Remind me not to introduce you too my wife!
There was a depot mod in 1943 because of the front sights. they made a diaganal saw cut down through the front sight mount which allowed the front sight to be better tightened. It sounds like you need to set your front sight to get it on paper and lock it down, and then adjust windage and elevation. Not an uncommon problem. CMP makes sure they work, not that they will actually hit a target at 100 or 200 meters. Thats your job. There are a number of really good military armorers around.
That is the modification mine has. Mine is a feb. 1942 reciever with a 11-43 barrel. I thought it was a defect when I got it, but discovered it was later rewelded when it went through an armory rework in 1965. I had my armorer tighten up the front gas tube to better secure it. I too thought it was too loose, but that, believe it or not, is how it was designed.He's ex-Army, so his shooting is decent and he knows how to shoot with a sling. He said if he can get it zeroed and shooting 4MOA groups with CMP Greek ammo, he'd be fine with it.
Some WWII era barrels had the splines cut on the large side. That's why a lot of gas tubes had saw cuts through them. The idea was that you can tighten them down by turning the front sight screw tighter. The Army manual specifies not to remove the gas tube for routine cleaning.
My 1946 dated barrel has the gas tube on loosely enough that I can notice a little wobble. I can slide the gas tube off by hand. However, that doesn't stop me from shooting 97/100's (on an SR-1 at 100 yards) with it. The one I have with a 1952 dated barrel has a tight fitting gas tube. There is no side to side wobble that I can discern. On that one I need to tap the gas tube off with a block of wood. I can also shoot 97/100's with it. Neither have saw cuts.
Saw cut to tighten gas cylinder.
True, but not everyone will be entered in matches, but will want a reasonabley tight group. Anything within two inches at 200 on a service grade is totally acceptable. Change sights to NM and that can be tightened a bit by 1/2 click increments along with a sear mod, and a few other things, but hey, some of us old guys just want a reasonably good shooting iron. Taking it to a good armorer is the smartest way to go, and I like the guys at Orion 7 too. Great service and fast turn around. They do know their stuff.
Yeah, before they outlaw M1's too. I can't believe what is coming out of Annapolis
