Next New Project. #4 Mk1* Longbranch.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The biggest problem I found with the two groove and cast is the amount of swaging my boolits undergo. It cause the boolit base to distort with two uneven 'ears'.

Yes with grooves only .090 wide they would tend to do that. I don't see how they shot jackets bullet any better.

Randy

[robertbank]

Hi Randy
My go to load is 19gr of IMR 4227 under the 314299 Lyman bullet water dropped and of course gas checked sized 314. My Longbranch is a 1950 with a five groove barrel. I got a "L" Butstock from a local Ranger and gave up the "S" stock that came with the rifle. I am very pleased with the gun. I have a 4x- 12X Bushnell scope on the gun with an SK mount. The gun came with the screw type peep sight that I still have. The gun has all the furniture. Bubba has not touched her.
Good luck with your gun.

Take Care

Bob

[303Guy]

The bullet upsets into the grooves. I have a recovered jacket which shows just how well they do in that odd bore. The jacket does not actually fill the grooves. Mind you, these are .310 bullets and are boat tail. I should try it with flat base and see how it does. The other one that I haven't fired is said to be very accurate by the guy I got it from. I've seen this guy's shooting and he can shoot!

[PAT303]

My Maltby 2 groove shoots very well with NOE 316365 over 23grns of 2207 with wheat germ filler,Hi-Tek lubed,2'' at 100. Pat

[Tracvision]

W.R and others,
How much value is placed on matching serial numbers ref, a 303 No.4 Enfield. I passed up a cherry 1943 gun a while back that had non-matching numbers. Also, where does the no. 5 enfield fit into the mix. I am really a novice with these guns, so go easy on me.

Harold
TEAM HOLLYWOOD

[robertbank]

If you are looking for a shooter and a knock about gun having all matching doesn't mean much. If on the other hand you are looking at a gun from a collector viewpoint or may see some future value in the gun then it is better to have all matching. Mine is except for the mag and I think I know where the matching mag is. Up here there still lots of all matching guns around so I suppose my view might be more jaded than some.

I always wanted a #5. I finally bought one, shot it not well, took notice of the recoil and moved it along. I still want one but have decided on waiting for a very nice example. The one I had wasn't really pristine though it shot well enough. It did not like cast boolits though which was another reason why I moved it. They make very good truck guns and are handy in think bush country. If I buy another it will get a better recoil pad on it though. It can be hurtful. I am not much for beating myself up anymore. Been there, done that.

Take Care

Bob

[W.R.Buchanan]

Harold; Like Bob said all about whether or not it will be collected by a purist. If so number do matter however the vast majority of these guns have been rebuilt at least once and they do tend to get mixed up.

The #5 is known as the "Jungle Carbine." They were an effort to lighten and make the gun more carry friendly, however the backside was guns that have fierce recoil and weren't as accurate as other versions mainly due to the lightening of the receiver which in turn allowed it to flex and create the dreaded "Wandering Zero."

One thing I think would help these guns is to install a regular #4 butt stock with the bigger butt plate and use a slip on recoil pad like I did on my #4 Mk1. With more surface area to spread out the recoil impulse I think the gun would be easier on your shoulder and you could always reinstall the original if you wanted to.

I am a novice on these guns as well and simply jumped in a bought a semi bubba'd sporter that I repurposed to emulate an L39 Target Rifle. When I say "Semi-Bubba'd" I mean a gun that has been altered but not permanently like if they cut the barrel off. It could be returned to mil status by simply replacing the missing wood.

On the other hand the #4 Mk1* Long Branch I recently bought has had the barrel cut off and as such is too far gone in my opinion to put back, but it will make a decent sporting rifle and a good project to improve my gunsmithing skills.

Like they say ,,,"there's an **** for every seat."

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Pat303: how did your new sight work out? anxious to hear some feed back.

Randy

[PAT303]

Randy,it fits better than the original sight and better than any very expensive Parker Hale sight I've seen,absolutely chuffed with it. Pat

[robertbank]

Randy,it fits better than the original sight and better than any very expensive Parker Hale sight I've seen,absolutely chuffed with it. Pat

Mikey I think he likes it. :>)

Aussie Speak Commonwealth Translation Service

Bob

[W.R.Buchanan]

Pat Glad you're "Chuffed" with it. That's kind of what I was going for when I designed the mount.

Did you notice how nicely the gun answered the movement of the knobs? Mine is dead on 1 inch movement for 1 MOA at 100 yards with this sight radius. Can't beat that!

I'll have the mount for the Redfield 80 series done in a few days and mounted to the Long Branch. It should work the same way but it is more a Hunting Sight and won't be moved around like the Olympic will for various ranges. I'll post pics of that when done.

Randy

[303Guy]

however the backside was guns that have fierce recoil

Sigh! If only you Americans could readily have suppressors. Mine is a single baffle over barrel affair and it sucks the recoil right out of it. It's like shooting a hornet, only quieter.

[PAT303]

Pat Glad you're "Chuffed" with it. That's kind of what I was going for when I designed the mount.

Did you notice how nicely the gun answered the movement of the knobs? Mine is dead on 1 inch movement for 1 MOA at 100 yards with this sight radius. Can't beat that!

I'll have the mount for the Redfield 80 series done in a few days and mounted to the Long Branch. It should work the same way but it is more a Hunting Sight and won't be moved around like the Olympic will for various ranges. I'll post pics of that when done.

Randy

Randy,the sight itself is brilliant,very positive clicks and it looks like it belongs on the rifle. Pat

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got some Enfield and Springfield parts in today. both styles of Front sight bases and a round top safety for the Enfields.

The safety goes on the Long Branch and now I can finish the Redfield Receiver Sight mount for that gun.

Randy

[leebuilder]

Hi Randy
Been building lee #4s and #1s for a while. Lots of fun. Gathering up parts can be hard. Most stuff i can fix except barrels. Here in Canada 303 sporters are a dime a dozen, and i will pick one up and start again. Have had much success converting them to 22lr and 17 HMR.
Good luck

[303Guy]

Have you converted any to 30-30? Or 444 Marlin? Or 222 Rimmed? Or 22 hornet?

I have a few 22 LR barrels floating around wanting a home.

[leebuilder]

Hello 303guy
in short no, only have so many reamers. I am thinkng of one in 38 spl, would make a neat plinker.

[303carbine]

Both of my two-grooves have bores of .304/.318 (both Longbranch's). The one is very accurate with jacketed but hopeless with cast at any reasonable velocity. I haven't fired the other one yet but that one has a mint bore so it should shoot OK with cast. The biggest problem I found with the two groove and cast is the amount of swaging my boolits undergo. It cause the boolit base to distort with two uneven 'ears'.

Hi Pete, try a cast mould for the .318 WR, in extreme cases, you could try a mild load with a .323 mould, you should see better accuracy with cast.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes the British 2 groove barrels do distort the boolits a lot. when 80% of the barrel is bore size and only 20% is groove size a lot of material has to be displaced,, Rapidly!

The Springfield 2 groove barrels are more like 50/50 bore to grove ratio, and as such don't squish the boolit nearly as much.

Randy

[303carbine]

Harold; Like Bob said all about whether or not it will be collected by a purist. If so number do matter however the vast majority of these guns have been rebuilt at least once and they do tend to get mixed up.

The #5 is known as the "Jungle Carbine." They were an effort to lighten and make the gun more carry friendly, however the backside was guns that have fierce recoil and weren't as accurate as other versions mainly due to the lightening of the receiver which in turn allowed it to flex and create the dreaded "Wandering Zero."

One thing I think would help these guns is to install a regular #4 butt stock with the bigger butt plate and use a slip on recoil pad like I did on my #4 Mk1. With more surface area to spread out the recoil impulse I think the gun would be easier on your shoulder and you could always reinstall the original if you wanted to.

I am a novice on these guns as well and simply jumped in a bought a semi bubba'd sporter that I repurposed to emulate an L39 Target Rifle. When I say "Semi-Bubba'd" I mean a gun that has been altered but not permanently like if they cut the barrel off. It could be returned to mil status by simply replacing the missing wood.

On the other hand the #4 Mk1* Long Branch I recently bought has had the barrel cut off and as such is too far gone in my opinion to put back, but it will make a decent sporting rifle and a good project to improve my gunsmithing skills.

Like they say ,,,"there's an **** for every seat."

Randy

Hi Randy, if you do more reading about the No5, you will find that the wandering zero was and is a myth, the troops that were using them wanted to go with a semi auto like the rest of the world.
I have had dozens of the No5Mk1 rifles, I have never had one yet that displayed the wandering zero.
"Wandering Zero", that's the name of the sap who made up that loose term.