Proper Target for M1 Garand style sights

[bryank30]

I've been tweaking and trying to get my groups as tight as I can, my piece is a HRA M1 garand .30/06, I put national match sights on it, front and rear and tightened the gas tube on the barrel, made sure the stock and op rod are not interferring with each other. Hand loaded ammo, this last trip I did with 46.7 grains of varget, winchester primer, 168 hornady hpbt, hand weighed powder charges.

I've been taking a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 copy paper and putting a black square over it, at 100 yrds its roughly the same size as my nm front sight post, but if I focus on it for too long, I have a issue telling where I am on the square, I was thinking of changing the color to blue or orange. Here's my best group out of 4 from yesterday.

 

[bryank30]

The right picture is the second best target out of 4.

 

[Cosmoline]

Black square--that's a tough sight to get a bead on. I think you'll do better with more contrast. I've been having great results at 100 yards with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Keeper-Fluorescent-100-yard-Target/dp/B001SGZI7U

They're fluorescent green and the orange aimpoint really stands out. Plus my eye isn't confused between black front sight and the target.

 

[bryank30]

Are you putting your front sight post on the bottom of that circle cosmoline?

 

[HB]

I would try to find a reduced High Power target. Should be perfect, looks like good shooting already though. Of course you should be using a six o'clock hold and watch eye fatigue. Take a breath in, let half out, open your eyes and if the shot isnt there in 8 seconds start the process over.


HB

 

[Cosmoline]

Are you putting your front sight post on the bottom of that circle cosmoline?

Bottom of the orange bull. The green is a fantastic backdrop for the front sight, esp. with aging eyes. Really snaps out at you.

 

[AK103K]

I would try to find a reduced High Power target.

I agree.

You can get some here.

http://www.pistoleer.com/targets/highpower/

 

[bryank30]

I would try to find a reduced High Power target. Should be perfect, looks like good shooting already though. Of course you should be using a six o'clock hold and watch eye fatigue. Take a breath in, let half out, open your eyes and if the shot isnt there in 8 seconds start the process over.


HB

Yes I realize my groups are better than most of the mall ninja's donning there M4 clones and red dot sights. They are astonished when I tell them how old my rifle is and that I am doing it with IRON SIGHTS!!! I love it

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Are you using a center-target hold or 6:00 hold?

 

[Jeff F]

I have always shot my best groups on a bullseye target using a six O'Clock hold.

 

[Orlando]

The SR-1 Target is what you want for 100 yards. As already suggested use 6 Oclock hold
I print them off, heres a link
http://bisonballistics.com/downloads/3

 

[mortablunt]

A Nazi is the ideal target.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I've been taking a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 copy paper and putting a black square over it, at 100 yrds its roughly the same size as my nm front sight post, but if I focus on it for too long, I have a issue telling where I am on the square, I was thinking of changing the color to blue or orange.

Time to try a round bulls eye target and the 6 o'clock hold.

 

[atblis]

I believe something along the lines of this is the target of choice for the M1
http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...soldier&fr=moz35&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&y=Search

Kidding aside, one of the scaled versions of the High Power targets works well.

You could also try large triangles.

 

[35 Whelen]

The SR-1 Target is what you want for 100 yards. As already suggested use 6 Oclock hold
I print them off, heres a link
http://bisonballistics.com/downloads/3

This^^^^^.

Actually either the SR-1, SR-21 and MR-31 will work as they all are a black 6" bull. The only difference is the size of the scoring rings. These targets work because across the course High Power target bulls are scaled at 6" per 100 yds.

35W

 

[Sport45]

I've been taking a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 copy paper and putting a black square over it, at 100 yrds its roughly the same size as my nm front sight post, but if I focus on it for too long, I have a issue telling where I am on the square

Are you trying to focus on the square? The bullseye should be a blurry thing above the front sight. You may not even be able to tell it's square.

 

[bryank30]

Yes I am. I try to keep the square on top of the front sight post. I have national match .520 rear aperture hooded and national match .062 front sight post. Thinking about sticking the standard front sight post back on. I went and bought a package of colored construction paper last night, going to make my own targets, basically a 5 1/2'' circle of green, blue, black and red on white 8 1/2X 11 copy paper. See if that helps. Yes it gets blurry if you focus on it for too long. All in good fun!

 

[bryank30]

Atblis, that was great! Love the humor! You know, its amazing that prior to me actually owning a garand, I thought it was neat to have a bayonet, but now I realize if you ever thrashed something with it, it could/would throw the front sight way off.. I'm sure it happened numerous times in warfare.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Try going back to the GI front post first. I was surprised that some of the advice from the US Army Marksmanship unit actually recommends a wider front sight post as it is easier to focus on. I am actually switching my AR15 from a NM to a standard width front post after noticing that I really did have an easier time focusing on the wider post of other rifles.

Also, you are focusing on the front sight, correct? The target is supposed to be blurry. Since you are using a square target, try going with the "line of white" hold. Keep the white gap between the post and the bull consistent and you should be golden.

 

[phonesysphonesys]

Shooting bullseye targets with your M1 aim at 6 o'clock. Get a good group.Then move your sights accordingly. In boot camp we were taught to aim at 6 o'clock. After hitting center bull we would drop the elevation down 3 or 4 clicks ( depending on the rifle) for battle sights. Good luck. Go to a round bullseye target. With a square you don't know where your front sight is.

 

[Slamfire]

The NM front sights were for use on the old 5V targets. There were two, one used 200 and 300 yards, same target, and one used 500 yards.

These targets were sized for the M1903 front post and a GI Garand post is way too large for these tiny targets. With these targets, a regular GI post is almost an infinite horizon , and you are trying to center a pin point in the middle.

When the Army pulled out of funding the Camp Perry National matches in 1968, civilian shooters no longer had to shoot on these awful targets, and the NRA bulls have been used since then.



500 yard 5v and old 500 yard NRA target



In so far as Garand accuracy. You shoot enough groups and just by statistics you are going to shoot a sub MOA group. However, the rifle was never a consistent MOA rifle.

A National Match Garand was issued if it shot 3.5 MOA with period match ammunition. I have no idea what a rack grade was expected to do, other than go bang.


These are various targets of my rack grades at 100 yards. The Garand is not capable of MOA until it is match accurized, though there are people who claim their rack grades regularly shoot MOA or better.











Can you shoot offhand better than Oswald? A page from his Marine Score book.

 

[phonesysphonesys]

Slamfire, nice groups

 

[Slamfire]

Thanks, but these are groups from rack grade Garands, not match Garands.

I shoot a match Garand at most, a couple of times per year. Garands are very hard to shoot well and it takes a lot of practice to get any consistancy with one.

These are match targets, fired prone with a sling, with a match Garand. A rack grade would just hold the black.

The errant shots are due to position and sight alignment errors.