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Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:20 am
by safetyfirst
Snigger.

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:14 pm
by TomH
legs748 wrote:
Alpha1 wrote:174 grain bullet with 41 grains of N140 is a popular load for the .303.
Justin bieber is popular, but I’m not confident he can solve my issues. I’ll try upping my load but I’m not confident another 1.5 grains of powder will give me 18” of elevation.
The difference between 39.5 and 41 grains of N140 in my No4's is about 2-3" in elevation.

Just a thought, but how are you holding it. Free recoil on a bag or firm hand grip on the forestock? This can make a big difference to point of impact I've certainly found.

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:11 pm
by legs748
No free recoil, fore stock sat in left hand, back of hand rested, firmly in shoulder. The apature is far larger than I am used to but I’m sure I’m middling the blade.

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:04 pm
by TomH
If the forend is just laying in your hand, give it a firm grip with your fingers vertical as per the manuals of the time. I think you'll find you get a vertical change in point of impact. These guns and hence their sight settings were designed to be used prone, standing or kneeling. To achieve a consistent point of impact in all positions you need a consistent grip across all positions. My 303 shooting didn't improve till I stopped treating them like modern guns often with a straighter recoil path and read the old manuals.

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:12 pm
by legs748
TomH wrote:If the forend is just laying in your hand, give it a firm grip with your fingers vertical as per the manuals of the time. I think you'll find you get a vertical change in point of impact. These guns and hence their sight settings were designed to be used prone, standing or kneeling. To achieve a consistent point of impact in all positions you need a consistent grip across all positions. My 303 shooting didn't improve till I stopped treating them like modern guns often with a straighter recoil path and read the old manuals.
Interesting point, I hadn’t imagined the no4 would behave any differently to my other pre ww2 milsurps, my SMLE, G98, Mosin nagants and K31 all shoot fine with from that position. I don’t really shoot modern guns. Personally I think it’s a bedding issue, with which I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:02 pm
by kennyc
legs748 wrote: Interesting point, I hadn’t imagined the no4 would behave any differently to my other pre ww2 milsurps, my SMLE, G98, Mosin nagants and K31 all shoot fine with from that position. I don’t really shoot modern guns. Personally I think it’s a bedding issue, with which I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.
have you shot it with factory ammo ? did it have the same problem, if not then I would suggest your reloads are the issue, I'm not sure the bedding would show up as a good group but low, a bad group all over the shop or occasional flyers then maybe, it sounds like you are low on velocity have you access to a chrono?

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:19 am
by safetyfirst
Could someone recommend a good manual for shooting a no4?

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:17 pm
by GeeRam
safetyfirst wrote:Could someone recommend a good manual for shooting a no4?
http://www.303british.com/id7.html

I did find these Canadian manuals online somewhere once before but can't find the link anymore :oops:

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:23 am
by TomH
GeeRam wrote:
safetyfirst wrote:Could someone recommend a good manual for shooting a no4?
http://www.303british.com/id7.html

I did find these Canadian manuals online somewhere once before but can't find the link anymore :oops:
Shoot to Live, the Canadian manual. Here you go: :good:

https://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r= ... ld-Rifle-)

Re: No4 shooting low.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:41 am
by glevum