M38 Range Report (56K Death)

[mmattockx]

I bought this rifle almost a year ago, and then it sat in my safe until a few weeks ago. I took it out once, just to see if it would shoot and function properly. It worked OK, but was very dirty and still gunked up with cosmoline in places. Feeding was not great, due to the action being dirty and stiff with old lube and cosmo.

After the test run, I pulled it apart and cleaned everything out and got the bore shiny clean. It was shooting a good 5" left and 3" high at 50yds, so I drifted the front sight back to center (it was off to the right, causing some of the left POI problem).

I went back to the range yesterday and gave it another try with better results. Functioning is now fine, with no issues. I tried several brands of commercial ammo and some surplus 140gr I had. I used Winchester Super X 140gr, Federal blue box 140gr, Federal Fusion 140gr, Norma 160gr RN and the surplus 140gr.

It is still shooting about 2-3" left, so the front sight needs to come over some more (I forgot a hammer and punch yesterday), but the POI came down some and will likely be pretty close at longer ranges.

The rifle in its clean(er) state:

The target (point of aim was the bottom of the black):

It is hard to tell, with the groups piled on top of each other, but I got ~1" groups with the Winchester Super X (first rifle I have ever had that shot these OK, over several calibres), Federal blue box and the Norma 160gr RN. The surplus ammo shot the worst, followed closely by the Fusion stuff, but neither was terrible at well under 2" for both.

All in all, not bad for a 111 year old rifle.

Next time out, I will get the sights dialled and try at 100 and 200yds. If it shoots OK out to 200, I may take it out for a day this hunting season to see if I can collect a deer with it.

If anybody wants any more pics, let me know and I will post them up.

Mark

 

[Nabs]

Great shooting! I don't own a Swedish mauser yet but yours is just gorgeous.

 

[1899]

Those lttle rifles are absolutely top notch in my book. My friend had one - and this is going back almost 20 years now - and used it to harvest mule deer, whitetails, moose, black bear and even one grizzly. He really liked that rifle and it shot very well - the trigger man was skilled too!

 

[mmattockx]

Update, more range time

I got out today and got the POI centered properly, along with some shooting at 100yds and 200yds.

First, the 50yd target with a properly centered group. Winchester Super-X 140gr, group is just over 1".

Next up, the 100yd target with both the Super-X and Norma 160gr RN tested:

I shot a 4 shot group of the Winchester and only 3 of the Norma ammo. The Norma has the squares around it and is centered just under the center white dot, while the Winchester ammo shot low (POA was the bottom of the black). The Norma group is just under 3" while the Winchester group is about 5.5".

Finally, the 200yd target:

This was with the Winchester ammo and the group measures about 6.6", which is about what my fuzzy eyes are good for at that range with basic open sights. I had the sight set for 250yds (meters?), with POA the bottom of the black. Apparently, the Winchester ammo is somewhat softer than the original military load.

Mark