This was written by a friend of mine over on the ICCF forum http://kilogulf59.proboards.com/index.cgi
It speaks very true!!!
A very common pitfall to shooters is to max out their rifle with all types of gadgets, gizmos, and modifications before they have maxed out their own ability. This is a simple mistake on the shooters part who believes that his lack of accuracy has nothing to do with himself but instead it must be the equipment. The sad fact of the matter is, MOST RIFLES ARE ALREADY MORE ACCURATE THAN THE SHOOTER USING IT.
I don't know about everyone else but I'm on a tight budget and I have to constantly choose between gear, ammo, practice, etc. So for me I must make every dollar count. When it comes to my Battle Rifle, I have kept it pretty simple. I still train with surplus ammo, the action is not tricked out,
etc. I do not expect sub-MOA groups from it and it doesn't let me down.
When should you start accurizing your rifle? Well it all depends on what you expect to do with the rifle and weather or not it is a Surplus Bolt Action, or a Semi-Auto Battle Rifle. I'm not going to cover the Commercial Tactical Rifle because the typical shooter, after finding the cartridge loading that the rifle likes, will never out shoot the rifle in the first place. And I'm not going to cover the Semi-Auto Battle Carbine because the primary role of this type of a rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge, is CQB and other short range/rapid target acquisition, scenarios. Modifications for Carbines should, for the most part, stick to reliability, ergonomics, and rapid target acquisition modifications. Long distance accuracy takes a back seat to the previous.
The Surplus Battle Rifle
Currently there is a massive amount of cheap, good, surplus bolt guns and CMP Garands out there waiting to be saved from the safes of some collector and taken out and used for what they were intended to do, combat shooting. Depending on which rifle you choose there are many options available. I will not say which rifle is best or worst here, there is far too many factors that make a rifle best for YOU. But what I will say is, if the rifle you buy has a decent bore, it will shoot respectable groups, with surplus ammo, without you modifying it. What do I consider a decent bore? well any bore that would be considered rack grade or better. That is a fair amount of wear but as long as the muzzle is not toasted it will shoot fine. What do I consider decent groups for a rack grade surplus rifle? 4 MOA groups are more than capable of getting the job done with practice. For all intents and purposes here, 4MOA = 4" @ 100yds, 8" @ 200, 16" @ 400, and 20" @ 500. With this amount of accuracy and the knowledge of target acquisition, range estimation and wind estimation, you will be able to hit a man sized target out to 500 yards with iron sights. That takes some practice but one of the bonuses of choosing a surplus gun is that surplus ammo is available and it is cheap. When you first take a new surplus rifle to the range I always like to shoot the first 50 or so rounds from the bench on sand bags.
THE BENCH WITH SAND BAGS! Somebody get a rope!
Now, Now settle down, you have a new rifle and first you want to determine the mechanical accuracy of the rifle with your ammunition. If you were thinking, you would have a few different flavors of surplus ammo on hand so that you could determine which one your rifle likes the best. By using a rest you are eliminating the leading cause of inaccuracy, the shooter. Once you have determined that the rifle shoots, write down the measured grouping size. and the range you shot it at. If you were at 100yds that is your MOA accuracy, if you were at 200 yds, divide the group by 2 and that is your MOA, if you shot it at 50yds multiply the number by 2, at 25 yds multiply the number by 4. Now you know what the rifle is capable and you have a benchmark to judge any future modifications by.
Now it is time to practice your position shooting. Work on standing, sitting and prone positions using a hasty sling in all positions except standing, concentrate on the fundamentals of firing the shot;
#1 Line up the front sight with the rear sight
#2 Keeping the sights lined up, bring them onto the target
#3 Take a deep breath in (the front sight will dip if you are in a good position) slowly let the breath out until the front sight touches the bottom of the bullseye, then hold your breath.
#4 Focus your eye on the front sight while you are focusing your mind on keeping the front sight on target (most important step on the list!)
#5 Take up the slack and squeeze the trigger straight back while continuing to keep your concentration on the front sight
#6 When the hammer falls, keep your eyes open and take an instant mental photo of where the front sight was on the target when the hammer fell and call your shot.
Repeat steps one through six as often as possible in all positions.
The whole point here is to get out and practice in the most cost effective manner possible. There is no sense throwing money at your rifle to improve your accuracy unless you are maxed out already. Sure if you add a better barrel, sights, etc. to your rifle you may shoot better, BUT what did that new barrel cost in parts+labor, and how much ammo and range time would that have bought? If that range time was quality range time you would be shooting better than if you spent the money on a new barrel instead.
For a simple example;
Match Grade M1A + 4 Magazines = Approx $1875.00
Rack Grade CMP M1 Garand= Approx $350.00
4437 rounds of 30-06 in 8rnd clips = Approx $875.00
Range fees ($20 X (22) 200 rnd sessions= Approx $440.00
Spare parts or new barrel Approx $210.00
Total cost of M1 Garand+Ammo+Training+Parts= $1875.00
Rack Grade Mosin Nagant/Mauser + Transfer = Approx $125.00
7000rnds Surplus ammo on strippers (.15 rnd)=Approx$1050.00
Range fees ($20 X (35) 200rnd sessions) = Approx $700.00
Total Cost Of Surplus Bolt + AMMO +Training=Approx $1875.00
So I think you know who would be the most accurate with their rifle choice, 7000 rounds of quality practice in a wore out Mauser or M1 Garand will be more of an asset than the guy with the new M1a and no ammo or range time.
I hope I have given you some food for thought and have encouraged you to go out and practice.
It speaks very true!!!
A very common pitfall to shooters is to max out their rifle with all types of gadgets, gizmos, and modifications before they have maxed out their own ability. This is a simple mistake on the shooters part who believes that his lack of accuracy has nothing to do with himself but instead it must be the equipment. The sad fact of the matter is, MOST RIFLES ARE ALREADY MORE ACCURATE THAN THE SHOOTER USING IT.
I don't know about everyone else but I'm on a tight budget and I have to constantly choose between gear, ammo, practice, etc. So for me I must make every dollar count. When it comes to my Battle Rifle, I have kept it pretty simple. I still train with surplus ammo, the action is not tricked out,
etc. I do not expect sub-MOA groups from it and it doesn't let me down.
When should you start accurizing your rifle? Well it all depends on what you expect to do with the rifle and weather or not it is a Surplus Bolt Action, or a Semi-Auto Battle Rifle. I'm not going to cover the Commercial Tactical Rifle because the typical shooter, after finding the cartridge loading that the rifle likes, will never out shoot the rifle in the first place. And I'm not going to cover the Semi-Auto Battle Carbine because the primary role of this type of a rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge, is CQB and other short range/rapid target acquisition, scenarios. Modifications for Carbines should, for the most part, stick to reliability, ergonomics, and rapid target acquisition modifications. Long distance accuracy takes a back seat to the previous.
The Surplus Battle Rifle
Currently there is a massive amount of cheap, good, surplus bolt guns and CMP Garands out there waiting to be saved from the safes of some collector and taken out and used for what they were intended to do, combat shooting. Depending on which rifle you choose there are many options available. I will not say which rifle is best or worst here, there is far too many factors that make a rifle best for YOU. But what I will say is, if the rifle you buy has a decent bore, it will shoot respectable groups, with surplus ammo, without you modifying it. What do I consider a decent bore? well any bore that would be considered rack grade or better. That is a fair amount of wear but as long as the muzzle is not toasted it will shoot fine. What do I consider decent groups for a rack grade surplus rifle? 4 MOA groups are more than capable of getting the job done with practice. For all intents and purposes here, 4MOA = 4" @ 100yds, 8" @ 200, 16" @ 400, and 20" @ 500. With this amount of accuracy and the knowledge of target acquisition, range estimation and wind estimation, you will be able to hit a man sized target out to 500 yards with iron sights. That takes some practice but one of the bonuses of choosing a surplus gun is that surplus ammo is available and it is cheap. When you first take a new surplus rifle to the range I always like to shoot the first 50 or so rounds from the bench on sand bags.
THE BENCH WITH SAND BAGS! Somebody get a rope!
Now, Now settle down, you have a new rifle and first you want to determine the mechanical accuracy of the rifle with your ammunition. If you were thinking, you would have a few different flavors of surplus ammo on hand so that you could determine which one your rifle likes the best. By using a rest you are eliminating the leading cause of inaccuracy, the shooter. Once you have determined that the rifle shoots, write down the measured grouping size. and the range you shot it at. If you were at 100yds that is your MOA accuracy, if you were at 200 yds, divide the group by 2 and that is your MOA, if you shot it at 50yds multiply the number by 2, at 25 yds multiply the number by 4. Now you know what the rifle is capable and you have a benchmark to judge any future modifications by.
Now it is time to practice your position shooting. Work on standing, sitting and prone positions using a hasty sling in all positions except standing, concentrate on the fundamentals of firing the shot;
#1 Line up the front sight with the rear sight
#2 Keeping the sights lined up, bring them onto the target
#3 Take a deep breath in (the front sight will dip if you are in a good position) slowly let the breath out until the front sight touches the bottom of the bullseye, then hold your breath.
#4 Focus your eye on the front sight while you are focusing your mind on keeping the front sight on target (most important step on the list!)
#5 Take up the slack and squeeze the trigger straight back while continuing to keep your concentration on the front sight
#6 When the hammer falls, keep your eyes open and take an instant mental photo of where the front sight was on the target when the hammer fell and call your shot.
Repeat steps one through six as often as possible in all positions.
The whole point here is to get out and practice in the most cost effective manner possible. There is no sense throwing money at your rifle to improve your accuracy unless you are maxed out already. Sure if you add a better barrel, sights, etc. to your rifle you may shoot better, BUT what did that new barrel cost in parts+labor, and how much ammo and range time would that have bought? If that range time was quality range time you would be shooting better than if you spent the money on a new barrel instead.
For a simple example;
Match Grade M1A + 4 Magazines = Approx $1875.00
Rack Grade CMP M1 Garand= Approx $350.00
4437 rounds of 30-06 in 8rnd clips = Approx $875.00
Range fees ($20 X (22) 200 rnd sessions= Approx $440.00
Spare parts or new barrel Approx $210.00
Total cost of M1 Garand+Ammo+Training+Parts= $1875.00
Rack Grade Mosin Nagant/Mauser + Transfer = Approx $125.00
7000rnds Surplus ammo on strippers (.15 rnd)=Approx$1050.00
Range fees ($20 X (35) 200rnd sessions) = Approx $700.00
Total Cost Of Surplus Bolt + AMMO +Training=Approx $1875.00
So I think you know who would be the most accurate with their rifle choice, 7000 rounds of quality practice in a wore out Mauser or M1 Garand will be more of an asset than the guy with the new M1a and no ammo or range time.
I hope I have given you some food for thought and have encouraged you to go out and practice.
i like it
