Brit 303 barrel

[Drm50]

Looking to off a bunch of parts and barrels. Have a Brit 303 barrel model? Is there a way to ID this barrel. I bought it back 20yrs ago to replace a barrel we ruined doing a sub chamber project. Sold gun as is and still have barrel.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Need a photo to identify. If it has a rear sight mounted mid-barrel it is for a No.1 Mk. III. If the muzzle has a bayonet lug machined into it then it is for a No 4 rifle.

[Outpost75]

If it has bayonet lugs at muzzle like these, it is for a No.4

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[Drm50]

Thanks, no lugs on muzzle so it’s a #1 MK 3

[303Guy]

Pity you can't ship it to New Zealand. Not like I actually need another project but I want another project. I actually do have a barrel-less action and an action that could do with a better barrel. Oh well.

[GregLaROCHE]

Pity you can't ship it to New Zealand. Not like I actually need another project but I want another project. I actually do have a barrel-less action and an action that could do with a better barrel. Oh well.

Why can’t it be shipped to New Zealand?

[Stephen Cohen]

Why can’t it be shipped to New Zealand?

We on this side of the world have heard that there are restriction on sending certain firearm parts out of the States without the proper licence, even if this was not the case I believe New Zealand would have the same restrictive customs we in Australia have. It was only a few years back a collectable 50s toy cap gun was seized by customs in Australia because it did not have the modern red plastic muzzle section. You guys in the States should thank the Lord every day for your constitution and the rights it gives you. Regards Stephen

[Texas by God]

We do, Stephen.
I'm just a dumb country boy, but I've always wondered why Canada, Australia, and New Zealand don't declare independence from the UK and be done with it!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Drm50]

Not me, I’ve always wondered why Common Wealth has remained loyal to the Queen but allowed Marxist Liberals to take over their countries. The Queen has lost as much as the good citizens of the CW countries.

[john.k]

Please note ...the barrel cant be exported from USA .....nothing to do with anything else .......once the item is west of California ,its easy to import it to Oz or NZ.......its getting it out of USA is near impossible.(not impossible ,cost around $500 for professional to do export licenses)

[Outpost75]

Some things will become a bit easier with the latest changes in ITAR:

In a document labeled ‘Only for State internal use’ reviewed by NBC News, the U.S. Department of State is finally set to make regulatory changes to the International Traffic of Arms Regulations (ITAR) for small arms. The ITAR changes will ease the burden on the firearms industry by placing some common small arms, like semiautomatic rifles, under the control of the Department of Commerce Export Administration Regulations (EAR) instead of the State Department’s U.S. Munitions List (USML)... Under the proposed changes, fully automatic firearms and other weapons controlled by the National Firearms Act (NFA) will remain under the USML.

For smaller manufacturers, gunsmiths and other licensees, the regulatory changes mean that they will no longer be required to pay the minimum ITAR fee. Supervision for exports of any semi-automatic firearms that don’t use caseless ammunition will move from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The same applies to shotguns, other than those that are fully automatic. Under the new rules, exporting guns will also cost less. Unlike the State Department, which charges an annual $2,240 fee for licenses to export firearms, the Commerce Department’s licensing process doesn’t require a fee.

The official said the changes would “significantly reduce the regulatory burden on the U.S. commercial firearms and ammunition industry, promote American exports, and clarify the regulatory requirements for independent gunsmiths, while at the same time prioritizing national security controls and continuing our ability to restrict exports where human rights, illicit trafficking, and related issues may be of concern.”

ITAR CHANGES – SUMMARY
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS_FRDOC_0001-4527

Items removed from the USML would become subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
This proposed rule revises USML Category I, covering firearms and related articles, to control only defense articles that are inherently military or that are not otherwise widely available for commercial sale. In particular, the revised category will not include non-automatic and semi-automatic firearms to caliber .50 (12.7mm) inclusive, currently controlled under paragraph (a), and all of the parts, components, accessories, and attachments specially designed for those articles. Such items will be subject to the new controls in Export Control Classification Numbers 0A501, 0A502, 0A503, 0A504, 0A505, 0B501, 0B505, 0D501, 0D505, 0E501, and 0E502. Such controls in Category 0 of the CCL will be published in a separate rule by the Department of Commerce.

[Stephen Cohen]

Outpost75, that sounds like some one has realised that America like other countries need export to survive. I remember a time when one could just contact an American company and order an item and have it posted, as long as it was not a full auto firearm. I purchased some of the last Green Mountain barrels to come to this country, now no one imports them to my knowledge. I highly doubt the illegal firearm trade is hurt by restrictions. Regards Stephen

[Drm50]

If the Liberals got their way and the private ownership of Firearms was outlawed it wouldn’t take 24 hrs before black market sprung up. Ok, guns are illegal, so it won’t be anymore illegal to bootleg full auto weapons. The world is full of full auto stuff that the major powers sprinkled around the world in their proxy wars. In Africa a AK is $12 American. Another prohibition failure in the making. There would be mass shootings everyday in connection with the drug trade. Guns would travel same routes as dope by same people.

[fatelk]

Funny, I have a barrelled #1 mk3 action sitting a few feet from me as I type. I've had it lying around for 25+ years. The bore is a sewer pipe and the headspace is terrible. Years ago I started accumulating parts for it, think I have everything except forearm and magazine, and a usable barrel. It's been a "someday project", and I've almost gotten rid of it a few times, except it's not worth much. :)

Maybe if you haven't sold it yet when this Covid thing settles down, and if I still have a job, I'll check back and see if you still have your barrel.

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[GregLaROCHE]

It’s easier to buy most foreign made guns in the US, than it is in the countries where they were made. But forget about trying to ship them back to the countries where they were made.

[303Guy]

Sewer bores can be made to shoot if you're prepared to paper patch. You may recall my pig gun that I cut down to 14.6 inches.

[fatelk]

Sewer bores can be made to shoot if you're prepared to paper patch. You may recall my pig gun that I cut down to 14.6 inches.

I've wondered how this one I have would shoot, as I've actually seen worse, but headspace is the big issue. I've fired exactly one factory round through it, and the brass came out in two pieces. :(

If I had the tools and ability, I suppose I could set the barrel back a thread and see if that would do. It's a someday project. Maybe 20 years from now when I'm retired (or if), I'll finally have a turning lathe and some tools...

[303Guy]

I had a rifle with a loose barrel. Loose because it was a Martini 303 barrel on a MLE action. The only thing holding the barrel from turning was some forend pressure under the knox form. So that barrel wasn't turned all the way in because it's clocked differently to the LE plus there was a lot of lug recess set-back. I kept the loads light with a heavy boolit and lubed the loaded cases with Smoke Stopper as I would for sizing. I didn't size though, not even the necks. The shoulders pushed forward just fine giving me shoulder headspacing. I was shooting patched boolits that seated snugly in the unsized necks. This thing was very accurate but while the bore is well worn and over-size, it is clean and polished out nicely. That barrel now has a different action in which it turned in tightly but still not all the way. Maybe 1/4 turn short of torque position but the action is good but I haven't checked how those first cases fit.

My pig gun bore is like a dry riverbed. It had a layer of scale throughout which I fire-lapped out. Now the bore is a bit oversize but suites the throat fine. It took some doing to smooth it out enough to allow a patched boolit through without leading. With a 140gr patched smooth side loaded subsonic, it shoots very well indeed. The 194gr boolits over 40gr H4350 - full case, good enough for close range bush work which is what the gun is intended for. It clocked 2000 fps with that short barrel.

The other way of dealing with excess headspace is creating a false shoulder. Once I did an experiment with a berdan primed case. That was when I was interested in a 40/303. I annealed the neck then expanded it to 44 I think then back down to 303 and I did this three or four times. All that happened was the case mouth became a bit uneven.

[303Guy]

Here is the tip of my rusted two groove barrel that I cut off. This rifle is scary accurate with j-words. Doesn't shoot cast or paper patched worth a damn though.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y05h9fdJ/TWO-GROOVE_BORE_003.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[BigEyeBob]

Even with ITAR restrictions removed ,Australian import laws administered by Customs will prohibit importing gun related items into Australia . Despite these restrictions there is a thriving black market for illegal firearms in Australia .

[Abert Rim]

303Guy, I would not have believed you could achieve any accuracy with that bore! Good on ya!

[ulav8r]

Semi related to previous posts: Only SMLE I ever owned came without a barrel. At the same time I purchased a Springfield 1903 barrel. Had the Chamber end shortened and fitted to the SMLE, then chambered for 30/40. After refinishing the stock I sold it to a co-worker who planned to use it for elk hunting.

[303Guy]

I came across two SMLE barrels for sale so I bought them. One is clean and uncorroded but very well used and worn. A perfect paper patch candidate for which I have an action. The other barrel has strong rifling but a bit of scale in the grooves toward the muzzle. That one should shoot jacketed and cast well. I have another very bad bore rifle that I think that one should go on. Maybe turn it into a jacketed suppressed carbine for use in rainy weather where paper patch doesn't do so well.

Anyway, so I finally found the barrels I was wanting.