I have a Yugo 24/47 that I am reloading for. My current load is a HDY 150 gr SP on top of 45 Grains of IMR 3031, which is OVER MAX according to the IMR data, but is listed in Speer's manual, and is perfectly safe in my rifle. IMR lists a max of 34.5 grains, which should yield 2335 FPS. My problem is that with my current load, I am about 8" high at 100 yards with the stock sights. I am wondering if reducing the load to around 2300 FPS would give me a noticable drop at 100 yards. I have run the numbers through a ballistics calculator, and even 2300 fps with that bullet will still make a good 200 yard deer/antelope load, providing I can drop it enough at 100 yards to not have to hold WAY low.

Any thoughts?

Later,

Marcial

Actually, this applies to any sort of combat rifle, not specifically just to Mausers.....

+ 8" @ 100 yards with a 150-grain bullet would be a reasonable combat or battle sight zero, because, of course, one isshooting at MEN with those sights,who usually present more of a vertical, rather than horizontal target area.

However, whenyou reduce the velocity, there are actually two possibilities: A: It will shoot higher; (Yes, a slower bullet of the same weight could hit higher, although this sounds improbable at first.) B: It will hit lower. Unfortunately, this is not something you can reliably predict in advance; you have to shootthe different loads to find out. However, I would be surprised if it hit in thee SAME spot! (My old Hornady manual shows a max load of 48.7 grains of IMR 3031 with that bullet for a MV of 2900 FPS.)

In addition, you could try a heavier bullet. The Germans standardized on a .323" diameter "heavy pointed bullet" of 198 grains during WWI, and kept it during WWII;no doubt that slugshoots much differently than the 150-grain bullet. I am not sure of the weight of Yugoslav 7.92X57mm bullets.

You might try it (actually, a 200-grainer) to see what difference that makes. The other alternative is to put a highersight blade in the frontbase. Williams Gun Sight Corp. probably can furnish a higher blade for the Mauser base.

I personally would trythe Sierra 175-grain flatbase, the Remington PSPCL 185-grainer, and the Nosler 200-grain Accubond or Speer 200 grain Hotcore bullets in that rifle to see where they go. One of them might just do the trick as far as elevation is concerned.

Yugo ammo has/had a 198 gr bullet.
I would try a 198-200 gr bullet in your rifle, though there's no guarantee that it will go the right way. Iwas shooting 170 gr bullets out of a persian long rifle- it was dead on at 100 and 200 yards, but when I switched to loading 200 gr bullets, it shot 6-7"high at 100.
I prefer to shoot heavier bullets in the 98s when practical. starting with the hornady 170 gr rn up to the 200 gr speer bullets. The groove diameters in these rifles is rarely .323, and usually closer to .325-.326" , longer bearign surface on heavier bullets helps with accuracy.

Another option might be to purchase a Mojo-Sight, if they still are available..

It is a rear peep that replaces the original open rear sight with no gunsmithing/alteration necessary...

I bought one for my M48 Yugo and it works well...It is adjustable for elevation, so there's a good chance you won't have to replace the front blade on your mauser.. It's also a superior sight picture ,at least for my old eyes, to the standard mauser V notch....