Ruger No 1 in 303 British?

[herbert buckland]

Yes you would have thought some of the millions of troops yousing it in the mud sand and jungle swamps would have noticed before the British NRA boys

[BruceB]

From personal experience, I can say this:

In the course of an entire summer, we fired the #4 Rifle all day, every day in a Canadian Army Rifle-Coaching course. For two months, we shot in whatever weather came over the hill. On uncovered firing points, in rain, dust, high winds, hot sun, we fired "....until the targets are obscured."

Our instructors even demonstrated the effects of firing wet ammunition by DIPPING THE ROUNDS IN A BOTTLE OF WATER, and then firing them immediately...with water literally dripping off the ammunition and running out of the chamber (the points of impact changed...no other effects).

I have no idea why the British NRA released this statement. Maybe their version of the Nanny State has spoken once again. Certainly, no such belief has ever intruded upon my shooting circles.

I have only the utmost respect for the #4 Rifle and its cartridge.

[Haggway]

I have one of these rifles. With Factory Ammo I am getting better than average accuracy. I can hit the 500 yard gong at our range with ease with this rifle. As for shooting cast stuff, I am a beginner. The freebie 212 grain 303 bullets shoot ok at 50 yards. I will be trying other in the future as money permits.

[EDG]

The basic Lee-Enfield action was designed during the black powder era.
The bolt and receiver components under stress are long. This produces a spring action that is sensitive to the case gripping the chamber walls.

[Four Fingers of Death]

My friend at the local range has one. He does a lot of hunting and is a bolt rifle guy and pretty fussy. If it don't shoot accurately, he moves them on. His new 303 is his first non bolt gun, it is accurate and he loves it.

I have had good luck with all of the No1s I have owned, they have all been accurate out of the box. I had two friends years ago who had accuracy problems with them and they couldn't sort them out. One guy sold his off and the other guy swapped the wood onto his Ruger No3, pulled the barrel and threw it away and sold the action. He tried everything, but it wouldn't go. I heard a few stories like this in the early No1 days, but I haven't heard of anyone having problems for many years.

[lowgie]

HI, have one of these manufactured 2011. Shoots everything extremely well, Sellier & Bellot 150gr has 3 shots touching at 50 metres.

Woodleigh 215gr reloads with 45.5gr of ADI 2208 ( Varget ) shoots to the same line but about 25mm higher and groups equally well.

Hornady 150gr SST & Varget also shot well but were not used further. EVERY load I put through this gun shot to the same line with only variations in height. Hell of a good job of machining I would have to guess.

The no floating forend was a problem but a rubber washer under the barrel lug fixed that easily.

Very quick to reload, the long tapered case and large rim means you can drop a cartridge in from a handspan away and it just drops right in. A No1 I have in 223 by comparison needs to be poked home with a finger before closing the action.

Fine hunting gun.

[sharps4590]

It was said during WWI that the Americans had the best target rifle in -03, the Germans the best hunting rifle in the Mauser and the British the best battle rifle in the SMLE.

Grand old cartridge the 303 and a classy rifle the #1. Me, I'd love to have a 303 in a Lancaster oval bore double rifle!

[Bad Ass Wallace]

According to the Small Arms Identification Series by Ian Skennerton "Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle" Page 29

1) Lee Metford and Lee-Enfield Mk1:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length - 30.5"
Rifling Metford - 7 groove L.H. 1 turn on 10"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Metford Rifling Depth - 0.004"
Enfield Rifling Depth - 0.0055
Metford Land Width - 0.023"
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936

From book "The British Service Lee" by Ian Skennerton Page 86
2) Short Magazine Lee Enfield Mk 3:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length 25.2"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Enfield Rifling Depth at muzzle - 0.0065
Enfield Rifling Depth at breech and to within 14" of the muzzle - .005
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936

From book "The British Service Lee" by Ian Skennerton Page 158
3) Short Magazine Lee Enfield Mk 4 & 5:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length 25.2"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Enfield Rifling Depth at breech - .005
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936


BSA made factory bore gauges in sizes .3025, .303, .3035, .304, .3045, .305. .305 being considered worn out!

It would seem from this data that an Enfield 303 could be .303" over lands and a bore of up to 0.314" at the breech and to 0.316 at the muzzle.

My Martini 303's shoot best with a .314 dia projectile which would seem to fit with the above specifications and bore diameter of .313"

[Haggway]

I switched to a .314299
This made my groups tighten up greatly. Now I have a fun shooter, taht I hope to get pp boolits into it soon.

[grullaguy]

I switched to a .314299
This made my groups tighten up greatly. Now I have a fun shooter, taht I hope to get pp boolits into it soon.

I have been shooting paper patched in mine for a year now.
I was out on a fun shoot with a friend today.
We were shooting at 1/2" diameter sticks stuck in the ground at 100 yards and knocking them down frequently.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The article mentions No4s converted to 7.62/308W. I am sure the 303 would not bump the pressure up too much if rained on. The 308 is in the upper limits of the action's strength range at the best of times.

[EDG]

Skennerton is not really the ultimate reference for this information.
This information should come from original fully dimensioned and toleranced arsenal drawings from the British MOD. I have never seen such a drawing and wonder why this information is so hard to find.

According to the Small Arms Identification Series by Ian Skennerton "Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle" Page 29

1) Lee Metford and Lee-Enfield Mk1:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length - 30.5"
Rifling Metford - 7 groove L.H. 1 turn on 10"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Metford Rifling Depth - 0.004"
Enfield Rifling Depth - 0.0055
Metford Land Width - 0.023"
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936

From book "The British Service Lee" by Ian Skennerton Page 86
2) Short Magazine Lee Enfield Mk 3:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length 25.2"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Enfield Rifling Depth at muzzle - 0.0065
Enfield Rifling Depth at breech and to within 14" of the muzzle - .005
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936

From book "The British Service Lee" by Ian Skennerton Page 158
3) Short Magazine Lee Enfield Mk 4 & 5:
Barrel Specification:
Barrel Length 25.2"
Rifling Enfield - 5 groove L.H. 1 turn in 10"
Bore Dia - 0.303"
Enfield Rifling Depth at breech - .005
Enfield Land Width - 0.0936


BSA made factory bore gauges in sizes .3025, .303, .3035, .304, .3045, .305. .305 being considered worn out!

It would seem from this data that an Enfield 303 could be .303" over lands and a bore of up to 0.314" at the breech and to 0.316 at the muzzle.

My Martini 303's shoot best with a .314 dia projectile which would seem to fit with the above specifications and bore diameter of .313"

[selmerfan]

I traded into a SMLE #4 for about $50 last year. It's got a GREAT bore, mics at .312, fires jacketed projectiles MOA at 100 yds and loves 314299 boolits with 2400 behind it. It's a very fun gun to shoot with just the standard battle sights, hasn't had any modifications to mount a scope and I don't intend to do so.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Great find.

[selmerfan]

It was a friend of mine - I had a benchtop drill press that I picked up for a dollar and need the motor mounted back on, so I took care of that. He lusted after it for about a year until he asked if I'd be interested in trading the press for his rifle. Stupid question. I still bring it along when he comes so he can shoot it.

[BruceB]

There is a scope mount for the #4 made by "ATI", as I recall. It requires no modification whatever to a #4.

I have one of their mounts somewhere, which I used in load development for "Miz Liz", my new-condition 1955 Fazakerley #4 (named after Elizabeth Hurley, another fine-looking Brit). The ATI mount worked fine, and left no marks behind.

Incidentally, my as-new Canadian-made Long Branch #4 is named "Shania".... need I explain?

Those are the ONLY two firearms I've ever named. Both the #4 Rifles and the ladies must have made an impression!

[Huvius]

Grand old cartridge the 303 and a classy rifle the #1. Me, I'd love to have a 303 in a Lancaster oval bore double rifle!

I must say that the 303Brit is my favorite smallbore to load and shoot too.
Don't have a No.1 in 303 but do have a Jeffery Farquharson, two Gibbs Farqs, a Fraser falling block and a Lee Speed which shoots just about any 303 load you can come up with.

I once had an oval bore Lancaster in hand which I was thinking of buying but it wouldn't shoot for anything. The bore in the right barrel was .004 bigger than the left so there was no reasonable way to carry appropriate ammo for the rifle short of a pocketfull of each for each barrel.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Brass cases for one barrel, nickel for the other? Nice batch of rifles. The Ruger No1 was aimed squarely at us plebs that like the look of the Champagne level Farquharsons, but have a beer budget.

[Huvius]

Brass cases for one barrel, nickel for the other? Nice batch of rifles.

That would have been an option but neither barrel shot well enough to buy the gun anyway.
Normally, when I have shells for both smokeless and black, I color the primer black with a sharpie to indicate that a case is loaded with black. That said, all of my vintage big bores are BPE rifles anyway but I do load black and NfB for them and that is where the sharpie is used.

I have been very fortunate to be able to collect the rifles I have but I do have a couple Ruger No.1s as well. There is nothing really wrong with them that cannot be tuned and I have never had one that didn't shoot. The heavier calibers recoil much worse than a good classic or custom in the same chambering but that comes down to proper stock design.
A 303 No.1 wouldn't have that issue of course and if I get into another, it will be a 303 for sure.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I'm off downstairs to give the new No1 303 a good clean before a run in session at the range tomorrow. When I looked at the bore when I got it home, it looked like the bore was dirty, I hope it was just preservative ****. We'll soon see.