Barrel replacement......

[fixit]

SMLE #1 mklll. Severely bubba'd, so no collector value, typically overebore, bobbed from a stuck bullet, and would like to turn it into a shooter that doesn't require so much fiddling. What suggestions would be made?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Ideally, re-barrel it. Not always so easy with the SMLE, some are on very tight and require a relief cut just in front of the receiver ring to get them off. Otherwise, maybe cut back the barrel, if it would still be a legal length?

DG

[fixit]

I always thought it would be cool to have a. 308 groove British, but that could be asking for pressure issues, possibly. Of course, there's also been the prospect of having it bored out to35-303. Too many irons in the fire, and not enough time to strike while the Iran's hot!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

.308 L.E.s are an interesting subject. The British chambered some No. 4 rifles in .308 using some extra reinforcement in the stocks, and the Indians made them in the No. 3 pattern, but used a higher quality of steel. There's no reason why you couldn't do it in a regular No. 3 if you downloaded the cartridges. The danger lies in what a future owner might attempt, so I'd advise against it. A skilled machinist with a lathe can re-barrel the L.E. or re-chamber an existing barrel to a number of interesting cartridges. Many wildcat, some later standardized, cartridges were developed for the L.E. based on the .303 British cartridge, especially in Australia. Like I said earlier, they can be a bear to re-barrel.

DG

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I had a No.4 and a blank 270 1:10" barrel; Next thing a 303/270 that shoots cast boolits very well!

[Hahndorf1874]

I rebarrelled my LE with a H/B no.1 MK 3 target barrel,timed up perfectly. Shoots both J word and cast very well.Used the std. MK 3 front sight,modified a MK 3 rear to fit the H/B profile.

Cheers Mal in au.

[ulav8r]

30/40 is a good choice.

[Moleman-]

I always thought it would be cool to have a. 308 groove British, but that could be asking for pressure issues, possibly.!

A .308"-303 would get my vote. I used .308" barrel blanks to make barrels for my 7.62x39 AK's. Have two .308" blanks in the que for the same treatment right now. I'd use a floating pilot reamer and the proper pilot for a .308" bore and make sure to mark the barrel as such for future owners.

[fixit]

Do you ever shoot standard 303 ammo, or would the 308 bore make that a nono?

[Moleman-]

Do you ever shoot standard 303 ammo, or would the 308 bore make that a nono?

For the AK barrels (and a couple AR barrels) in 7.62x39 I shoot both .308" reloads and .310" factory ammo. The study Ruger did with the Mini 14 showed about a 5K psi increase for the .310" bullets so they went with the cheaper and more available .308" blanks to make their barrels. Just bought a case of PPU brass cased boxer primed mainly to get more reloadable brass, but have also been shooting wolf out of them the past 10-12 years. 303 is a little larger depending on who makes it so I have no idea how much the extra .001"-.002" would increase pressure. I haven't bought factory 303 ammo since the 90's, so it wouldn't be an issue for me since I reload all of mine.

[john.k]

There is a local barrelmaker who makes new barrels for MkIII Ross rifles......you have the choice of 308 or 312 groove ...he says there is no difference in pressure ,and it gives the option of using greater choice of 308 (jacketed) bullets.

[fixit]

Cool! That expands the possibilities for moving forward, though I'll probably get it bored to 35-303, since that would leave more time for other projects. Oh, the curse of attention-deficit-OOH-SHINY!!!

[30calflash]

ulav8r's mention of 30-40 a good one. Brass can be tough to find for 303 or 30-40 but a decent barrel would be easier stateside. A writer from Precision Shooting magazine built one and it ran well, built up match rifle IIRC.

[truckjohn]

Just be aware.... Getting an Enfield to shoot is more than just replacing the barrel. There's some serious voodoo in those 2-piece stocks.

Sometimes, you just need to sell it and move on.

[pacomdiver]

how about a rhineland 45 acp conversion kit? its an easy screw on barrel with savage jam ring, a snap in magwell adapter and 1911 mags. makes a fun range plinking toy

[Larry Gibson]

Whether it would be dangerous or not would depend on the bullet construction.

I have pressure tested bullets of .307 up through .312 in a .308W with a .308 groove dimeter barrel. Cast bullets and cup (brass jacket) and core bullets there was a little pressure increase but not enough to be concerned. Same with cast bullets. The bullet is swaged down to fit the .308 bore in the first bearing length of bullet travel. After that the bullets were defacto .308 bullets and no further increase in pressure occurred. Soft steel jacketed milsurp bullets also posed little meaningful increase in pressure.

However, any copper jacketed bullet with a steel penetrator (armor piercing) raised pressures significantly if they were larger than .309. Soft steel jacketed bullets with a penetrator raising pressures into "proof" level.

I've no qualms shooting cub and core .310/.311 bullets in any .308 barrel with the caveat the load must always be worked up to.

[GregLaROCHE]

Be careful not to go down an expensive rabbit hole. Maybe it would be best to invest in something that’s a known good shooter and hasn’t been Bubaed.

[uscra112]

No style points for doing it the easy way.

[nicholst55]

I have rebuilt a couple of 'trotline sinker' grade Lee Enfields, and it can be a stress-inducing project to get them to group even reasonably well. There is info available on how to properly bed the Lee Enfield rifles online, although you may have to search for it a while. Unless I had a 'spare' barrel (or blank, and a lathe) collecting dust, I can think of far more enjoyable projects. But, that's just me.

[samari46]

There is a gent by the name of Brian Dick who does barrels on enfields. you'll have to google him as I don't have a web site address. He's been busy lately rebarreling a lot of the enfields that have been sold by Royal Tiger Imports. Seems folks with more money have been buying the junkers as sold by RTI and sending him their stuff to get reworked. Frank

[Eddie1971]

I'd grab one of these when they are back in stock, install it and call it a day. I bought one to save for a rainy day, like if I found an example with a blown barrel. They are NOS Indian made and real nice.

https://www.sarcoinc.com/lee-enfield-1-mk-3-enfield-barrel/

[Rapier]

Every time I read of such it reminds me of folks I have known buying old wood hull fishing boats for cheap, to “fix up.” True meaning of a wood lined hole in the water through which you pour money.