[wunhunglo]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Palladin8

wun how long ago did you buy your set of bolt heads? I looked on their website and saw nothing pertaining to the Enfield rifles

About 6 months ago, drop them an email or give them a call.

[gandog56]

Well yesterday I had my first case head separation. It was an S&B case reload. The primer showed no signs of overpressure whatsoever, and the recoil felt normal and target got a hole just where I was aiming it. The only way I knew something was wrong was I cycled the bolt and no empty came flying out. Of course the next shell would not load. Now I had to order a broken shell extractor.

None of the other brand cases I was firing did this, and since I see no other signs of overpressure I am kind of sure the case just failed. Kind of debating just firing the rest of the S&B cased stuff and tossing the empties because there aren't that many of them.

[wunhunglo]

I've never been a fan of S & B for reloading; they're cheap for a reason I reckon.

I had my first ever case head separation a few months ago, it was with a reloaded Norma .308. I was lucky I have a stuck case remover for all my rifle calibres and it's the first time I've used one on my own rifles.

Gandog.........I was under the impression it was your 8mm reload that separated??

[gandog56]

Nope, it was a .303 Brit what separated. I was having trouble sizing 30.06 cases down to 8mm.

[Palladin8]

Well I have a range report on the ammo finally. Friday on my way home I stopped by a local gun shop and was looking for some supplies. Well I found a No.4 MKI just sitting on the rack. Sooooo I looked it over really good asked the guy how much and after he told me the price I told him I would be right back. 30 mins later I returned with my set of guages and checked the headspacing. The bolt wouldn't close on the field so I tried the no-go. Wouldn't close on the no go so I gave him the $250 he was asking for the rifle. Cleaned it up and went shooting yesterday after I dropped my wife off at work. I went out to my shooting spot and set up and started sending lead down range. I tested three different types of ammo. The Sellier & Bellot 180gr fmj, Winchester 174gr fmj, and Privi Partisan 150gr soft point.
I shot the groups at 25yds just to see if this rifle would shoot decent. Well it does. The groups are all pretty decent and the Winchester ammo was amazing. Had I not had grasshopper land on my calf while I was shooting I wouldn've had all the rounds almost touching. Instead it went 2" high. The Sellier ammo shot pretty decent as well as the Privi. The Privi was the dirtiest of them all but that's ok. I also shot at a piece of roadway sign that was an estimated 500yds away. It was up in the rocks on the side of the hill. I heard it hit the metal 5 out of the 10 times. The others I could see were hitting the rock to the right of it. When I looked at it with my spotting scope I could see the fresh marks in the rock but couldn't make them out in the sign. With the heat climbing into the upper 90's and the sun beating down on me I cut the range time short and decided to call it a day and look for more of that Winchester ammo. Sadly no more.

The first pic is the Winchester ammo, The second is the Privi, and the third is the Sellier. I'll also post some pics of the new rifle.

[Palladin8]

And here are pics of my new Enfield. I can't really make out the date or other info as it has been painted. The only thing you can see is the serial # and a few other markings which are faint. You can see the import marks but that doesn't help much. On the left side of the reciever just above the pressure relief hole it has U.K. .303 BRIT. further to the right on the reciever is the No.4 MK1. By the ejection screw is the 4. On the wrist is the Serial # BB25XXX and just above that is faint imprint that is hard to read but I think it says TAC ALEX. VS sitting kind of in between an F A. On the right left side of the wrist under the bolt I can't see any markings as it's painted over.
Can anyone recommend how to remove the paint without damaging the bluing underneath it? The paint job is pretty poor and I would much rather have it cleaner looking. I am not worried about rusting as I live in Las Vegas and the chances are pretty slim that I will have to worry about rust.

Here are a few pics for you guys. I think it's a beautiful rifle and a great shooter.

[Alan De Enfield]

Palladin - Nice buy and no doubt more will follow.

Try the Privi Partisan 174 gr FMJ I can get sub 1" at 100yds with it but when I try the 150gr its 2" at best. Sounds stupid I know but thats what works / doesnt work in my Savage No4 Mk1*

When you used 174 gr Winchester you got good groupings (unless it was a 6 foot diameter target) so try the 174 gr Privi - it is supposed to be a straight copy of the original MkVII ammo that the rifle was designed for.

2 sighting rounds at 10:00 o'clock then 5 rounds - standard 'iron sights'
Privi 174gr FMJ, lying prone with only elbow support.

[Palladin8]

Thanks Alan, I will see if I can find any of the 174 around. I have bought a bullet mold so I can cast my own for the 303 as to make shooting it even cheaper. It is an absolute joy to shoot as is. Right now I do have a box of Sierra 174gr Match Kings that I will load up first and see if I can do better than the Win ammo.

[Ballbearing]

I shoot S&B ammo quite a bit, but do not reload it. As of yet, I've never had anything but good luck with it. It seems to be excellent ammo.

[pathdoc]

Hi,

Hope this information is valuable:

Well, was just off to the range today to see what my first reloads would do - 215gn Woodleigh RNSN over a minimum charge (42gn) of ADI AR2209. (Australian Defence Industries). Along the way, I shot some 174gn Highland (PPU headstamp so probably Privi) for a warmup and to check the chrony alignment. The first shot did 2299fps, the other three were 2310, 2340 and 2380fps (the last two shot after the handloads). So they appear to be a fair bit slower than MkVII (2440fps).

Handloads were somewhere between 2090 and 2190fps, average 2137, standard deviation 34fps (shot ten for velocity; chrony choked on the last one). Oddly enough, got much more velocity than was promised by powder guide - 2 fastest shots approached or exceeded stated max load velocity - but with no pressure symptoms. Will be working upwards in the next few weeks.

Need more work on that consistency, I think! Too much maximum variation for my liking. Groups weren't great (vertically strung out like whoa!) but target was difficult to see (is designed for scoped rifles) and I think much of the vertical variation (there was nowhere near as much horizontal variation) was due to not seeing the target absolutely clearly.

S&B cases, second firings (first reload), did not split or burst. So far, so good.

[gandog56]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Ballbearing

I shoot S&B ammo quite a bit, but do not reload it. As of yet, I've never had anything but good luck with it. It seems to be excellent ammo.

Well if you don't reload them, send me your empties!

[Palladin8]

lol gandog I was thinking the samething.

[gandog56]

Yeah, so I got first dibs!

[Palladin8]

i'll wrastle you for em. lol

[MmMongol]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Palladin8

Can anyone recommend how to remove the paint without damaging the bluing underneath it? The paint job is pretty poor and I would much rather have it cleaner looking. I am not worried about rusting as I live in Las Vegas and the chances are pretty slim that I will have to worry about rust.

If it's anything like what had been applied to my rifle it came off with a soaking of Simple Green under the desert sun.
Rinse with water, blow dry and oil liberally.
My rilfe was void of any oil, dirt and paint with some minor scrubbing and the finish was undamaged.
Not saying the stuff is a magic paint remover but it worked for me and if nothing else the rifle will be clean.

[gandog56]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Palladin8

i'll wrastle you for em. lol

Be careful what you wish for!

[GUNZABLAZIN]

Quote:       Originally Posted by gandog56

Be careful what you wish for!

[gandog56]

More because I look like this, only with a beard.

[Palladin8]

hahahahaha! not Goerge the Animal Hahahaha! To funny. Ok you win

[webbertelli]

Well my rifle is having some issues so I won't be reloading the few cases I was able to shoot. I am pretty sure the headspace is out and I will have to correct it prior to attempting to shoot it again. out of the three rounds that I managed to fire the first one left a ring a little above the head, the second one split the case almost all the way around in the same location and the third managed to seperate the case completely. All of the primers were punctured by the firing pin. I guess I have to get a set of guages and check the headspacing now.
Would buying a complete new bolt assy cure this or is it a whishful thought?
This may not be a headspace problem. even if the rim of the case is tight against the face of the chamber, if you have a long military chamber, WHICH EVERY ENFIELD I HAVE EVER FIRED DOES, the case will still stretch. Unlike a rimless round which headspaces on the shoulder, rimmed cases headspace on the rim. You cant change the lenght of the chamber just the tiny amount the rim can move back against the bolt face. Enfields have always stretched fired cases and the secret to decent case life is to buy loaded ammo first time around and then only neck size the cases once they have been fireformed. I have heard that S&B brass is quite thin and can be prone to separation if reloaded but I have never heard of cases separating at first firing. I have tried loads of different cases but the best value seem to be PRVI partizan. Headspacing your rifle seems to be a major issue in the US. I know hundreds of shooters in the UK and numerous gunsmiths but I have never heard of any issues ever, with head spacing. There seems to be lots of worry words on the internet regarding headspacing milsurp rifles but other than Fultons of Bisley who build custom 303 target and sniper rifles I have never heard of anyone changing a bolt head in a rifle with a rimmed cartridge. I suspect it may be shooters unfamiliar with the terrible way that a military 303 stretches its fired cases. The chambers were reamed to allow massive clearances with rounds covered in mud, snow or sand. They were never intended to take reloaded rounds. They were built to be the best, fastest, most reliable high capacity bolt action service rifle. And they were for over 60 years.