Senior Member
Well that's fairly simple, I'll have to pull a bullet out this weekend and try that. I wouldn't call my savage extremely accurate... My 1916 BSA no1 mk3 is like night and day in comparison, and it's been in service far longer and all over the globe. Either the savage wasn't manufactured as well as that hand-made BSA, or someone didn't take care of it.
"I only get paid if I survive... And I like getting paid."
Senior Member
I have a M1916 Spanish Mauser that looks great and has crisp rifling but shoots inconsistent patterns. I did the test and found a .435" gap which simply means that I shouldn't expect the rifle to be very accurate. Some reloaders will place the bullet further out in the case in an attempt to compensate for an eroded throat.
Judging from the general condition, I would guess that my No. 4 saw considerable service towards the end of the war and has moderate throat wear but it still shoots fairly accurately. Just curious to know what other No. 4 owners are experiencing with their rifles.
Merc
Last edited by Merc; 06-24-2016 at 07:46.
Senior Member
The test will also tell you whether investing in a scope is warranted. Throat erosion is related to the number of rounds fired.Originally Posted by Johan412th
Merc
Senior Member
Well that is certainly useful knowledge to have. The gentleman I got my no1 mk3 from still has some bullets that he never reloaded, so hopefully soon I can get my hands on them and test it. I do hope it's still in good enough shape to be worth scoping. He also explained to me that some of the grooves may be warn at the end of the barrel and that's all it could take to be throwing my rounds off.
"I only get paid if I survive... And I like getting paid."
Senior Member
That's known as muzzle erosion and one of the causes is abrasion from rubbing the muzzle area of the bore with cleaning rods. One of the easiest ways to avoid ME is to avoid making cleaning rod to barrel bore contact. I accomplish this with a cheap small plastic funnel shaped device known as an "electrical anti-short bushing" that can be found at Home Depot, etc. in the Electrical Supplies dept. The bushing fits around the cleaning rod, slides into the muzzle opening and centers the rod inside the barrel preventing rod to bore contact. A gunsmith should be able to tell you if your No. 4 has ME. I'd do the jump gap test for TE first since it's probably one of the more common problems in old military rifles that have seen heavy service. No. 4s that were fired many thousands of times and developed severe TE were often stenciled with the large letters "BLR" on the stock which stood for "Beyond Local Repair" and were sent back to the arsenal for repairs.
By the way, my No. 4 was marked BLR when I bought it a few years ago at an estate sale. I first had to determine what BLR meant and then I had the rifle inspected by 2 gunsmiths who couldn't find anything that would prevent safe shooting. The lands and grooves are crisp and headspace is within specs. I learned the jump gap measurement technique but only after I scoped it and found it to be an accurate shooter in spite of the quarter inch jump gap.
It's interesting to compare the excellent accuracy of both the M1917 with no measurable jump gap and the No. 4 with a quarter inch jump gap to the below average accuracy of my Spanish Mauser with a nearly half inch jump gap.
Merc
Last edited by Merc; 06-29-2016 at 11:24.
Senior Member
I guess there definition of "beyond local repair" was a bit overstated, eh? Well that's definitely a good bit of information, thank you. I have a feeling this wear and tear was caused after it was decommissioned.
"I only get paid if I survive... And I like getting paid."
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote