SMLE No. 4s - premium bullets, sporting ammunition, & reliable operation

[Naphtali]

While 303 British and 30-40 Krag ammuntion are similar in terms of rim diameter, base diameter, overall case length, and overall cartridge length, they are not identical. British ammunition and brass appear to be much more easily available than 30-40 Krag, but availability of premium .311-inch bullets is poor. And using premium bullets is the reason for this query. Normal operating pressures plus a rimmed case appear to allow safe use of 30-40 ammunition in a properly created No. 4 while the reverse would be twitchy when using factory ammunition in a "properly" created Krag-actioned rifle.

An ideal solution would be to have a No. 4 able to safely and reasonably accurately shoot 30-40 and 303 ammunition - perhaps something like 1888 Commission rifles Germany altered to shoot 8x57 mm J and 8x57 mm JS ammunition? However, I doubt such a solution is possible - that is, ammuntion might be safe to shoot in a 1888-type free bored barrel, but accuracy would probably be poor.
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Is it feasible to create a .30-caliber rifle based upon the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield No. 4 action [only] that feeds 30-40 Krag sporting ammunition as reliably as well set-up No. 4 sporting rifles feed 303 British sporting ammunition? If it is, please identify gunsmiths whom you would trust to do such a job.

[bruce drake]

I'd have to disagree. Sierra, Hornady and Speer all make quality .311 AND .312 diameter jacketed bullets here in the states. Woodleigh make superb jacketed bullets as well but are imported and pricey. BUT, this is a cast boolit forum and you can use multiple molds to match the diameter of your Enfield's barrel.

Now if you considering rebarreling your enfield to a standard 30 caliber diameter for the sake of using 30 cal projectiles than you'll need a good smith to cut the barrel threads which are different than other receivers you may be used to. Than you deal with either deciding to use a 30-40 Krag reamer or sticking with 303 British. The 30-40 Krag may work but new brass availability for that cartridge is less than 303 British. If you use a 303 British Reamer, you would have to take the original .311 expander plug from the die and replace it with a 308 expander to seat the smaller diameter bullet properly.

And if you want the capability to fire commercial ammo after rebarrelling to 308, you can always cut the throat longer to effectively and safely swage the .310-.311 bullets down to .308. Look at Ruger's work with their Mini-30s which are barreled with 308 but are setup to safely shoot milsurp 7.62x39 bullets. Now I will not claim that this long throat leads to great accuracy but there is a way to safely do this just like the 1888 Commission Rifles did with their S conversions and their experiments. Now saying that, my 1888/05-S Commission Rifle is a .321 bore and it literally rips the black out of the targets at 50 and 100 yards with .324 sized cast bullets with that longer throat.

Bruce

[Outpost75]

http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/weapons/wsc/5.htm

Cartridge_______Velocity_______Accuracy___________ __Pressure
0.315"/8 mm 2000 ± 50 ft/sec__3.5"Max at 200 Yards__Mean not to exceed 18.0 TSI, single not to exceed 19.0 TSI
905039050490505

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=240424

[Multigunner]

If you can find a Lee Enfield with a true .311 bore it will handle .308 bullets just fine.
My 1915 SMLE is the only .303 I've ever slugged that has a .311 major and its very accurate with everything I've put through it so far.

If I were custom ordering a barrel suited to .30 and .303 bullets I'd specify .310 major diameter.

Tests run by Ruger many years ago (only know of these from posts by a former Ruger employee on another board) indicated a 3,000+ increase in chamber pressure when common .303 British ammo was fired in a barrel with .308 diameter bore chambered for the .303 British.

Some UK owners of .30-40 Krag rifles have reported resizing .303 brass and using it for .30-40 handloads. The shoulder is set back, the neck is slightly shorter than the Krag case.
This should not be a problem with Cast Boolit loads , but a short neck may cause problems with jacketed bullets.
I've heard of some Alaskan users of the Lee Enfield running a reamer in to lengthen the neck to allow use of both 303 and .30-40.
Krag bores were often .310 or larger, so bullet bump up was a factor in accuracy even then.

Lee Enfield bores vary in bore size and .303 milsurp ammo can vary in bullet size. Both bullets and bores as small as .309 have been reported, but these seem to be rare.

[savagetactical]

I have had excellent results with Sierra 311 bullets in a enfield.

[Multigunner]

I have had excellent results with Sierra 311 bullets in a enfield.
The Hornady .312 has worked best for me in Enfields with bores of .314 and larger.

[Outpost75]

I have a No.4 Long Branch target rifle built experimentally in the barrel shop at Ruger which has an ordinary production Ruger M77V .308 Win barrel blank on it, chambered with the normal SAAMI dimensioned. 303 British pressure and velocity barrel reamer, which I bought from Ed Harris, who built it when he worked there. It shoots any factory. 303 loads well, brass life is wonderful, and it shoots as well as my Type 2 National Match M1.

[303Guy]

I'd be careful with chambering a Brit in 30-40. It may be possible to chamber the 30-40 in some 303 chambers but firing them wouldn't be healthy as the neck could be jambed up tight into the leade.

P.S. To be technically correct, the No4 is not an SMLE. Those are two different rifles but don't feel bad, even my local gunshop had a No4 labelled as an SMLE No4. Now he should have known better.

[303Guy]

http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/weapons/wsc/5.htm

Cartridge_______Velocity_______Accuracy___________ __Pressure
0.315"/8 mm 2000 ± 50 ft/sec__3.5"Max at 200 Yards__Mean not to exceed 18.0 TSI, single not to exceed 19.0 TSI
905039050490505

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=240424I'm wondering why the magazine capacity would be only five? Pity the rifle photo is so small - a close-up of the action would be neat.

[savagetactical]

The Hornady .312 has worked best for me in Enfields with bores of .314 and larger.

I will try them... Ty