*Pix*Shot this old Lee-enfield the other day and My casings are weird.

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Lavid2002

New member
So I finally shot that old lee enfield I was talking about the other day...all I can say is WOOHOOOOO :p!!!!!!!!! But! I sot this old ammunition (Pix included) and it has a strange bulge in the casing after being shot in the rifle. I shot about 20 rounds all the same....The measurement is .4525" at the bulge and 4.495 just below the bulge. So what? Liberal chamber? Tight chamber? Big deal? Dont worry about it...what? lol

Thanks for the help!
-Dave

Heres the gun
DSCF2353.jpg


Heres the ammunition
DSCF2351.jpg


Heres a close up of the bulge

DSCF2352.jpg


Thanks guys :p
 
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Scorch

New member
If you've checked the headspace on the old rifle, I wouldn't worry about that bulge. Sloppy chamber.
 
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azredhawk44

Moderator
Perhaps I've been specially ejamacated... can someone please point out the bulge in question on these cases? I don't see it...:confused:
 
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wogpotter

New member
It's not really a bulge, more like an expanded ring round the case about 1/3" up from the rim.
1st,3 rd & 4th case from the left show it best in this pic.
This is very common with Enfields & is made worse by some ammo that is a wee bit under bore at this point in the case.
One of the better brands of brass for reducing this is Prvi Partizan. It's dimensionally bigger & the brass is thicker too.
 
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p99guy

New member
I see a military scope mount on that...somebody sporterized a sniper No4 Mk1T by the looks of it.

"Oh where for out thou bubba"
 
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jrothWA

New member
The Brits when developing the enfield...

wanted any ammo, {dirty, muddy, etc} to chamber and fire.
That's why the .303 is rimmed for the headspace.
The chamber is longer by about 1/16th of an inchto accept any ammo/ condition.
so you are seeing case stretch.

If reloading have to resize almost as if neck-sizing.
Full length resizing will shorten case life.
 
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p99guy

New member
The wooden cheekpeice is held on with two screws....it comes off. But the receiver has both scope mount blocks installed for the No32 telescope and mount, and those get brazed and screwed on.
That was a $4000.00 gun at one time....stock but missing the telescope, scope can, and carry chest,
with a decent bore $900.00 to $1,200.00 .....sporterized ? Priceless!
 
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Lavid2002

New member
So your saying a sporterized gun isn't worth much? This stock does have the 2 holes in it from the cheek piece :p

It sot Correction...I shot with it 3 MOA groups with irons today. not bad...Im sure the gun surpasses my abilities.
 
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p99guy

New member
Im saying who ever did that to that gun you now own....took it from a gun worth several thousand, to a gun while still an Enfield and fun to own /shoot/use....is worth 300.00 And its just as likely as not ,that its one of the guns modified by Holland & Holland during the war.

In this case it really is a shame........ its not in the same league as somebody
doing this to a 1943 Mosin Nagant. the wood they sawed off the front end, had the guns serial number and other specific markings, and there is no putting it back to its orginal(even though you could buy a new forearm and handguards). good lordy, I wished they had just done that to a 1943 Mosin 91/30 instead and called it a day.
 
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30-30remchester

New member
This is a standard problem with SMLE rifle.Their chambers were cut with generous room to help facilitate their reliability in adverse conditions, such as mud and dust. Very common. This is also why a 303 cant be reloaded more than a few times befre it cracks the case at the "bulge".
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
"This stock does have the 2 holes in it from the cheek piece"

Crap. :(

Look at the barrel very carefully.

Most of the Enfield snipers were set up by Holland and Holland and are stamped as such, although some people have reported seeing ones set up by Rigby.
 
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Gewehr98

New member
Gentlemen, all is not lost.

It appears that the gun can be restored back to full military condition.

The barrel was not bobbed, so a new forend, front handguard, and swivel band should bring it back pretty close to a No4Mk1(T), leaving the owner to source the mount and scope - which will be the most expensive part of the restoration.

(I, too, collect Lee-Enfields, and other military bolt guns. I spent a few years restoring a 1903A4 back to as-issued condition after finding it as a Bubba-customized deer rifle.)
 
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Tikirocker

New member
This is also why a 303 cant be reloaded more than a few times befre it cracks the case at the "bulge".
Click to expand...


Sorry ... that is not correct. I know people using the same brass on Enfield No1's-No5's for up to 30 reloads, Ive done it myself. There are other factors at work here. If you fire form your brass and use it in that specific Enfield rifle, use medium loads, neck size and don't over work the brass by full length resizing you're able to reload brass up to 30 times before seeing any signs of case deformation.

As to the rifle above ... any chance of better photographs without the blur? Do the serial numbers match on the bolt and receiver? What is the condition of the bore? If the above things are right you can still restore this rifle with a new fore-end ( Correct British nomenclature ) and rear hand guards. The main body of serial numbers and data are to be found on the left wrist of the receiver socket and the left face of the receiver wall. There is very little if any information lost on the front extreme of the fore-end ( Not all furniture was serial numbered ) - the cut fore-end is not a big deal at all. The most important locations for serial numbers to be present is the bolt and receiver, period.

Post some better pics up - close ups of all markings, left receiver wall, left butt socket wrist etc and we'll see what we've got ... if the rifle is not matching then it won't be as valuable to a collector. This rifle is still worth restoring and would be easy to sort out. If you want to discuss this with other Enfield owners/collectors click the link in my sig.

The bulge in your brass is due to loose headspace ... what size bolt head have you got on your rifle? You may need to go the next size up. If you don't plan to reload it's not a huge problem as the Enfield has an excellent gas porting system but I would get the rifle correctly spaced anyway.



Tiki.
 
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Keith10284

New member
Nice Lee-Enfield! I bet that cost some. Is that a No4 that has been customised a little, or is it a genuine military spec .303 target rifle? They're quite rare I've heard. Either way, it's a pretty rifle. What does it group like with standard ball ammunition? As for the case stretch, it sounds like a headspace problem. Just an opinion but I hope it helps.
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
"Is that a No4 that has been customised a little, or is it a genuine military spec .303 target rifle?"

It appears to be a genuine British military sniper rifle that has been butchered.
 
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