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Hmmm what happened?
jonk
Member Posts: 10,121
I was shooting My M1 Garand in a 200 yard match on Sunday. All was going well. For using Greek HXP surplus and a gun with 5/5 ME/TE I was doing very well- I got an 87 in the offhand, 81 in seated rapid (usually my worst stage)- and was looking foward to mid 90s on rapid prone and high 90s in slow prone.
However I fired the prone rapid and got a 71. A nice tight group- in the 7 ring and low.
At first I thought it was me. And maybe so; however as the final round was slow fire prone I had time to look at the holes between shots. Sure enough, first shot slow prone, in the 7 ring low. So I brought the sights up 3 clicks and proceeded to put the remaining 9 in the black, finishing with a 91 2X for the SFP.
My first thought was that either the sights had slipped (quite possible if the tensioner screw works loose) or that something else had happened- loose gas plug, whatever.
Nope. For no apparent reason, between seated rapid and prone rapid, all of 5 minutes, the gun just started shooting 3 rings lower on the target. It was a sunny day, and it didn't go from sunny to cloudy or vice versa, which sometimes impacts where the bullet hits vis-a-vis my sight picture. All ammo was from the same box. Nothing apparent changed, just things went wonky.
What do you suppose happened?
However I fired the prone rapid and got a 71. A nice tight group- in the 7 ring and low.
At first I thought it was me. And maybe so; however as the final round was slow fire prone I had time to look at the holes between shots. Sure enough, first shot slow prone, in the 7 ring low. So I brought the sights up 3 clicks and proceeded to put the remaining 9 in the black, finishing with a 91 2X for the SFP.
My first thought was that either the sights had slipped (quite possible if the tensioner screw works loose) or that something else had happened- loose gas plug, whatever.
Nope. For no apparent reason, between seated rapid and prone rapid, all of 5 minutes, the gun just started shooting 3 rings lower on the target. It was a sunny day, and it didn't go from sunny to cloudy or vice versa, which sometimes impacts where the bullet hits vis-a-vis my sight picture. All ammo was from the same box. Nothing apparent changed, just things went wonky.
What do you suppose happened?
Comments
I'm thinking you've seen this before, but your zero changes from standing/sitting to prone. For me it's usually the other way. I won't get down far enough on the rifle and it will shoot high. That's what I'm thinking.
However, you may have experienced a lot change in ammunition. And the ones you got when shooting prone were loaded down a bit. I always have issues with shooting ammo from some foreign countries. I've had wide variations with Greek 8mm ammo in the same brand and weight. I often feel that loose ammo is cleaned then re-packaged. And that is what you may have gotten a hold of.
I hate to say it but better luck next time.
I'd buy the idea of different lots repackaged into one box, but it would seem very improbable that I shot all of lot X, then all of lot Y in exact order.
Sling tension may be a factor as you re-position the sling and don't use it offhand at all. So far that's the most logical suspect to me.