Match-grade in surplus rifles - is it worth it?

[1000meterstare]

I think in certain rifles the accuracy increase is definitely worth it.  There are some that are so raggedy and worn that nothing will help them.  Thank goodness my Mosin wasn't one of them.  A lot of surplus rifles just need some tlc, cleaning, and simple gunsmithing to bring out some serious accuracy.  I'm happy to report my model 91/30 will do 1 MOA on a bad shooting day and sub MOA on a good day.  I use PRVI PARTIZAN 182-grain fmjbt and good 3 - 9X40 optics.  I'll bet some good restored .303's will do better.  Even in some value-priced new bolt-actions like the mossbergs match ammo seems to make a big difference.  Your thoughts??? [url=http://www.freesmileys.or 

[thatGuy]

I think that the quality of ammo makes a huge difference but that is only in a rifle that doesn't have condition issues. You could shoot the finest match grade handloads out of my Mosin and still not get anything like performance out of it but that is because I ruined the barrel.

I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. If you were going to build a sniper rifle (I hate that term) out of it I would think having a good barrel to start with would be important unless you planned to re-chamber it... soo many variables.

That said a surplus rifle (Mosin, Springfield, Lee Enfield, Mauser) in good condition should be able to out perform the shooter everyday of the week.

[UnBroken]

I believe that quality of the ammo can only add to the accuracy so much. If its a lesser known type of ammo then its that much harder.to re create.  Just my .02

[Kentactic]

no matter how poor quality the rifle match grade ammo will always improve its accuracy. the question is when its shooting 5 MOA groups do you really want to spend the extra money on match grade ammo to make it 4 MOA groups. but also just buying any random match grade ammo off the shelf dosent mean it will out perform any surplus or non match grade ammo youve ever shot. the rifle might hate a specific load your shooting. but if you tried all match grade ammo and all surplus/other ammo's the match grade will always come out with the best group in any rifle even if a very small difference.

the reason its match grade ammo is because all of the ammo in a lot are set to a higher tolerance of similarity. similarity in amount of powder, COAL etc. and a match grade primer is used which means its variance in heat charge is lesser then a standard primer. also the bullet in a match grade load is set to a higher tolerance of inperfections. and then of course the case itself is usually a higher tolerance of variation in cases in a given lot.

and notice im saying in a given LOT. you should make sure you buy all match grade ammo you plan to shoot at once to be the same LOT #. once its a different lot then maybe the similaritys wont be the same because they werent produced in the same lot with the same data as a standard. 

in mass produced ammo such as Federal Gold Medal Match ammo ive not seen much variations from lot to lot but some times it can be a click or two variation off my zero. so always confirm zero when switching between lots.

[goodnightChesty1775]

shit just buy yourself a milsurp rifle and put in the work and make that bitch match yourself.

[Kentactic]

shit just buy yourself a milsurp rifle and put in the work and make that bitch match yourself.

but a match rifle with non-match ammo wont produce match rifle groups. Especially if you shoot out to distance.

[goodnightChesty1775]

shit just buy yourself a milsurp rifle and put in the work and make that bitch match yourself.

but a match rifle with non-match ammo wont produce match rifle groups. Especially if you shoot out to distance.

true true but im sure good ammo in 8 mauser and 762 54 isnt that much. and new boxer brass is probably reasonable too.