Ideas to make my M1 shoot more accurately

[marks]

Tim:
I have a CMP special with a criterion barrel that doesn't shoot very tight groups. To be precise, it shoots 3-4" groups at 50 yards. I would think it could do better than that. I intend to get a NM front sight and probably have you do a trigger job too. Anything else that I should try? A related question: do the harmonics of the 24" bbl make it less consistent?
Mark

[Eli]

Something is dreadfully wrong! I wouldn't accept that accuracy from an AK, I'd start checking to make sure everything is tight on the rifle.

Eli

[jak]

Have you done any stock fitting yet ? Orlando posted great information on fitting cmp stocks.

http://forum.shuffsparkerizing.com/showthread.php?31-quot-How-to-quot-on-Commercial-Stock-Fitting

Also, nothing personal, but how is your accuracy with other rifles ?

[marks]

about 1-2" with a Remington 30-06.

[Orlando]

You should get those groups at 100 yds with no trigger work or change in sights
Forget the NM front sights. As already suggesed stock fit is very important, if lock up is loose accuracy will shuffer, if you have a commercial stock and op rod rubs on stock accuracy will suffer.
What ammo are you using?

[marks]

commercial reloads. 150 gr. designed specifically for the m14. muzzle velocity about 2650 fps.

[timshufflin]

Marks, I have to agree with these other guys. It surely sounds like a stock fitting issue at this juncture. Is the front sight tight? Even a relatively loose gas cylinder wouldn't make accuracy this bad.

[musketjon]

Is bedding and option to you? An M1 is not difficult to bed. Time consuming, yes. Difficult, no. If I can do it, you can too. I can help you with it but my guess is that we're probably not exactly neighbors.
Jon

[MrTwistedFock]

make sure the rear sights are tight as drums. The windage knob should be difficult to turn without pushing in on the elevation knob when the rear sights are properly tightened. And dont forget the rear sight cover, its a spring that when adjusted properly, pushes downward pressure onto the elevation aperture to help "lock it in place."

Personally, I think the rear sights on the M1 and the M-14 are its weakest point. If that rear sight aperture is not mechanically repeatable, .30 caliber recoil will just drop it like crazy and your groups will be awful. It takes some reading, some experiencing detail stripping those sights and putting them back together to really learn them. Also, grease those rear sights good but use a thicker, lithium type grease like lubriplate. Dont use a grease that when it heats up, gets soupy or super slick.

And also make sure the front sight is tight as well. Not just the sight itself but the gas cylinder, make sure the gas cylinder is not loose and make sure the gas cylinder does not rotate around the barrel at all. The gas cylinder should be completely tight on the barrel, because the gas cylinder is what the front sight sits on. If the gas cylinder is loose at all, even a little, your front sight that you focus on hard will be moving all the time.