Lee Enfield with Suppressor

[Coote]

If you've noticed my posts, you may know that I've had trouble getting lead boolits to perform well in the bore of this rifle. So I decided to go for the 'trainer wheels' option and load up a few "J" words to see how they went. They grouped amazingly well.... certainly good enough for hunting up to 80 yards or so which is the practical/ethical range for these cartridges which are travelling just under 1000 fps.

I may try shooting lead in this again some time if I manage to obtain or alter a mould that suits the barrel (or maybe I just need to learn more).

Anyway... here is a link to a video showing this little gun shooting. You might want to turn up your volume:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7x4Ok52JU

[303Guy]

That is sooo cool!:drinks:

Your suppressor is just fine. Change nothing. It's way quieter than mine (which only has two baffles). Mine has a 14.5 inch barrel. Your Dad did a fine job there.

Yup, you really gotta get a suitable mold for a nice heavy subsonic boolit. 208gr is about the limit for magazine feeding. As I've said before, I'm loading 44gr AR2209 under a 206gr boolit (not range tested yet).

You may have seen I loaded 14.8gr Trail Boss under a 158gr paper patched boolit and pressure was real mild.

Just had a brainwave - how 'bout we challenge each other to see what we can do with these little gems of ours?

[Coote]

I don't mind a bit of a friendly challenge... but meanwhile the process of trying to tune all of my rifles is creating more than enough challenges.

What I really want to do is to take these rifles out hunting to see how they perform.

I took my two .308s to the range today. The Mossberg seemed to be shooting high. I eventually discovered that the danged scope has moved in the rings. I fitted the scope myself and I guess I was being a bit cautious about not crushing the tube. So I have to fix that - probably with a dab of mild epoxy mix under each ring, and a bit more tightening force than before. Then I have to go through the sighting process again.

My dedicated lead-shooter, the Rossi Pomba single-shot, didn't group particularly tightly today. Mind you, it was windy and I had just fitted a new scope. But I wasn't thrilled with the results. Never mind, I've got enough powder and primers for more tests.

[303Guy]

Silicone rubber under the rings stops that moving without excessive screw tightening. It does allow a bit of time to set the cross-hairs level. It's even possible to remove the rings again.

[Coote]

Thanks for that. Oddly, while I was lying in bed this morning I was wondering if something 'soft' like silicone rubber might work. Wish I'd used it when I first fitted the scope.

[Multigunner]

Thanks for that. Oddly, while I was lying in bed this morning I was wondering if something 'soft' like silicone rubber might work. Wish I'd used it when I first fitted the scope.

A friend uses a very fine wire mesh cut in strips under the rings.
The mesh was available locally as scrap from a Rayon factory where it was used as a filter material. This particular mesh is as fine as a silk socking but of a tough stainless steel.

[Coote]

Hmmm. It seems that I'm not the only one who has had a shifting scope. That mesh would probably lightly 'bite' into the surfaces and hold them nicely. Plus there would be no problem removing the scope again. Good idea.

[rockrat]

I use golf grip tape. Sticky on both sides and holds very well

[303Guy]

I've used thin cotton cloth. That also works well.

[20nickels]

If you've noticed my posts, you may know that I've had trouble getting lead boolits to perform well in the bore of this rifle. So I decided to go for the 'trainer wheels' option and load up a few "J" words to see how they went. They grouped amazingly well.... certainly good enough for hunting up to 80 yards or so which is the practical/ethical range for these cartridges which are travelling just under 1000 fps.

I may try shooting lead in this again some time if I manage to obtain or alter a mould that suits the barrel (or maybe I just need to learn more).

Anyway... here is a link to a video showing this little gun shooting. You might want to turn up your volume:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7x4Ok52JU

What's your powder recipe?

[Dead Dog Jack]

208gr is about the limit for magazine feeding.

303Guy - Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by this? Have you run into feeding issues with heavier?

[leadman]

I use the silicone inside the rings also. Works well, and easy to remove if you need to.

[303Guy]

Have you run into feeding issues with heavier?Yes. They get too long for the magazine and hang up or if even heavier then they won't fit the magazine at all. I don't seat below the neck. The rifle will stabilize 245gr smooth sides with no problem.

[Coote]

My powder recipe? In the particular load that features on You Tube there is 9 grains of Trail Boss (according to my scales, yours may differ). I didn't use any packing in the case and the groups were good. The projectiles were flat-based 150 grain jacketed of an unknown brand. Federal LR primers.

I didn't shoot many loads through the Chrony. When I used 8 grains of Trail Boss I got an average speed of maybe 850 fps. With the nine grain load I got around 960 fps. Lee Enfields seem to have quite a bit of variation in the bore and groove diameters, so the same load may perform differently in a different rifle.

I fitted that tricky scope with silicone rubber this morning.

Thanks for all the comments. Interesting to see I'm not the only one with a wandering scope.

[Coote]

In my collection I have maybe fifty flat-based, round nosed jacketed projectiles which weigh around 210 grains. I'd like to try these in the suppressed Lee Enfield, but I'm a bit nervous about using a projectile that heavy. I need to do some research to see if something that big would be overloading the old action. If it were a cast boolit, I'd be confident to give it a go. But cast boolits seem to slide through the bore a lot easier than a copper jacket.

[303Guy]

The Lee Enfield was first designed for 215gr bullets with cordite and a velocity of 2200fps. ADI give loadings for the 215gr but do not indicate pressure. But starting loads would be the same pressures as starting loads for the other bullet weights.

[Coote]

Thanks.

[drhall762]

Very nicely done. Gotta' love suppressors!