The rifles I used were all in great shape but there are those out there that are not. Let the shooter beware!
As the rifles and ammunition for test firing were assembled it became obvious that the ordnance officers of the various nations were in broad agreement in some areas but differed significantly in others. Only the 98 Mauser types (48A Yugoslav and 1909 Argentine), the Moisin-Nagant and the 1903-A3 were cock-on-opening actions. All the rest cocked on closing. All safeties locked the firing pin and all had positively controlled feed. The M91 Mauser’s, the Arisaka’s, the Moisin-Nagant’s and the Swiss Schmidt-Rubin’s safeties locked the bolt closed on “safe” while the rest could theoretically at least be manipulated to unload the chamber on “safe.” All had rapid reload features and mechanical intercepts preventing firing out of battery.
Cartridge comparison (not all tested). Left to right: 6.5X50 Japanese Military, 6.5X55 Swedish, 7.65X53 Belgian (Argentine), 7.7X56R (.303 British), 7.5X55 Schmidt-Rubin (Swiss), 7.62X51 NATO (308 Winchester), 7.62X54R Russian, 7.92X57 (8mm Mauser), .30-06 Springfield (7.62X63).
Front sight comparison, left to right: M96 Carl Gustav Swedish Mauser, M31 Schmidt-Rubin, M39 Finnish Moisin-Nagant, No.4 Mk 2 Short Magazine Lee Enfield, 1903 A3 Springfield.
Only the SMLE and the Schmidt-Rubin had removable magazines. The 03 A3 and the 48A Mauser had one-piece trigger guards and floor plates; the rest had removable floor plates which again, at least theoretically, enabled unloading the ammunition in the magazine without running it through the loading/ejection port.
All the countries represented issued both carbine length and “long” rifles except the U.S. and Britain, who got along with the nominal two-foot barrel length, as did Switzerland after 1931 and Sweden after 1938. The Arisaka and the Mausers (except for the Swedes) had “barleycorn” inverted V-front sights. The rest had square top posts, the width of which was remarkably close to the width of a man’s shoulders as seen through the sights at 300 yards. Only the 1903 A3 and the SMLE had peep rear sights; the rest, except for one Kokura arsenal Arisaka, had open notch rear sights.
Finally, the ordnance departments were divided into three main groups with regard to size of bullet and power of cartridge. First, the small bore proponents were represented by the 6.5x50mm Japanese and the 6.5x55 Swede. (To this group may be added the 6.5 Mannlicher types as used by Austria and Greece but which were not included in this test series.) Next in line came the 308W/7.62x51 group, represented by the .303 Brit, the 7.5x55 Schmidt-Rubin and the 7.65x53 Argentine. All use 174-grain bullets at close to 2,550 fps.
Next the big boys on the block checked in with the 8x57 Mauser, the 7.65x54 R and the .30-06. They all step up a rung with more bullet energy than the other two groups.
The tests I ran showed that as issued they all could be made to shoot well enough to meet minimum “match rifle” standards, and with a little tuning some managed to afford a number of pleasant surprises. Issue ammunition, with two remarkable exceptions, was a disappointment, yielding a dull four minute of angle average. This no doubt was the result of economies of production and quality control, which were in keeping with a planned “dispersal on target” which would prevent an excited and stressed soldier from emptying his magazine into one small spot on the battlefield when the objective of his superiors was that he “spread it around and share it a little.”
Every rifle tested would shoot into at least 2-1/2 minutes of angle with tailored handloads. The 6.5 Swedes would cut that in less than half and were the overachievers in the class. It is well worth noting that without exception, the best performance with all was with service weight bullets at service pressures and velocities. The old bald-heads running ordnance knew what was safest and most accurate because they worked hard and smart at finding it out. Respect that knowledge and be instructed thereby.
NO. 4 MARK 2
The old No. 4 Mark 2 .303 Brit was made at the Fazakerly Factory near Liverpool in February of 1950 and if it was ever issued it didn’t get shot much. It came with a short stock and a capricious performance that quickly earned it the name “Crazy Albert.” It was tantalizingly finicky, shooting 3 or 4 shots into a 2-½ or 3 inch group at 200 yards, then scattering the next 3 or 4 from 7 ring to 7 ring, high low, right, left – who the hell knows where next? – before settling down in the original group. A recurring skinned place on my forehead above my right eye was cured by the purchase and careful fitting of an “L” or long version of the issue stock.
Frustration at the inconsistency of performance on target was eventually cured under the tutelage of “Les” Karas of Ontario, Canada, who graciously provided directions for tuning Crazy Albert and curbing its tendency to scatter shots all over the target. In brief, it involved careful fitting and glass bedding to keep the barrel free-floated and the front band from touching the front sight. It also helped to use a paint mark on the cartridge case head to index fire-formed and neck-sized cases in the chamber the same way each time. (It seems the Brits were more interested in getting the bolt to close on anything that was stuck in the chamber than in facilitating the reloading of fired cases.) Trigger pull was smoothed by polishing the roughness from engaging surfaces but not reduced from the 6-pound, two-stage pull it came with. In this condition, it was shot in a high power match at Camp Bullis in the Spring of 2001.
Things went pretty well until the 600-yard stage, when elevation problems caused by having to hold off for about 4 minutes of wind one way to 6 minutes the other way resulted in a 168. The low comb on the stock also prevents an effective “spot weld” when the rear sight is elevated for 600 yards.
Back to “Les” Karas, who offered a chuckle and some sympathy, along with some leads on a source for a windage-adjustable rear sight. Several weeks later “Bertie” was sporting a very nice fully adjustable A. J. Parker rear with an adjustable aperture. This sight was designed to mount directly on the No. 4 rifle with no machining required. It works great and although the rifle is no longer “showroom stock,” it is a fun gun with a mild recoil that has put 22 rounds into a 24"x36" group at 880 yards, scoring a 188 on a frame mounted 1000 yard target. I believe it would have done better with target pulling service to help in doping the wind and mirage between shots.
The ammunition was South African Berdan primed 174-grain non-corrosive MK VII issue ball reseated .015 inch. Without reseating to break the seal, vertical dispersion increased by over a minute of angle. A handload using IMR 4320, a Winchester case and primer and the Hornady 174-grain .3105 FMJBT bullet at 2480 fps shot into less than 2 minutes of angle and had the same point of impact as the GI loading all the way from 200 yards to 500 yards. No comparison has been made yet at 880 yards. (Why 880 and not 900? Because I can’t get 900 from my firing line without a mammoth earthmoving project!)
The old SMLE no longer deserves to be called “Crazy Albert.” It has had its problems fixed as well as may be reasonably done and will shoot as accurately and as reliably as the run-of-the-mill National Match M-1. It would make an easily portable and effective service rifle due to its light weight, handy configuration and smooth bolt operation. While it didn’t have “target accuracy” as received, it probably had sufficient battlefield accuracy, particularly when used as described by my old Brit Infantryman Dad.
MOISIN-NAGANT
The Moisin-Nagant was a hexagonal-actioned rifle picked up out of the snow by the Finns during the winter war of 1939-1940 after the Russians threw them away so they could run faster. Being no dummies and recognizing the value of the salvage, the Finns brought the rifles home and reworked the ones they liked, rebarreling them with a 27-1/2 inch tube and restocking them with an extended forend. Sights were replaced with the Finnish military standard rear
