Accurate shooting M1917

[Merc]

Art,

Yeah, I know the feeling. Hard not to fall in love with them. Robust in every way, well built, good looking, great shooter. What more could you ask for? I had my Winchester '17 out to the range a few days ago along with my Remington 03-A3 and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Both rifles shot well, are nicely finished and always attract attention from other gun club members seeing them for the first time. Is that your shooting table?

A buddy bought an AR rifle a few weeks ago and was anxious to shoot it. Great rifle and accurate with open sights. Almost no recoil.

The backhoe in your pics is interesting.

[p246]

Merc, that's not a backhoe it's Arts massive berm builder. I shoot with a lot of black rifle guy, most 15 years younger than me. I shoot my own AR, pull out a magnum and hit steel at ranges they dream of. Then pull out the M1917 and my No 4 Mark 1. (Sometimes a Garand, Trapdoor, or a 6.5 Swede). One guy, who had not shot with me asked if I needed the 100 yard target pulled into 50. Said nope dialed Mark 1 sight 12 clicks and dinged the 500 yard plate. Dialed 20 clicks and hit the 600 yards plate. (Prone on bag). Looked back at him and said this is just a punny 303 can you had me that ought 6. He's shot with us a bunch since but doesn't bad mouth my old girl anymore. Matter of fact he kept shooting the M1917 so much I told him it was time to help load. He wants to shoot the Garand but we call him slide lock due to his multiple mag dumps so he does not get that one.

[nf1e]

Art,

Yeah, I now the feeling. Hard not to fall in love with them. Robust in every way, well built, good looking, great shooter. What more could you ask for? I had my Winchester '17 out to the range a few days ago along with my Remington 03-A3 and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Both rifles shot well, are nicely finished and always attract attention from other gun club members seeing them for the first time. Is that your shooting table?

A buddy bought an AR rifle a few weeks ago and was anxious to shoot it. Great rifle and accurate with open sights. Almost no recoil.

The backhoe in your pics is interesting.

Yep , that's my fancy 3 legged shooting bench. Not the most rugged in the world, but it has helped me with a couple of postal shoots. I love competing against the boys with the big concrete benches.

That tractor backhoe is 15 years old now. I use it of all sorts of projects. Last year my wife bought me a rock bucket for the front. I can get lost for days at a time with my toys.

[nf1e]

Merc, that's not a backhoe it's Arts massive berm builder. I shoot with a lot of black rifle guy, most 15 years younger than me. I shoot my own AR, pull out a magnum and hit steel at ranges they dream of. Then pull out the M1917 and my No 4 Mark 1. (Sometimes a Garand, Trapdoor, or a 6.5 Swede). One guy, who had not shot with me asked if I needed the 100 yard target pulled into 50. Said nope dialed Mark 1 sight 12 clicks and dinged the 500 yard plate. Dialed 20 clicks and hit the 600 yards plate. (Prone on bag). Looked back at him and said this is just a punny 303 can you had me that ought 6. He's shot with us a bunch since but doesn't bad mouth my old girl anymore. Matter of fact he kept shooting the M1917 so much I told him it was time to help load. He wants to shoot the Garand but we call him slide lock due to his multiple mag dumps so he does not get that one.

My berm is about 250' vertical, custom built when the glaciers moved through the area a few thousand years ago.

[Merc]

nf1e,

Impressive property and impressive "TOYS" and a wife who understands and plays right into your passions. Lucky man. You've really got it all.

So, your range is in your front yard? Pretty amazing. Good thing you're not a braggart.

[Merc]

Merc, that's not a backhoe it's Arts massive berm builder. I shoot with a lot of black rifle guy, most 15 years younger than me. I shoot my own AR, pull out a magnum and hit steel at ranges they dream of. Then pull out the M1917 and my No 4 Mark 1. (Sometimes a Garand, Trapdoor, or a 6.5 Swede). One guy, who had not shot with me asked if I needed the 100 yard target pulled into 50. Said nope dialed Mark 1 sight 12 clicks and dinged the 500 yard plate. Dialed 20 clicks and hit the 600 yards plate. (Prone on bag). Looked back at him and said this is just a punny 303 can you had me that ought 6. He's shot with us a bunch since but doesn't bad mouth my old girl anymore. Matter of fact he kept shooting the M1917 so much I told him it was time to help load. He wants to shoot the Garand but we call him slide lock due to his multiple mag dumps so he does not get that one.

So, which one is your favorite rifle to shoot? I like them all but the M1917 is probably my favorite but only because I've never shot a Garand.

[p246]

All of them lol. The only ones I dont like to shoot much is carbines in full military loads. Just loosen my teeth too much. No 5 mark 1 M95 in 8 X 56R carbine is the worst. My problem is I should concentrate in more of 1 area but my A.D.D. kicks in.....squirrel

[Merc]

All of them lol. The only ones I dont like to shoot much is carbines in full military loads. Just loosen my teeth too much. No 5 mark 1 M95 in 8 X 56R carbine is the worst. My problem is I should concentrate in more of 1 area but my A.D.D. kicks in.....squirrel

Carbines lack the mass to help soften the recoil. Don't see many for sale around here.

Since you reload, has this ever happened to you? I was shooting the M1917 and noticed that a spent primer popped out of the primer hole when I ejected a case. I've reloaded hundreds of cartridges and this was a first for me. I gathered up all the brass like I always do and took them home to reload. The primer hole in the case that lost the spent primer was way too big to hold a fresh primer. I don't do anything to the cases other than cleaning them in a tumbler and annealing/trimming/resizing the necks. The primer holes come pretty clean out of the tumbler so there's no need for any further attention other that occasionally cleaning walnut shell particles out of the flash hole. Just when you think you've seen it all.......

[p246]

Yes, I've lost primers (or found them backed out) on cases that I've reloaded a lot. Since I anneal, usually what I loose first is the primer pocket (versus split neck). When I loose em I toss em. I've heard of guys staking them to get another shot out of them, but I figure they don't owe me anything.

Also particular brands of brass (even lots for that matte) give very different results. For most of my 30-06 I'm using HXP brass but I was given some Remington which was obviously softer. It did not last near as long.

Worst case scenario is you might have loaded a hot round and popped a primer....

On my benchrest magnum I use pin gauges to track primer flash hole size and toss em when they get too oversized. But I only use Norma Brass and it took me some time and a lot of documenting to get that all worked out. Benchrest is a whole different game though. Part of the reason for tossing these is not failure (well it kinda is) but increasing velocity which screws my data up.

[Merc]

It's good to hear that enlarged primer pockets are just part of the wear and tear process and not something I caused. I'll toss them into the scrap bucket at the range.

I've had good luck with PPU cases so far. They're a little heavier than Remington and Winchester cases and have held up well even though some have been reloaded 10 or more times. I've only scrapped a few due to split necks. Annealing seems to have cured that problem. I avoid hot loads and use just the starting loads.

I weigh each finished loaded round on a digital scale just as a safety measure to avoid double loads. Reading about the exploded M1903 chamber on this forum has made me overly cautious.

[p246]

It's good to hear that enlarged primer pockets are just part of the wear and tear process and not something I caused. I'll toss them into the scrap bucket at the range.

I've had good luck with PPU cases so far. They're a little heavier than Remington and Winchester cases and have held up well even though some have been reloaded 10 or more times. I've only scrapped a few due to split necks. Annealing seems to have cured that problem. I avoid hot loads and use just the starting loads.

I weigh each finished loaded round on a digital scale just as a safety measure to avoid double loads. Reading about the exploded M1903 chamber on this forum has made me overly cautious.

Yes takes the fun out of reloading if you blow up your gun I would think. I've used a ton of PPU in 303 and have been happy with it. The primer pockets need trued as some are shallow. I just got some PPU in 308 and CBC I believe is the other headstamp. Haven't messed with it yet. Funny how much brass I get from fellow shooters that don't reload.

I used to shoot with a a guy that was really into Swedes. He was the one that would run the pocket till they were worn, he had a tool that put three little stakes after primed to get one more shot out of the brass. Always thought that was pushing it a bit. I don't know how hot he loaded that 6.5 X 55 but that old guy use to embarrass us years ago when we were young and bullet proof.

[Merc]

What pin gauge sizes for primer holes are acceptable and not acceptable (Go and No-Go)?

[p246]

They come in large sets, most you won't use. $60 to $150 depending on size,range and where made. sammi spec for rifle is .078 to .082 for rifle and 074 to .078 for pistol. SAMMI can be pushed a ,little bit add .001, for my 300 win mag with Retumbo roughly 18 feet per second per .001 in Increase at 80 degrees. Every load/ caliber will have its own average but it will be somewhat close.

[Merc]

I used my digital calipers to measure the width of the primer pocket on three good dummy round cases and found two are .206 wide and one is .207" wide while the primer pocket on the worn case is .210" wide. A new large rifle primer is .209" wide. I don't have any new cases to measure. Still wondering - is it the act of pressing in a new primer or firing a bullet that widens the hole?

Sorry for going off topic. This topic belongs on the ammo thread.

[p246]

Ah o big deal. it's your thread and it's been fun...all over and fun