P17 accuracy problems may I get help?

[fiatdad]

I have a p17 Enfield in 30-06 and the barrel seems good with a tight muzzle, but I can not get it to group well.
I used ball ammunition from my Garand 150 grain I think. I also used an Ideal mold of 190 grains. For the cast bullets I was using 11 grains of unique which I use in my Krag. I am increasing it to 13 and the book said I could go to 16 gr. . The next bullet I will use is a 175 gr lee. The ball ammo did not work well, do you think increasing the velocity will help?
Nick

[Mk42gunner]

What diameter are your cast bullets? If they are too small, chances for accuracy is slim.

I size my own bullets for military .30 caliber barrels to .311". If your bullet has a gas check shank, by all means use a gas check.

Robert

[fiatdad]

Robert the bullets are .310, of a medium hard alloy.

[Ben]

Does your barrel have copper fouling in it ?
Accuracy with cast bullets will suffer if it does.

[Larry Gibson]

That would be a U.S. M1917 rifle....the one made for the Brits was a P14......

[Win94ae]

You need to do some load development.



I get any bullets to work, although I don't like lead in mine; since the barrel is screwed-up, and makes it smoke like a black powder rifle. :/



Good luck!

[fiatdad]

I know i have to work on the loads but it seemed more off than it should be.
I gave it a good scrub to see if that would help. I am thinking the velocity may be a bit low. I get my p's and m's mixed up all of the time, someday I'll get it right. Its nice to be a collector and it is nice to be a shooter but both. it takes a lot of time to develop loads.

[samari46]

Glad you caught the cases with the ring around the case near the case head. Couple things. Don't know how you are sizing your cases, but neck size after the first firing. And your pic of the muzzle shows shadows. Might be from steel cleaning rod being used by previous owners. Good gunsmith could help you on this. Frank

[Adam Helmer]

fiatdad,

ALL is Forgiven regarding your "P-17 and M1917" nomenclature mix up. Ever since I began collecting in 1958, we all knew what the "P-17" meant since it is similar in appearance to the British P-13 and P-14. Of course, the correct designation is U. S. Rifle Model 1917 and I have been "corrected" many times in the past for using "P-17."

My P-17s like my Lyman 311467 and Lee 185 .312 RN boolits sized .309 and 2400 or IMR4198 powders. Enjoy a lot of fun days shooting a century old rifle. Keep good records for all loads, both good and bad, so you do not reinvent the wheel!

Be well,

Adam

[Win94ae]

Glad you caught the cases with the ring around the case near the case head. Couple things. Don't know how you are sizing your cases, but neck size after the first firing. And your pic of the muzzle shows shadows. Might be from steel cleaning rod being used by previous owners. Good gunsmith could help you on this. Frank

Yeah, I think those were the first cases I reloaded with, I always neck size only. Once I figured out how much pressure the gun could handle, I didn't need to full length size again.

When I got this rifle, the bore was so dirty, it didn't look like it had ever been cleaned; it took me 3 days to get it spotless. It always shot about 1MOA, even when it was amazingly dirty.



I wouldn't change a thing.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I shoot both an M17 (Winchester), and a Springfield (scoped) in 30.06. Both have 1:10" twist barrels and deep rifling. My load is 31.5gn of 3031 with a Lyman 311284 sized to 0.310". For my opinion your loads are too soft.

M17 with issued sights at 100yds


Springfield A3O3 (scoped) at 100yds

[iron brigade]

I have the 1917 and the p14 Enfield rifles both Winchester. I have found that trying different things for each rifle makes a difference.

A change in primers or case brand can make or break a load. Same with boolit choice and powder type and amount. Sometimes the first load is the best but mostly not.
16 grains of 2400 or 13 of red dot, 14 of blue dot are good place to start. And of course the fundamentals of marksmanship all play a role in it. Keep trying different things and it will come together.

[1Hawkeye]

Something I found out on p17's and 03's it to make sure the trigger guard screws are tight. On some rifles the wood has shruk over time so the guard screws are loose letting everything move around in the stock.

[DonHowe]

If the OP has not done so already, slug the barrel.
A friend of mine (now deceased) was a physics professor as well as a dedicated High Power competitor. In his later years he took various milsurp rifles and using a laboratory type approach worked up loads and shot them in matches. It was common for him to place 2nd or 3rd against match-tuned rifles. John told me that his best accuracy with his M1917 came with .311 diameter Sierra Matchkings.

[Char-Gar]

Tighten the action screws, remove all copper fouling from the barrels and shoot a group with known good ammo. Then get back for something other than guess work.

[fiatdad]

Good news! I cleaned the barrel well, changed bullets to a lee 180 gr sized to .310 and uped the powdre 15 grains of Unique and it shoots very well. With the sights on 600 yards I was able to get 1 inch at 50 yards and about 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards. The brass was Lake city and Korean. The Korean brass was hard to prime even after swaging and chamfering the pocket.
Thanks for the input.
Nick