OT 303 SMLE

[Ivan]

I have always been impressed with the accuracy of the M1917s. I can't remember what results I had with the No.3 / P14 rifle. The Lee Enfields seem to shoot quite well if fed reasonable ammunition. The Two piece stock isn't all that hard to deal with as long as you aren't trying to glass bed the thing.

What do you mean by "Teflon wrapped" I can't see how that would stay in place when firing.

Attached are some photographs of a No.4 bolt assembly.
1311 Shows the bolt assembly with bolt head lined up and ready to fit into the rifle.
1313 Shows how much the bolt head rotates past alignment with the top / right lug.
1314 Shows the bolt head aligned but backed off one rotation.
1315 Shows the bolt head unscrewed so the threads are visible.

As you can see, putting a shim between the bolt head and bolt body doesn't make sense because the threads control the longitudinal alignment. Since the bolt head rotates past alignment with the bolt lug, the shoulder of the bolt head and bolt body do not contact when everything is aligned. Backing off one full rotation won't help because if your gun has THAT much excess headspace, it has more serious issues. Also, backing off one thread drastically changes the firing pin portrusion.

- Ivan.

[norab]

There was a trend for a while, (at least over here) to enable higher velocity with cast bullets without generating excessive lead fouling of the bore, to wrap the bearing surfaces of the cast bullet with plumber's teflon tape, after the fashion of the paper patching done in the late 1800's. we would coat the cast bullet with moly, then wrap it with the tape and seat it with a gas check when we sized it. allowed higher velocities without fouling the bore.

Attachment 34373

some info here
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44143





as for the washer, however my freind and his gunsmith did it, it worked

[Willy]

Never did slug the bore on my 1908 SMLE as it shoots like a champ with late WWII milsurp ammo and decently with Remington green box. It just looks rougher than sin on the outside. Internally, it's in excellant shape.

Years ago, I had a 1916 SMLE with a barrel so oversize, that regular commerical 303 ammo would keyhole on the target.

I reload for the 44-40 and 357 Mag in rifles, but somehow never did pick up a set of 303 dies. I just don't shoot it enough to really justify buying the stuff to spread out into that caliber. Besides, I've still got a bunch of the surplus ammo including a cloth machine gun belt full of 303.

[Ivan]

Hi Norab,
I have heard of paper patching. From my understanding, it could do almost as well as a Jacketed bullet, but the problem was that it was too labour intensive. I never got into it myself though I can say that making paper cartridges for a percussion Sharps ranks right up there for labour intensive. I didn't think that plumbers teflon tape was strong enough to use this way. It seems way thin and stretchy and flexible. For cartridge cast stuff, I generally use a heated Lyman Lubrisizer and Alox sticks. At one point, I used Lee's Liquid Alox, but it picks up all kinds of crud. For BP cast, I use a mix of Crisco and Beeswax and Candle wax though I can't remember now what the proportions were.

Regarding the washer, where did it go??? I can't figure out where it would fit.


Hey Willy,
Get yourself a set of Lee's Collet and Full Length Sizing Dies for the .303 British. I think they call that their "Deluxe" set. Its cost these days is pretty close to ONE box of ammunition. The Lee seater isn't great, but passable. If you already reload for the other calibers, you have the rest of what you need except for supplies. If you reload, you won't have to worry about putting all that corrosive crud through your gun.

Another thing to note is that a keyholing rifle isn't necessarily due to an oversized bore. There is the possibility that there is a taper going the wrong way (Breech smaller than Muzzle) that would do the same thing. Or perhaps there is a tight spot some place that constricts the bullet.

- Ivan.

[norab]

never shot BP, just too danged dirty. Like you I rejected the Lee liquid for the same reasons. I went with regular Alox on low velocity loads and moly, teflon and gas check on the hotter stuff. As for the amount of labor involved, I did it for relaxation and didn't mind. If I needed higher velocity or some special performance I would use jacketed

[Ivan]

Here is a site I found from another forum which I believe is pretty good:

http://www.enfieldrifles.ca/main.htm

I have done a lot of boolit casting but only with wheel weights. I prefer not to do anything that requires a harder alloy. Thus .45-70 and .40-65 and .45 ACP bullets are viable but .357 is not. The interesting thing is that my .45-70 loads run perhaps 300 fps faster than my cast bullet .357 but still don't lead the barrel. (500 grain bullet at 1450 fps.) I believe this is because there isn't a jump to the forcing cone and sudden twist of rifling after the bullet is moving at a pretty good speed.

If the bullet needs a gas check, I may try it without. The gas check just seems like too much bother and expense.

- Ivan.

[Warrant]

Last week i agreed to a purchase with my gunclub;
I'm taking over the very nice Lee Enfield Nr4Mk1 with scope (and original Enfield scope fit) i talked about earlier in this thread.
In about two months it will be officially mine, with licence.

Besides the gunclub owned cal 308, 303, 223 and 22's i regularly shoot my own .22 Walther/Umarex Air Magnum 850 Hunter equipped with bipod, weaver-rail and red-dot scope (exchangeable with a 3-9 X 44 scope on same weaver mount) with very good results at ranges between 10-25-100 meter.

Below an image of my current set:

Attachment 50797

[Ivan]

Now THAT is a cool rifle. I have a scope on a No.4 but it is on a aftermarket no-gunsmithing mount. I haven't bought .303 British ammunition in quite a while. I generally load my own with 150 grain soft point hunting bullets over IMR 4895. Shooting is definitely getting more expensive.

Yur gonna hafta post a photograph when you get your rifle.

- Ivan.

[Warrant]

Thanks Ivan

Will upload images once i have my LE Nr4 Mk1 :salute:

Here some more shot's of my current one:

Attachment 51049 Attachment 51050 Attachment 51051

Recently i replaced my 3-9X44 scope with a 11mm mount for a Picatinny rail and two scopes. Now i'm able to use the original fiber aiming, the red dot and a nice scope without having to re-calibrate them each time i switch. I really enjoy this set with it's new capabilities at the gun-club (both the 25m and 100m range).

[Ivan]

It took me a while to realise that you were discussing an AIR Rifle. I have a pretty fair Air Rifle as well but have never shot it. From what I have been reading since I bought it, it probably won't do what I expected. It is a RWS 460 which claims to hit 1100 fps in .22 caliber. The reality might be more like 850 fps which puts it about even with the Sheridan stuff. I picked the .22 caliber rather than the .177 in this gun because I was concerned that having the pellet go transonic would cause accuracy problems. Turns out the 1300 fps claimed in advertising might have been overrated as well. I still have the Crosman 1377 pistol and 2100 rifle from back when I was a kid but the seals on both are not in good shape any more.

- Ivan.

[Warrant]

Finally received my gun-permit, and my LE Nr4 Mk1 rifle. It came with a scope mount and scope (4 x 32, of unknown Japanese making). The scope mount is locally manufactured as far as i know, and supports 11mm rail scopes. Since the scope is not an original LE supplement, my quest is to find original LE scope & mount. This 11mm rail mount will be modified with a 11mm to picatinny converter and a more powerfull scope. The plan is to visit rifle-ranges with ranges up to 300m later this year, with some fellow rifle owners from the club. With a good scope i can then try out different ammo-types.

Below, images of my Lee Enfield (+ one with my disabled LE Nr1 Mk3 rifle for size reference)

[Warrant]

After a firm search on the web, i found a suitable weaver rail for my recently acquired Enfield. It will replace the rear aiming device and still allow me to remove and replace the bolt (according to the manufacturer that is), without constantly having to remove the rail.
Wonder is any of you have experience with this rail?
Below are the images of the rail (rifle in second picture is not mine, i still have to purchase the rail):

Attachment 57218Attachment 57219

[Ivan]

I have either a B-Square or S&K mount for the No.4 Lee Enfield. It works well enough but you have to remove the rear sight to install it. Yes, you can remove the bolt with the mount installed. I have a Montgomery Ward Western Field 3-9X scope installed. It isn't the brightest scope but holds up pretty well. I have bigger telescopes, but they are way too big to look right on this gun.

Which number bolt head is on your gun? Does it check out well for headspace? For reliable functioning for military use, the headspace is typically set a touch long. I prefer better case life when reloading, so I set the headspace shorter with a higher number bolt head. No.4 bolt heads come numbered 0-3. I did the same when rebuilding my No.1 Mk.III* way back, but that one isn't so easy because there aren't numbered bolt heads. I just bought about 4 bolts (all new) and luckily found one combination that both looked new AND had tight heaspace. That No.1 I call "Frankenstein" because I believe it has pieces from about 7 different rifles in it. Condition is excellent until you look at the stamps and markings and see that almost none of them actually match.

As for looking for Original mounts, I believe the only ones were on the No.4 Mk.I(T) rifles. The problem is that they were welded or brazed onto the receivers and needed to be lined up precisely when brazing. I believe the scopes were serial numbered to the gun. There are a few more modifications that were found on the true Lee Enfield sniper guns. The most obvious is that the front action screw has what looks like a triangular sling swivel on it. Barrels for the sniper guns were always 5 groove, never 2 groove.

It is also possible to lighten the second stage of the trigger with VERY little effort, but I personally would not take that too far unless you happen to have the No.4 Mk.II with the trigger attached to the body rather than the trigger guard.

If you are up for a bit of gunsmithing, there are some pretty good instructions for accuracy improvements which I have stashed away somewhere.

Congratulations!
- Ivan.

[Warrant]

Here is an update regarding my LE Nr4 Mk2 (as i recently discovered it to be).
I replaced the back sight with an overhead weaver scope mount that allows me to remove and replace the gun bolt without problems. The scope is a Walther 3-9x44 Sniper scope (interim, since i'll be looking for a scope with better focus & magnification).
Below some pic's of the new situation (spotting scope in 1th pic is a 30-90x90 scope), and the last pic is a bolt close-up especially for Ivan:

Attachment 60207 Attachment 60208 Attachment 60209 Attachment 60210

[Ivan]

Hello Warrant,

Unfortunately I did not see this thread until all the images had departed..... What a shame.

- Ivan.

[Warrant]

Hello Warrant,

Unfortunately I did not see this thread until all the images had departed..... What a shame.

- Ivan.

No worries :-) Today i asked a buddy of mine to take footage of me shooting the good o'll Enfield (spec's have changed since my last post). Wrapped it together and put it on Youtube: http://youtu.be/-f0k_2xxfec

If you want to have details regarding my rifle, just let me know.

Best regards, Warrant :salute:

[Ivan]

Cool Video!

A minor safety comment: You should wear some safety glasses next time.

How well did the rifle do? You seem to shoot from a very high prone position.

- Ivan.