Re-chamber an Enfield No.4 to 30-40 Krag?

[35 Whelen]

Well? Would it be feasible? Ballistics aside, it appears to me that the Krag case is somewhat better suited to cast bullets given its longer neck. The only potential problem I see would be the Krags slightly overall cartridge length.
Opinions?
35W

[JeffinNZ]

Dead simple. Just set the barrel back a few threads and rechamber. Thing is you will end with a .303-40 and still have to shoot .312 + + bullets.

[35 Whelen]

Thing is you will end with a .303-40 and still have to shoot .312 + + bullets.
Oh yes! the .312 bullets would be no problem...just size the cases with my .303 die. Would the barrel have to be set back or couldn't it just be re-chambered since the Krag case is larger?
35W

[BruceB]

Why bother?

Both cartridges are military artifacts, chambered in military rifles. The rifles and their ammunition have served us well in their present format, and personally, it would be a case of lipstick-on-the-pig to alter them as suggested.

My interest in the .303 and .30-40 (and I own beautiful examples of both) lies in their historical performance. It's not difficult to duplicate the original loadings with cast bullets, meaning about 220 grains in the 2000-2100 fps area. The later Mk VII .303 used 174 grains at a nominal 2440 fps, but the earlier Mk I-Mk VI ran 215 at around 2100. Mk VII duplication with cast bullets is tougher, but Mk I ballistics are relatively easy. I have killed moose with factory 215-grain .303 JSPs, and the moose were VERY impressed, mostly dying on the spot.

Rather than spend the needed cash to change a .303 British to .30-40, I'd prefer to buy more brass in BOTH calibers and enjoy them just the way they are. Any "accuracy improvement" due to increased neck length (in a bolt-action, as-issued military rifle, remember) would be essentially illusory and useless.

Incidentally, I discovered that my Krag carbine will accept .303 British factory ammunition with no more inconvenience than a bit of effort when camming the bolt closed. DO NOT use .303 ammo in the .30-40....I only mention this to show how closely the two are matched.

[35 Whelen]

Why bother?

The same reason I "bother" to cast bullets when I could just buy jacketed. The same reason I tweak triggers, bed rifles, mount my own receiver sights, etc. Because I WANT to, and...because I don't want to shell out $$$$ for a 110 year old rifle with which to shoot cast bullets. Enfield No.4's can still be had for a song.
As I said in the original post, it has nothing to do with ballistics, rather what appears to me to be a better cartridge for cast bullets. And besides, I'm always looking for an excuse to reload a different cartridge.

35W

[Buckshot]

And besides, I'm always looking for an excuse to reload a different cartridge.

35W

..............Boy, I hear THAT :-). Sold a really accurate Pedersoli Creedmoor RB in 45-70 in order to finance a Pedersoli Super Match RB in 40-65 because I had several 45-70's but no 40-65!

If I were going to do it I'd get a 30 cal bbl, have it chambered 30-40 and fitted to the SMLE action. Then you wouldnt have to worry about .312,.313,.314 (or larger ) cast lead. I did that to a 1895 Steyr with a trashed barrel. In that the 30-40 was almost an effortless swap, and there are no flies on the M95 Straight pull action.

.................Buckshot

[Bret4207]

I was thinking along Buckshots lines. 30 cal barrels are pretty cheap, especially take offs. I would think a nice fresh .308 barrel would give you more options along the cast line than a .312-.315+ barrel.

[35 Whelen]

I see the point of using a .308" barrel, but after comparing cartridge dimensions, I thought perhaps a 30-40 reamers could be run into a 303 chamber a "open" it up to a 30-40 without a lot of fuss.
35W

[longbow]

A loading manual should have dimensions (I don't have one in front of me now) but a quick look at Ammo Guide Interactive indicates that the shoulder of the .303 British is further forward than .30-40 Krag:

http://ammoguide.com/

As Jeff said above, you will likely have to set the barrel back and rechamber.

Longbow

[leftiye]

Just make the neck of your .303 chamber long enough to fit the longer 30-40 brass (with a necking reamer,or chucking reamer & polish), and fire form 30-40 brass in your new chamber. Should still size in your .303 dies (check first to be sure - run a 30-40 case into your dies and see if it goes all the way in with no issues).

[Freightman]

If a 2A-.308 enfield barrel would work on a #4, gun parts has the complete barrel for $55 and they are as new.

[m.chalmers]

If a 2A-.308 enfield barrel would work on a #4, gun parts has the complete barrel for $55 and they are as new.

Ishey 2A and any No I MkIII barrel will fit a No 4 MkI.. But a new extractor cut will have to be made. Now you could have fun and turn down a MG barrel, but the days of $10 MG barrels are long gone.

Enfield sites:
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55
http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/lee-enfield/lee-enfield.pl
ATB

[n64atlas]

The problem you'll run into is where the shoulder ends, the 30-40 may have a longer neck but has a shorter body. 1.830 to the end of the shoulder compared to1.890 for the .303. after fire forming to blow the shoulder out, you will end up with a neck that is only .100 longer. You may gain a little case capacity, but do you want that for cast bullet loads?