[Mountain]

Knowing your glenfield pos shooter is why I put it in.
I have the trigger down to 2.5lbs and still had the bolt slip past the trigger stop a few times. I might try to sharped the edges to help it grap netter but the trigger return spring needs to be a bit stiffer .
I have thought about adding a second action screw and making a bedding plate.
The action to stock fit sucks and it will pivot in the stock.
I will eventually mount some match sights on it.
The trigger is at least crisp and consistent on mine its just a cheap crap design.
You get that shit in the match world at all levels.
I got shit many times for showing up to skeet with 870 express ,
I shot Jr rifle a few years with the club guns , mostly 5xx series remingtons and a few mossbergs.
We had 2 52. But those where reserves for the ones going to all the matches and practice. I was shooting in between MotoX schedules

During my Boy Scouts time I was only racing a BMX series up in the Mountains during summers. NFW could I beat the #1 kid in my bracket but was usually in the top 3 and would get 3rd place for the season despite missing a race or two. Must have been in decent shape to do that at 7500' elevation. Once I went to 125cc MX I was done with Scouts and no longer shooting any matches. There was an absolutely awesome unofficial dump about 7 miles from our place up in the mountains. Best plinking range on the planet with all the cool throwaway junk like old TV's etc. to shoot. Old vacuum tubes made fun little targets but the big old TV tubes were best.

Besides my grandparents' farm I lived on the edge of town with thousands of wild acres to roam around and plink, zap pests, and occasionally poach valley quail. There was a bubonic plague outbreak in ground squirrels when I was only 6 or 7, and I remember borrowing an older friends 22 to shoot some. It was a lot like the prairie dog shoots you see on Youtube these days but the ground squirrels were much more cagey than prairie dogs. Anyway, having some sort of pellet rifle or 22 in your hands most every day builds decent fundamentals and helps you to score better than the urban city kids who shoot infrequently when a parent hauls them somewhere to do so, even if they have far superior equipment. I'm sure a kid who grew up shooting matches and had a parent who regularly competed would have kicked my ass.

This literally was my rifle range when I was a kid. Northern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County, CA:

 

[cetme24]

made it out this morning to test out the 308 m1, m1D, and m1carbine after some stock replacements and a new hammer and spring for the carbine. The two garands did well on the bench but it was an off morning and I shot poorly prone with all three. I lost the photo of the M1d target but it really is no loss. The m1 carbine is finally functional after swapping out the correct early hammer and spring components for the type 4 hammer and longer spring.

 

[Mountain]

made it out this morning to test out the 308 m1, m1D, and m1carbine after some stock replacements and a new hammer and spring for the carbine. The two garands did well on the bench but it was an off morning and I shot poorly prone with all three. I lost the photo of the M1d target but it really is no loss. The m1 carbine is finally functional after swapping out the correct early hammer and spring components for the type 4 hammer and longer spring.

Nice.

I think my next target will be my M1 National Match clone. Shoots pretty good if I don't mess up.

 

[mac1911]

made it out this morning to test out the 308 m1, m1D, and m1carbine after some stock replacements and a new hammer and spring for the carbine. The two garands did well on the bench but it was an off morning and I shot poorly prone with all three. I lost the photo of the M1d target but it really is no loss. The m1 carbine is finally functional after swapping out the correct early hammer and spring components for the type 4 hammer and longer spring.

I might have to drag out the juke box

 

[cjrubes]

Made it out this past Saturday to get some shooting done. I wanted to give the K98k a second chance to post some better targets. Plus I wanted to put some rounds through the 1970 dated Finnish M39 I recently picked up. I wasn't going to shoot the M39 for Winter Warrior, but since I was testing a few loads and sighting it in I figured I'd put them on some reduced targets for the hell of it. It was snowing pretty hard which made seeing the target kind of a pain in the a$$ (the picture doesn't really do it justice). So, my groups weren't as tight as I would have hoped.


Rifles in question...



K98k Target #1 - 91-0X

Had a couple of sighters high but the rest of the group settled in..



K98k Target #2 - 91-1X

Group opened up...it was snowing pretty hard at this point but I got nearly the same score as the first target.

 

[cjrubes]

Next is the 1970 M39...



M39 Target #1 - 95-1X (2X?)

First 2 shots went high right but I was able to settle in for the rest. Looks like it impacts a bit left.



M39 Target #2 - 91-1X

A bit more centered. I don't think the M39 liked this load as much as the first....I felt that most of these shots were good pulls, other than the high 8 which I knew was me.