Feeding issues with a new Enfield no4

[asmith80]

I'm having some issues getting good feeding in my new Enfield. Specifically rounds from the left side of the magazine. Right side doesn't do this.

Round wants to smash right in to the feed ramp and stop, rather than riding the ramp up into the chamber. If I cycle the bolt with enough force it'll chamber, but then it does this to the nose of the bullet

https://i.ibb.co/YfKdBKR/IMG-20190515-151838279-HDR.jpg (https://ibb.co/RQM6TMv)


Anybody have any ideas? I'm using the Accurate 31-200L mold

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Can't really diagnose the problem without seeing it in operation, but: (1) Issue ammo for these rifles was FMJ spritzer, which is not quite what you're using. (2) You could polish the feed ramp a bit, after observing where the boolit you're using impacts it. (3) A common poor feeding complaint about Lee Enfields has to do with improperly loading the magazine. Because of the rims, each round placed into the magazine must be in front of the last one, or the rim will catch behind the rim below it and prevent smooth feeding. I suspect that many owners of these rifles that shoot cast boolits really have the same problem, but many of them circumvent the situation because they bench rest fire their rifles at the range and single load them.

[asmith80]

Well I'll be! Making sure the rim of the top round was ahead of the bottom round worked. I was all prepared to have to find another mold design, glad it was operator error

[leebuilder]

Try another mag too.

[Streetwalker]

You can also tweak the the tabs that hold the cartridges in the box....a little goes a long way. The Brits had a specific way of loading their clips {chargers} to prevent the above mentioned "rimlock" jam. The method can be found on the net by Googling it up. But when loading the box magazine, the next cartridge's rim is always placed in front of the previously loaded round.

[john.k]

i have loaded hundreds if not more chargers into smellys ,and I am always fascinated at how the rims end up properly arranged,when they are not that way in the charger........if I load a correctly filled charger into a Ross,Mk III ,the rims end up wrong ,because it is a single row mag............how did the Canadians get around this?.......maybe thats one of the reasons for the jamming....(not the only one ,mind......the guns do jam on ejection really immovably ,too.)

[Texas by God]

It's so unusual (IME) to hear of an Enfield not working, I had to check this thread out!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Kegcaissy]

Enfields mags can be finicky, sometimes a little play with the mag lips will be necessary. I've shot a few thousands of NOE 316299 and IDEAL 311413 over the years and with the mag loaded properly they usually feed very well. Just don't forget that these are not princesses, these enfields are battle rifle and the bolt must be operated with that in mind.

[john.k]

Working reliably with hard pointed full jackets is no problem......if you smash and bash the 299 bullet,the points bend,or the bullets get gouged......not ideal for any kind of accuracy..............i still think there would be a market for a hard zinc diecast bullet ,made in a proper pressure diecasting machine that moulds 100 at a shot,using a proper die set with ejectors etc,not a tiny tiddly toy dropping lead slugs one at a time.......some day when lead is banned ,it will happen.

[HollowPoint]

i have loaded hundreds if not more chargers into smellys ,and I am always fascinated at how the rims end up properly arranged,when they are not that way in the charger........if I load a correctly filled charger into a Ross,Mk III ,the rims end up wrong ,because it is a single row mag............how did the Canadians get around this?.......maybe thats one of the reasons for the jamming....(not the only one ,mind......the guns do jam on ejection really immovably ,too.)

There's actually a simple reason for this. Saying it in this way kind of makes me sound condescending. The only reason I know is not because I'm particularly smart but, I have an ongoing 3D printed Enfield magazine project that I've been working on, on and off for a while.

I've found out through trial and error. I'm sure alot of you guys already knew this but when feed with a stripper clip it pushes the rear-most end of the flower downward while the front end of the follower remains somewhat elevated. As the first round hits the follower, it dips down and every succeeding round dips at the same angle as the follower so it creates a natural alignment with the rims falling one in front of the other.

Trying to describe it with the written word makes it sound far more complicated than it really is but, this too most of you probably already figured knew.

HollowPoint