Winter Warrior 2022-2023 Postal Match for Iron Sight Military Rifles

[Mountain]

OFFICIALLY CLOSED 4/23/23 - THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING. WINNERS ANNOUNCED SOON.

1/11/2023 Rules Amendment:

Any temperatures in the 30's qualify as 'Winter' for this postal match. Looks like this is going to be a tough winter for consistent below freezing temperatures. For example, 39 degrees F counts.

Special mention and an extra entry in the drawing to whomever posts a target during the coldest temperature.

A reminder that snow on the ground at your range qualifies regardless of ambient temperature.

Get those iron sight milsurp rifles sorted out...

OK folks, here's this year's Winter Warrior Postal Match:

It's back!!! - 2022-2023 WINTER WARRIOR POSTAL MATCH

It would take me a LONG time to thank everyone from the NES community who has helped me out with a karma or two, great deals on hard to find shooting stuff, sage advice, and other forms of fun and mayhem. Running this postal match and offering prizes has been my humble means to give back.

Iron sight military rifles only this time. If anyone wants to run a pistol / other type of match, I highly encourage you to do so. Part of the fun of this is seeing how different rifles perform on the same targets under same or similar conditions.

Rules:

• To win fabulous prizes (LOL), entrant must be a NES green member.
• Qualifying winter weather = snow cover on the ground and/or below freezing weather. Pile of snow somewhere on the range or range parking lot is good enough for me.
• Iron sight military rifles only, in original military calibers. Anything from a Brown Bess to an AR or AK, but must be iron sights. Since stupid CMP now allows free-float AR's, they are OK for this match if you are a wuss. Kidding. OK, not really kidding .
• 10 shots per target. Any shot completely off paper? Take it as a mulligan- we won't know!
• Target will be the SR-1 'reduced' SR target shot at 100 yards. Alternately, real men and women may submit a SR target from 200 yards and/or official scorecard from a CMP match. I'll post a link to a printable SR-1 'center' that prints out on 8-1/2 x 11 paper. SR-1 target centers are cheap and printed centers are free. Let's please not clutter the match with random targets. Those who post random targets may be mercilessly trolled.
• Preferred shooting position is prone but I completely understand if you have any physical limitations that require you to shoot from the bench. You don't even have to mention that you shot from the bench. No lead sleds or gun vise clamping type of devices. Sand bags or other type of rest OK, but why not shoot like a boss? (prone with sling)
• Winner of fabulous prizes will be determined by random drawing. Each SR-1 or SR target pic submitted gives you one entry. You may enter as many times as you like to increase your chances. Top score will win bragging rights and title of NES Winter Warrior. Again, be or go GREEN if you want to participate in the fabulous prizes.
• Each initial entry must include a pic of rifle used if you want to participate in the random drawing. Follow up targets with the same rifle don't need another rifle pic. I'm sure we would all like to know the history of your rifles and little about the loads you shoot. Hey, it's winter and we need moar cool stuff to read about!

That's it for now. If you have any cool 'Winter Warrior' pics, please post 'em! If anyone has trouble posting pics please ask for help.

Here's a link to a printable SR-1:

NRA SR-1 Target | Bison Ballistics

Prize for 2022/2023 - Just to keep things simple I'm going to offer a $100 Brownells gift card to the winner of the drawing.

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[Rockrivr1]

Woohoo!!! Bring on the blizzards and the cold weather shootin!!!

 

[mac1911]

I might shoot the swede exclusively for this winter. If I dont get the love its going on the spring cut list

 

[Mountain]

Bump! Green members only for the prize drawing. One entry for every SR-1 / SR target submitted via post. Don't forget to post a pic of your rifle with your first entry and tell us a little about it.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Bump! Green members only for the prize drawing. One entry for every SR-1 / SR target submitted via post. Don't forget to post a pic of your rifle with your first entry and tell us a little about it.

Snow today!!! Might have to hit the range tomorrow with something!

 

[mac1911]

Bump! Green members only for the prize drawing. One entry for every SR-1 / SR target submitted via post. Don't forget to post a pic of your rifle with your first entry and tell us a little about it.

Why did you not remind me Im not green!

 

[Mountain]

Very happy and friendly looking guy, huh?

Not so friendly to the Russian Army!

I think my first entry is going to be the Finnish Mosin. Back when "Sweaty Ben" bought out a big collection of Finnish Mosins I bought two from that outfit. One was a "hand select" Sako and it actually met the criteria. A very nice looking rifle with an arsenal rebuild stock. The second was a VKT (Valmet) "luck of the draw" and looked like I got the short straw. Stock is original but looked like it had been caged up with a beaver on crack. I planned to keep the best shooter and yep- the fugly one held the best groups.

Here's how the beater shoots at 100 yards with factory Hornady. I can cook up loads that shoot the same:

Maybe the VKT isn't so bad if you look at the other side...

Official target to follow once I have a chance to hit the range.

 

[Mesatchornug]

Maybe I'll actually get out there a couple times this year.

 

[FancyGunz]

Looking forward to this. Might use a Garand if I can get the feeding issues solved with the reloads, otherwise it might be a Finnish M39... although not sure if I have enough ammo for it.

 

[Yazz]

Bring on the snow!

 

[Mountain]

Looking forward to this. Might use a Garand if I can get the feeding issues solved with the reloads, otherwise it might be a Finnish M39... although not sure if I have enough ammo for it.

Don't forget that the top score is only for bragging rights. Each target posted counts- even if the score 'needs work'.

 

[CulperJr]

First Submission!

14 degrees and a light dusting of snow at Harvard this morning. Shot prone with sling at 100 yards. Score: 90 and 0X. Ammo: hand loaded PPU brass with a mild charge and a Speer 125gr TNT. I don’t like sending full power M2 ball through the old ones, so this light plinking load is my go-to.

Rifle: 1903 Springfield chambered in .30-06. Manufactured in June of 1918 and has its original barrel. One of my favorite rifles, smooth shooting and very accurate.

This rifle has some USMC traits including a “Hatcher hole” on the left of the receiver, stippled butt plate, balloon front site cover, and some Navy markings on the stock. My grandfather served in the 3rd, so this rifle holds a special place in my collection. He was issued an M1, but we have photos of him holding an 03 at Camp Elliot in San Diego, in 1943.

Comically large bayonet and Remington Rand 1911 of Dec 1944 to round out the kit. I learned that the bayonet changes the point of impact, so that’ll be fixed for attempt #2!

 

[Mountain]

First Submission!

14 degrees and a light dusting of snow at Harvard this morning. Shot prone with sling at 100 yards. Score: 90 and 0X. Ammo: hand loaded PPU brass with a mild charge and a Speer 125gr TNT. I don’t like sending full power M2 ball through the old ones, so this light plinking load is my go-to.

Rifle: 1903 Springfield chambered in .30-06. Manufactured in June of 1918 and has its original barrel. One of my favorite rifles, smooth shooting and very accurate.

This rifle has some USMC traits including a “Hatcher hole” on the left of the receiver, stippled butt plate, balloon front site cover, and some Navy markings on the stock. My grandfather served in the 3rd, so this rifle holds a special place in my collection. He was issued an M1, but we have photos of him holding an 03 at Camp Elliot in San Diego, in 1943.

Comically large bayonet and Remington Rand 1911 of Dec 1944 to round out the kit. I learned that the bayonet changes the point of impact, so that’ll be fixed for attempt #2!

View attachment 701805

View attachment 701806

Awesome! Absolutely fantastic first submission and GREAT pics. Love that '03 and jealous of that 1911 too. Nice shooting. Bump that sight up about 1.5 MOA and that score could be a 98-3X. Well done!

Once I get some wrapping done I'm going to load up some rounds for the Finn M39. I think the next one after the Finn will be my lucky CMP score- an O-66 USMC rebuilt M1 Garand.

 

[CulperJr]

Awesome! Absolutely fantastic first submission and GREAT pics. Love that '03 and jealous of that 1911 too. Nice shooting. Bump that sight up about 1.5 MOA and that score could be a 98-3X. Well done!

Once I get some wrapping done I'm going to load up some rounds for the Finn M39. I think the next one after the Finn will be my lucky CMP score- an O-66 USMC rebuilt M1 Garand.

Talk about a lucky CMP score! Same thing for me- the 1911 was a field grade luck of the draw I got when I lived in Virginia a couple years backed. Never won the lottery but this 1911 is close.

Definitely need to see that O-66. One of my dream rifles. I have a mixmaster M1 which I’ll take out for this competition this year as well.

 

[Mountain]

Talk about a lucky CMP score! Same thing for me- the 1911 was a field grade luck of the draw I got when I lived in Virginia a couple years backed. Never won the lottery but this 1911 is close.

Definitely need to see that O-66. One of my dream rifles. I have a mixmaster M1 which I’ll take out for this competition this year as well.

Well the O-66 is a mixmaster, but it's supposed to be a mixmaster. Mostly I don't care about 'correct' anyway. I have an IHC that is only a stock away from correct IIRC, so maybe I'll do that- maybe. The O-66 came as an upgrade. I had a Field Grade on order for months (8, perhaps?) and eventually the CMP reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in a Service Grade for another $100. Seems like anything decent just goes to their auction page so this one surprised me. It has a nice LMR barrel and I was able to win the Old Colony Garand Match with it last July. Other than a trigger job and a couple other CMP-legal tweaks, it shoots lights out just as received from CMP. Stock locks up nice and tight, which is key for accuracy.

 

[mac1911]

I think im just going to burn up a bunch of shit 223 I have kicking around.

 

[Mountain]

I think im just going to burn up a bunch of shit 223 I have kicking around.

I just went through the ammo cabinet this afternoon and found the rest of my .30-06 odds and ends / leftover rounds from matches etc. I'll be using those in something. I have some light 110 grain loads as well that didn't shoot great but should be good enough for a SR-1 at 100 yards.

Rather than pull one of the die sets from my turret presses in order to load 54R, I still have a decent size baggie of those Chinese rounds I picked up from you and will shoot those with the M39 next time. I have a big pile of '06 and 308 brass to load plus I want to finish up loading the rest of my prepped 10mm brass.

 

[mac1911]

I just went through the ammo cabinet this afternoon and found the rest of my .30-06 odds and ends / leftover rounds from matches etc. I'll be using those in something. I have some light 110 grain loads as well that didn't shoot great but should be good enough for a SR-1 at 100 yards.

Rather than pull one of the die sets from my turret presses in order to load 54R, I still have a decent size baggie of those Chinese rounds I picked up from you and will shoot those with the M39 next time. I have a big pile of '06 and 308 brass to load plus I want to finish up loading the rest of my prepped 10mm brass.

my loading area is a f***ing shit show.....

 

[Mountain]

my loading area is a f***ing shit show.....

This time of year I clean off half the work bench and set up to tune skis. I toss a sheet over the reloading equipment.

 

[mac1911]

This time of year I clean off half the work bench and set up to tune skis. I toss a sheet over the reloading equipment.

I cant even get to my loading bench

 

[CulperJr]

I cant even get to my loading bench

Amen to that. I have a few days off this week so I cleaned my bench today and made a To-Do list for winter reloading activities

So far:
Process brass and reload .45 ACP
Process brass and reload 9mm
Process brass and reload .357
Finish loading about 300 rounds of M1 Garand ammo, and then tuck them into enbloc and bandoleers just for fun
Process some special LC .30-06 Brass (neck size only) for my 1903A4
Take stock of primers, power and projectiles and order if prices don't make me sad

Then there is the semi-annual strip, clean and lube for 8 milsurp rifles. Think I need a new spring for my M1 as well, and the firing pin is leaving wonky primer marks so that may need to be replaced.

I also made my winter cull list and decided to part ways with a few rifles. Makes me sad, but when something sits in the safe for 6 months and just gets knocked around for me reaching for a different rifle, it's time to let it go.

Need more hours in the day and I REALLY need a progressive press. I usually prime cases while watching TV one day, charge and seat the next, and finally crimp/inspect on the 3rd day

 

[Mountain]

Here's a puzzling target for me:

M39 Finn Mosin (pics and story in my earlier post) and two or three different types of Milsurp 54R. At least one is Chinese ammo. Basically using up the last of a grab bag from another NESer.



That's either a double at 6:30 just below the 10 ring or I completely missed the target as well as the 30" backer when taking the last shot.

That ammo was corrosive so immediate cleaning was necessary. Wow, that was the most dirty ammo I have ever shot. While cleaning I spotted that the nut to the cross bolt had fallen off. Hope I can find it at the range tomorrow morning. That might explain the wild last shot assuming I did miss the entire target

Considering the mixed bag of surplus ammo not the worst grouping.

 

[Mesatchornug]

Here's a puzzling target for me:

M39 Finn Mosin (pics and story in my earlier post) and two or three different types of Milsurp 54R. At least one is Chinese ammo. Basically using up the last of a grab bag from another NESer.

View attachment 703112

That's either a double at 6:30 just below the 10 ring or I completely missed the target as well as the 30" backer when taking the last shot.

That ammo was corrosive so immediate cleaning was necessary. Wow, that was the most dirty ammo I have ever shot. While cleaning I spotted that the nut to the cross bolt had fallen off. Hope I can find it at the range tomorrow morning. That might explain the wild last shot assuming I did miss the entire target

Considering the mixed bag of surplus ammo not the worst grouping.

It does look like a double. (I'd give it to you)

It's stupid to ask, but any chance you only shot 9?

 

[Mountain]

It does look like a double. (I'd give it to you)

It's stupid to ask, but any chance you only shit shot 9?

A fair question but I laid out 10 rounds and am certain of the 10 shots. No nut on the recoil lug could have sent shots wild, or that one shot is a double. Hope I can find the nut tomorrow as I can't find any in stock unless you buy the entire recoil lug and nut assembly for a price that some forum geezer will say he paid for an entire crate of Mosins in cosmoline back in the day.

Regarding cosmoline- if I ever again buy anything coated in that shit it will only be to gift to someone I hate.

 

[Yazz]

I would say a double hit.

 

[cjrubes]

Took a couple of my 'cold weather' milsurps out to the range earlier this week....a 1917 Swedish M96, a 1947 Swiss K31, and a 1941 VKT Finnish M39. I haven't had a good range session in a while so I decided to take my time and shoot some targets for Winter Warrior.


First up was the Swede...

Target #1: 95-0X
This was using my usual 6.5x55 load. Looks like my POA was a bit low and I pulled one low...but it still broke the 9 ring at least.




Target #2: 95-1X
This was using a different load I was trying out which resulted in an impact shift. I was getting some heat mirage off the barrel too which could explain some of the vertical stringing.

 

[cjrubes]

Next up was the Swiss K31...

Target #1: 95-2X (maybe 3x?)
I totally shanked one into the 8 ring....that was definitely on me and I knew it when I pulled the trigger.


Target #2: 96-1X
Not a bad group except for a couple of 'fliers'

 

[cjrubes]

Last up was the Finn M39...

Target #1: 88-1X
I had 2 high fliers which was me, but in general my POA was a bit too low.



Target #2: 96-0X
This was a better group except for the one that I jerked into the 8 ring.

 

[mac1911]

A fair question but I laid out 10 rounds and am certain of the 10 shots. No nut on the recoil lug could have sent shots wild, or that one shot is a double. Hope I can find the nut tomorrow as I can't find any in stock unless you buy the entire recoil lug and nut assembly for a price that some forum geezer will say he paid for an entire crate of Mosins in cosmoline back in the day.

Regarding cosmoline- if I ever again buy anything coated in that shit it will only be to gift to someone I hate.

For reference SOG had 20 gun crates for $1350 ——

 

[Mountain]

For reference SOG had 20 gun crates for $1350 ——

I had to pay $24 on fleabay for the crossbolt assembly just to get the friggin' nut. Numrich had it for $20 but shipping would have made it about the same.