Question about #4mkII

[Jack Stanley]

Concerning the "battle sight" on a #4mkII , what range is it supposed to be on target ?

The moveable apeture on the other half is easy to figure out but the large fixed apeture is curious to me .

Thanks , Jack

[JeffinNZ]

300 yards from memory.

[bruce drake]

In full agreeance with Jeff. 300 yards.

[hardy]

And,if you have the good fortune to have the "L" double flip up ,it,s 300 yards and600 yards.From memory,but then isn,t everything? Cheers Mike

[Multigunner]

I've seen ranges of 300 and 400 given for the battle sight.
I checked "the Basic manual of Military Small Arms" and it said that the lower battle sight of the L type sight was meant to be dead on at 300 yards when the bayonet was fixed, and when fired without bayonet it would print dead on at 400 yards.
If the standard battle sight of the ladder sight was on the same plane as the lower L sight then the same might apply.
According to that particular manual the bayonet would normally be fixed when the enemy was within 300 yards or less.

The M1917 and the P-14 are also said to have a 400 yard battle sight.

[Jack Stanley]

Thanks for the info guys I do appreciate it .

Now ...... just by chance have any of you got a cast load that prints to the battle sight . Doesn't have to be a four hundred yard load , one fourth that distance would be perfect .

Thanks ,Jack

[WineMan]

I shot a silhouette match once with my M1917. It was my first one and somehow to start, I get to shoot at Rams at 500 meters. My partner asks if I have any sight dope. I am thinking either airplane glue or the stuff they used to coat biplanes with. I am up and my first two shots are in the dirt shy of the rams. At that point I realize that I am using the Battle Sight and not the ladder. I put the ladder on 600 and hit five rams with my next eight shots. One was "rung" (hit but still standing). It was 150 grain Hotshot factory ammo. My manual says 420 yards as the zero, so it was pretty close.

Wineman

[Jack Stanley]

I have a 314299 mold that may be the perfect choice for this rifle . Bullets come from the mold at just over .312" on the body and just over .302" on the nose . Rifle slugs at .312" and the throat will take .314" bullets .

I'm thinking if I set the gas checks and lube in a .313" die and start loading with something between 4895 and 4831 powders I may find a load I can use the battle sight at something closer than four hundred yards .

I still have a lot of leftover bullets I need to get sent downrange before I tie into this project but I am thinking I'd like to use this mkII a little more .

Jack

[bruce drake]

Around 13gr of Red Dot or 24gr of IMR4895 with LEE's 185gr .311 Round-nose using the 600yd setting will put you close to aim at 100 yards.

You need around 1900fps to use the 600yds sights for a 100 yard target so if you have other powders, you can use a standard reduction formula (here is the link to Handload.com's app - http://www.handloads.com/calc/reduced.asp) to download the powder to match the velocity if it meets the specific criteria for reduced loads (A medium burn rate powder with a reduction less than 60% of max powder charge is usually considered safe to reduce.)

Bruce

[Jack Stanley]

Bruce , thank you so very much for that link , that calculator will come in very handy .

Now to get out the two hundred grain cast lead and see if I can get them to use this mkII battle sight at a hundred yards .

Jack

[303Guy]

I happen to have an L sight and a ladder sight. The L sight is stamped 300 and 600. The ladder is not but the fixed aperture is the same hight as the ladder aperture when set to one hundred. I thought it might have been 200 but no.