Somehow in the last year, the wife and I have become Enfield collectors. Thanks to the Axis v. Allies matches in Delta, we've harvested quite a bit of once fired .303 brass (mostly PPU). Now, what to do with it...
First, I'd like to find a load that matches the factory ammo (174 gr), as that is what we've zeroed the rifles with. If anyone has a recipe to share to get me close, it would save having to start from scratch and work up. I'd like to use either Varget or H4895 because I have those powders on hand. Ideally, I like H4895 because of my second goal:
Secondly, I'd like to develop a reduced recoil load (hence the H4895). Paper targets don't care how hard the bullet hits them, and I'm not ashamed to want to go easy on the brass, rifles, and our bodies. Ideally, I'd like to find a reduced load that will push a 125 gr bullet to the same point of impact as the full power 174 at 100 yds so we don't have to mess with our sights. Is that even possible?
The reason I suspect it may not be possible is that I've noticed the 150 gr factory ammo impacts a good bit lower than the 174. My understanding is that this is because the lighter, faster moving (and potentially less recoiling) bullet is exiting the barrel sooner in the recoil cycle and starting its journey to the target from a lower position to begin with. Can this be rectified with just less or slower burning powder, or is my magical target load pure fantasy?
I'm not trying to match the full trajectories. I only want them to coincide at 100yds because that's the distance the vast majority of our matches will occur. To complicate things...I do not have a chronograph. My intent is to save up for one of the fancy doppler ones...so I will not have a chronograph for a while My hope is that, for what I'm trying to achieve, knowing velocity is irrelevant. I'm interested in adjusting point of impact at a single distance...which I should only need my spotting scope to measure, right
I know that I should be (and I, eventually, will be) loading for each rifle for best results. At the moment, I want to start with a general base line that works ok for all of them. I also want to do the same thing for .30-06 (M2)...but figure I'll start with .303.
Any guidance before I go blasting away hoping for a hit is appreciated.
Thanks,
--Art
First, I'd like to find a load that matches the factory ammo (174 gr), as that is what we've zeroed the rifles with. If anyone has a recipe to share to get me close, it would save having to start from scratch and work up. I'd like to use either Varget or H4895 because I have those powders on hand. Ideally, I like H4895 because of my second goal:
Secondly, I'd like to develop a reduced recoil load (hence the H4895). Paper targets don't care how hard the bullet hits them, and I'm not ashamed to want to go easy on the brass, rifles, and our bodies. Ideally, I'd like to find a reduced load that will push a 125 gr bullet to the same point of impact as the full power 174 at 100 yds so we don't have to mess with our sights. Is that even possible?
The reason I suspect it may not be possible is that I've noticed the 150 gr factory ammo impacts a good bit lower than the 174. My understanding is that this is because the lighter, faster moving (and potentially less recoiling) bullet is exiting the barrel sooner in the recoil cycle and starting its journey to the target from a lower position to begin with. Can this be rectified with just less or slower burning powder, or is my magical target load pure fantasy?
I'm not trying to match the full trajectories. I only want them to coincide at 100yds because that's the distance the vast majority of our matches will occur. To complicate things...I do not have a chronograph. My intent is to save up for one of the fancy doppler ones...so I will not have a chronograph for a while My hope is that, for what I'm trying to achieve, knowing velocity is irrelevant. I'm interested in adjusting point of impact at a single distance...which I should only need my spotting scope to measure, right
I know that I should be (and I, eventually, will be) loading for each rifle for best results. At the moment, I want to start with a general base line that works ok for all of them. I also want to do the same thing for .30-06 (M2)...but figure I'll start with .303.
Any guidance before I go blasting away hoping for a hit is appreciated.
Thanks,
--Art