303 Brit

[beemer]

I have been playing a good bit with #4 MK2 that has a scope mounted on it. I had good results with W748 and fair with IMR4064. While looking at some notes on loads for J bullets I noticed that 42 grs. of W760 had shot very well with 174 SA match bullets. I backed off a little and loaded the Lee 185 patched to .314 with a little dab of dacron, it shot the best yet. At 42 gr. groups started running 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 at 100 yds for 5 shots. After several groups I started to vary things a little. I loaded 3 different loads.The first was the 42 with PMC instead of Win standard primer, it shot just like the Win primer. The second was with CCI Mag., accuracy was the same but a little higher POI. The third was without the dacron, it was a pattern instead of a group, maybe 4". Winchester recomends 46.3 of 760 as max with a 180 so 42 is very close to the starting load. I have usually had as good or better results with a mag primer with 760. I was suprised with the poor group without the filler I don't know exactly what the problem was.

I picked up a little Top cigarette roller the other day, it does work good.

beemer

[docone31]

Hey Beemer!
Glad you like the roller. Makes some real tight wraps.
Have you done a bedding to your forestock yet. Makes a big difference.

[303Guy]

Well beemer, you certainly have the finest rifle for the task - any task come to think of it. And I am totally unbiased!

I'm glad you mentioned the filler. I was wondering about that and want to try it but just don't have any Dacron yet (and I don't want to set the local countryside on fire with cotton).

On docone31's advise I got me one of them roller things. I had difficulty at first but with better paper it works a treat! (Thanks docone31).

Now, about bedding the fore-end? I would like to learn more about that. I have always done my Lee Enfields with free float but bedded under the knox form and when I have the patience, I bed the entire receiver and the bottom metal to give even pressure on the receiver bedding. I can't say my method works well or not as I have not compared it to anything else. I 'think' my rifles shoot OK. I did get it from a WWII armourer and gunbuilder. He also told me of the virtues of 'propper packing' for target rifles - mosly MkIII's I think.

[runfiverun]

bump the load up to replace the filler you took out.
go one then 2 grains.

[docone31]

"Proper Packing" of the rifles, especially with that barrel, is very important. It moves around with heat.
When I first started paper patching with my Smelly, I finally got it on paper! Then I started getting a group. Then I fired 10 rapid rounds, and the group opened up like no tomorrow! The barrel was physically hard to touch from the heat. My rifle is full wood, and the sight bracket was very hot.
There is a site on bedding the Enfield forestock. Bedding the reciever is pretty straight forward. That is the first point, second is the mid clamp.
When I bedded my forestock, I lined up the reciever, and muzzle so it was equal at the muzzle cap. I centered my barrel. To do this, I took a business card and Cyanoacrylate glued it to the wood at the muzzle. That gave a solid point on the stock to center the muzzle.
I got a scale, got a metric machine screw. I silver soldered a ring to the top of the screw.
I made up some bedding compound. In this case, I used JBWeld. I like it for bedding, it can stand up to real heat. I have also used the ready to use epoxy crud that looks like a Twinkie, or something like that. It is green on the outside, white on the inside, and you cut it to length and knead it to mix it. Tough to mix. That also makes a great bedding compound! It really does. I had a Fajen plastic stock for my Mauser that I wanted to bed, a friend of mine picked some of that up for me. I figuired what the heck, give it a try.
I will be doggoned if that stuff dried like a solid rock, exactly to the reciever. I used Auto Wax as release. Two years later, when I decided to take the action out of the stock, I wapped the reciever with a rawhide hammer and the stock popped right off! The epoxy stayed solidly in the plastic. Heat from firing multiple rounds does not seem to bother it. No voids, no gaps.
At any rate,
With my Enfield,
I set the mix in the forestock, both top and bottom. I had inletted for room for the bedding to grab the wood. I used Auto Wax on the barrel, clamp band, and all parts I wanted to come apart again. I smeared the goo in the areas I wanted to bed. The reciever, barrel clamp, and muzzle end/cap. I assembled the upper stock completely! I then threaded the Micky-Mouse barrel clamp bolt into the clamp and attached the scale to a wire that went through a ring. I balanced the assembly untill it read 7lbs. I used toothpicks to dead center the muzzle in the nosecap. 24hrs later, I took it apart. There were some gaps at the nosecap, but I did not care. The barrel clamp was completely bedded, and the barrel at that area also, both top and bottom.
That bedding job, at the range, showed a signifigant POI difference! Up quite a bit!
After adjustment of scope, now the rifle was dead on predictable. Groups shrank quite a bit. I mean quite a bit. The heat was different also. I am guessing, the extra contact with the wood helps to pull some from the barrel heat. The stock no longer "creaked". Slight flexing under hand pressure. The entire feel of the rifle changed. Pick it up, aim, and hit.
Try it, you like it.
Simple to do.

[303Guy]

Thanks for that docone31.

Mine have sporter forends but a centre bedding is still possible. I would imagine that with a full military fore-end one would have no choice but to to bed it or pack it properly!

Mine have heavier No4 barrels too. (One is a No4 Long Branch).

I have the impression that the No4 is less sensitive to fore-end bedding or packing?

By the way, beemer, I made my own scope mount bases for mine and another No4. My own got the drop test before I could test the rifle. The stock was off and the scope mounted and i dropped the damn thing breach end down onto concrete! The rubber eye-ring saved the scope and the extra-heavy duty keyed, epoxied and screwed base survived intact!


It's made from a bicycle crank arm. (I didn't do the stock but's actually quite nice to handle).

This is the first one I did. It's the same steel as the action. This one is siversoldered and keyed and screwed on. (The rear one). I gave the guy a rear sight milled into the rear mount.


Both of these had the rails milled after setting the bases down.

[docone31]

Those mounts look sweet! Good work.
I made one useing 1" steel angle. For my #1, it is a perfect fit on the reciever. I hand filed the openings, I drilled the ejector screw hole, and made one to attach the angle iron with. I drilled another hole, tapped it, and that took care of the mount. On top, I drilled 6/48 taped base mounts. I mounted a Weaver rail on top.
Took a couple of hours, no heat, blued to match.
That was how they made the first ones, then they made them specially for it.
It really worked out real well.

[JeffinNZ]

Ball powders are known to take a little more igniting so that is why your charge of 760 might do better with a magnum primer.

[beemer]

My #4 is in full dress but I had to replace the forend. The rifle was unissued and full of cosmoline when I got it. The forend warped about 6 mos. after I cleaned the rifle up. It was so bad that the zero moved 10 in. to the left. The forend had been sawn out right beside a knot. I tried to straighten it and eventually shortened it but it wouldn't shoot right. After about a year I found a new replacement. I spent a good bit of time bedding the action and knox form but free floated the barrel. It has shot very well ever since and even killed a few deer.

The rifle was drilled and tapped and a Weaver base was used, it uses tip-off rings like a 22 reciever. I'm not crazy about the rings but have learned to make them work. Speaking of the drop test I dropped mine and ruined one of the best scopes I ever owned.

I have had good results with mag primers with W760 it does seem to burn better. I'm going to tinker with it some more and see what happens.

303Guy, dacron is polyester fiber filling used for pillows. You should be able to find it somewhere.

beemer

[303Guy]

So beemer, you have a mint No4! Wow!

I have such fun with mine i want to have a battery of 303 based calibered No4's. (I will allow a rimmed 6.5x57 mauser chambered No4 slip in un-noticed!) I started a 303-375 project a while ago. It was to have been my bush carbine. I was going to bore and rifle the barrel myself. It was to be on a MkI action - dust cover model. Now I will just see if I can get it to shoot with some serious fire-lapping and custom boolits. Trouble is, it has a tight chamber and throat, so there is not much room for oversizing the bore.

[beemer]

303Guy, I have 3 but the nicest one is a Long Branch made in 50. It has a matching dark walnut stock set and almost perfect metal work, the mag has some scratches but it is numbered so I will leave it alone. I traded a very nice Savage #4 and $25 for the LB, that was a mistake, I should have kept the Savage too. It has been a few years, I gave $145 for the unissued MK2 and the LB was priced at $150. Enfields have gone out of sight in the last few years. I have never seen a 303 wildcat around here, most people don't even know anything about a 303.

My first SMLE was a Lithgow, it was in fair shape but accuracy was awfull, that's how I learned a little about bedding the things. I put a lot of rounds of FMJ through it before I got it right. I turned it every way but loose, finally I put 5 lbs. of upward preasure at the muzzle. It turned out to be very accurate, working with these things is what makes it fun. That was 20 yrs. ago, I had just started casting for rifles and it had a big bore and shot them poorly. I sold it to my brother and he still brings the meat home with it.

I've had a few to slip in un-noticed myself.
beemer