doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 1st Trip To Range With My Springfield 1903 Today

I took my sporterized NRA Sporter to the range for the first time today and I think I had a pretty good day. I say think because I don't know what kind of groups should be expected from these rifles using a Lyman 48C aperture sight. This was my first experience with a Lyman peep sight and the first rifle I've shot with any kind of peep sight since the M14's and M16's I used during my Marine Corps days (1969-1971). I started at 25 meters to make sure I was going to be on the paper and then moved the target back to 100 meters. My POI was pretty close at 25m, so it didn't take me too long to get it close at 100m, that is, once I put the Shoot-N-C target over the sight-in target. It was really difficult for me to tell exactly where I was aiming against the red and white background of the paper target only. After I applied the Shoot-N-C target, I found the Lyman's gold bead covered the Shoot-N-C stick-on target's black circle almost perfectly which made it much easier for me to be precise with my shots. In the photo, you can see the result of the last 5 shot group I shot. The group is 1 7/16" at its widest or approximately 1.5 MOA @ 100 meters. I still need to adjust the POI about an inch to the left, but that will be a job for another day.

nice looking rifle and a pretty good group as well.

Your rifle seems to me to represent about the best of 1930's technology. It would be interesting to know if it started as a barreled action purchased through the DCM. The stock appears to be everything you could wish for in such a rifle.

To give you an idea of the capability of an aperture sight, the 100 yard target used in NRA small bore competition has a 2" 10 ring and a 1" X ring. Perfect scores are not all that uncommon, and the X count decides many matches. Your group would have stayed inside the 10 ring, had it been centered properly.

I would think that Pennsylvania deer should be very apprehensive.

Thanks, Mike!

I do wish I knew the rifle's history, as well. The general consensus on several gun forums is that it started life as an NRA Sporter, but it could just as easily have been purchased as a barreled action, as you say. In any case, it is, in my view, a really special rifle which I'm very happy to own. I want to thank you for sharing your view of my Springfield. It makes me even more proud to own it. It has a star-gauged barrel and every indication is that the receiver is of the NRA Sporter-type with its radiused front edge, etc. One thing I discovered right away yesterday is that it has an exceptional trigger. The trigger is light, has no creep, and breaks crisply. Its average trigger pull weight is 3 lbs 3 ozs as measured by my Lyman digital gauge.
I would have finished dialing it in yesterday, but, to be honest, I was getting tired and the weather was getting windy so I called it quits. It is still very much winter here (we're getting another 4"-6" of snow tomorrow) so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to the range again, but the Springfield will be the first order of business.
I'm seriously thinking about taking this rifle deer hunting this year, but only if the weather is fair. Considering its age, I think it deserves some consideration in that regard.
Thanks again for your post!

That's a good looking group for open sights. Might try various aperture sizes to see if a smaller aperture opening might result in a smaller group too.

Thanks, Vall! I was using an aperture disc with a 0.050 peephole (it's a modern repro Lyman aperture). If I can find one with a smaller peephole, I'll give it a try.

You might consider using an adjustable aperture disk like the Merit (http://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html) which allows you to adjust for light conditions while actually looking through the sights. An old target shooter's trick is to use the disk to bring the front sight in focus. As you no doubt remember from your Marine training, you want the front sight to be in focus, while the target presents a gray outline.

You also might want to swap your bead front sight for a Sourdough type, which offers a flat aiming surface. Along with other Marine Corps team shooters, I preferred the "Navy hold", which is to say that the sight is aligned with the center of the target, rather than the "pumpkin on a fence post" or "six o'clock" hold, which requires the shooter to align his front sight with the bottom of the black aiming circle and adjust the sights so they strike in the middle of the black.

These sight blades were made by Redfield and are still sometimes available at sites like eBay. The nomenclature for the correct sight
blade to go with your Lyman 48 receiver sight is "Redfield 21-S Front Blade Sight 1/16" SOURDOUGH PATRIDGE Bead .430 Height".

Thanks very much for the information, amigo! The search begins!

How did the stock hold up?

Better than my shoulder!

I fired thirty rounds from the bench and it held up like a champ! No discernable changes to the repaired cracks.

Excellent advice. I have shot Redfield 75 and Marble Goss rear sights and Redfield and Lyman globe fronts for years and years in competition, and I can assure you that with the proper match of front sight insert to target, and a Merit disc, sub-minute groups are easily obtainable if the rifle is up to it and the holding technique is right. If you can find a set of Lee Shaver front sight inserts, they are good quality. I was looking at my remaining new set Saturday, admiring the quality.

While aperture sights do fall under the broad term "iron sights", they are not considered "open sights", that term being reserved for notch and post type sights and others like buckhorn and bead.

SRH

Here you go.......seems they're still available.

http://stores.leeshavergunsmithing.com/front-sight-insert-cards/

Thanks for the info, Stan!

That beautiful rifle deserves better than American Eagle. Try some Federal Gold Medal which uses Sierra Match Kings. If I lived nearby I'd reload some for you. Probably cut that group in half:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/953411...-tail-box-of-20

Thanks for the suggestion, Dave. Actually, it is my intention to get a few boxes of match ammo for it now that I know it is worthy. I just didn't want to make the investment in match ammo before seeing how it would group.