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Range Report: 1943 Sako M39 and Lapua D166 Handloads
2/15/2012 5:12:14 PM
I've had this rifle for a few years now and it's been a love/hate relationship. It seemed that, when it wanted to shoot, it shot amazingly well. When it didn't,.... well, it just plain sucked. It had been christened the "cursed" rifle, a while back. However, I recently decided that I was going to get it shooting consistently, come hell or high water and that's what I was finally able to do. It needed a shim in the tang area (I used a washer) and, even though it shoots tighter cold/warm groups with a card shim or wrap on the barrel, eventual heat issues will make long strings inconsistent, so I ended up going back to a complete float of the barrel, with match shooting in the cards. In this configuration, it started to finally shape up, even with surplus light ball. The only thing I have to keep an eye out for, is the action screws coming loose and the stock fits so tight that it's very hard to crank the front screw tight enough without thinking it's "good enough" when, in fact, you can still get a quarter to half turn on it if you really push hard.
Now, with all that sorted out, I had to get serious about a handload for it, as it deserves better than cheap surplus. So, I ended up going with the obvious choice; the Lapua 200 grain D166 and, to take it a step further, Lapua brass, as well. A lot of load development time went into this and I finally settled on 43.5 grains of Varget with an OAL of 2.965", which is to the very top of the cannelure, with a light crimp from the Lee crimp die. This load shot inside an inch at 100 yards, the other day. So, today I decided to take it out to 200 and get it sighted in "for real".
It took some more cranking on the action screws and a couple windage adjustments along the way, but I finally got it hitting where I wanted. I was using the bottom "1.5" setting on the rear sight, with a six o'clock hold on an 8" black target, at 200 yards. With this hold, I was hitting the 10/X rings. I was able to put the last seven rounds into exactly 2 inches. Now, that's more like it!
A pic of the rifle that I took last winter:
And, my sight-in target from today, at 200 yards.
I need to get some more of the D166 bullets, but I think I'll be using this in at least one match, if not more, this coming spring/summer.
Thanks for reading,
John
Now, with all that sorted out, I had to get serious about a handload for it, as it deserves better than cheap surplus. So, I ended up going with the obvious choice; the Lapua 200 grain D166 and, to take it a step further, Lapua brass, as well. A lot of load development time went into this and I finally settled on 43.5 grains of Varget with an OAL of 2.965", which is to the very top of the cannelure, with a light crimp from the Lee crimp die. This load shot inside an inch at 100 yards, the other day. So, today I decided to take it out to 200 and get it sighted in "for real".
It took some more cranking on the action screws and a couple windage adjustments along the way, but I finally got it hitting where I wanted. I was using the bottom "1.5" setting on the rear sight, with a six o'clock hold on an 8" black target, at 200 yards. With this hold, I was hitting the 10/X rings. I was able to put the last seven rounds into exactly 2 inches. Now, that's more like it!
A pic of the rifle that I took last winter:
And, my sight-in target from today, at 200 yards.
I need to get some more of the D166 bullets, but I think I'll be using this in at least one match, if not more, this coming spring/summer.
Thanks for reading,
John
2/16/2012 10:46:07 AM
Just got "real" all right. Nice report & good to see someone handload to test that gun's actual potential (I think too few cruflers do that).
That 200 yd group would really have ruined a Russian's day!
That 200 yd group would really have ruined a Russian's day!
2/21/2012 11:34:33 AM
If you can find a source of for those .310 D166 bullets post it here. I will buy a bunch of them.
Lapua is not importing those to the United States anymore.
Lapua is not importing those to the United States anymore.
2/21/2012 12:21:03 PM
My 39 cracked at the tang right from the get go and wasn't all that accurate. I drilled out the crack below the woodline and fixed it with a wooden dowel and acraglass. Since it was already in the fixed with glass catagory, I glass bedded the action and clearance the tang to prevent more cracking.
shot ok with the hornady .3105 diameter bullets. I too, need to do a lot more testing with reloads. It's a nice rifle and they deserve some better than turkish ammo.
ETA- the bullet I am referring to is the Hornady #3131, Nominally .303 cal, actual .3105, 174 grain FMJ/BT.
I think I'd like to try some SKS type 123 gr .311's in it. I re-slugged my bore and think I'm actually closer to .311 than .3105 like I first thought.
shot ok with the hornady .3105 diameter bullets. I too, need to do a lot more testing with reloads. It's a nice rifle and they deserve some better than turkish ammo.
ETA- the bullet I am referring to is the Hornady #3131, Nominally .303 cal, actual .3105, 174 grain FMJ/BT.
I think I'd like to try some SKS type 123 gr .311's in it. I re-slugged my bore and think I'm actually closer to .311 than .3105 like I first thought.
2/21/2012 12:49:05 PM
Originally Posted By SteelonSteel:
My 39 cracked at the tang right from the get go and wasn't all that accurate. I drilled out the crack below the woodline and fixed it with a wooden dowel and acraglass. Since it was already in the fixed with glass catagory, I glass bedded the action and clearance the tang to prevent more cracking.
shot ok with the hornady .3105 diameter bullets. I too, need to do a lot more testing with reloads. It's a nice rifle and they deserve some better than turkish ammo.
ETA- the bullet I am referring to is the Hornady #3131, Nominally .303 cal, actual .3105, 174 grain FMJ/BT.
I think I'd like to try some SKS type 123 gr .311's in it. I re-slugged my bore and think I'm actually closer to .311 than .3105 like I first thought.
My 39 cracked at the tang right from the get go and wasn't all that accurate. I drilled out the crack below the woodline and fixed it with a wooden dowel and acraglass. Since it was already in the fixed with glass catagory, I glass bedded the action and clearance the tang to prevent more cracking.
shot ok with the hornady .3105 diameter bullets. I too, need to do a lot more testing with reloads. It's a nice rifle and they deserve some better than turkish ammo.
ETA- the bullet I am referring to is the Hornady #3131, Nominally .303 cal, actual .3105, 174 grain FMJ/BT.
I think I'd like to try some SKS type 123 gr .311's in it. I re-slugged my bore and think I'm actually closer to .311 than .3105 like I first thought.
My 1941 VKT M39 slugs .310 and still doesn't like those Hornady bullets. I have alot more luck with the heavy Privi bullets, unfortunately they are hard to come by.
My 1929 Tika M27 (.309 Bore) loves .308 diameter 168 SMKs.
My 1934 Sako M28/30 (.308 Bore) loves anything in .308 Dia. I wish I could find another non-D stamped (non-throated) M28/30 for a resonable price. It shoots circles around any K31 I have shot.
