Those WWI era rifles were zeroed at 400 meters. The M-1903 was zeroed at 540 yds. This practice was common to the era when it was expected that infantry would be engaging men marching or mounted calvary. Rifles were sighted to allow the maximum danger space so that hitting distant targets would be simplified. In the post WWI era many rifles were modified to apply lessons learned in the trenches, one of which was to zero rifles based on actual experience in combat. So, the M-98 became the K-98 w/ a 200 M zero. And, the Marines zeroed their 1903's at (IIRC) 200 yds. Of course the M-1 had a fully adjustable rear sight which greatly simplified things.
With a bit of fiddling, a front sight can be cut/filed out of a piece of key stock, aluminum, copper, etc. that will allow one to zero a rifle for more effective use at more moderate ranges. Cut the blade high and then file it down till POI = POA at the range you want to shoot. This method has worked well for me when shooting K-98's, etc. HTH. Sincerely. bruce.
Last edited by bruce; 03-19-2024 at 12:07.
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