Two Long Term Projects Complete !!!

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have recently completed two Long Term Projects that have been in the works for 10 years+.. Gunsmithing for me takes the form of Improving Operation on Generic Guns like Marlins and Shotguns like Mossberg's, and Refinishing and Building Sporting Guns out of Military Service Rifles from WW1 and 2. Sometimes these projects go on for years simply because of some missing pieces or a missing Skill that I have to develop.

I am a Machinist Toolmaker by Trade so the Machine Work is easy for me and I have the machines to do it. I have also developed decent Wood Working and Finishing Skills over the years So I can make wood look pretty decent. I won't hesitate to refinish a stock on a Gun that I buy that needs some TLC and that gun maybe even be brand new from the factory that didn't do much to finish the wood satisfactorily.

The first gun is a Parker Hale "Deluxe Sporter" that I bought about 2014 for $175. After WW2 Parker-Hale bought up thousands of British Service Rifles and converted them to Sporters. Most of these guns were sold in the US and Canada. My first one was a "Regular Sporter" that was essentially a Enfield #4 Mk1 with the Handguards removed it sold originally for $65 and I converted mine to look like a Enfield L39 Target rifle. #1 Mk3's were also done this way

The Deluxe Sporters were made from the Rifles with worn muzzles from being Over Cleaned. They got the barrels cut 3 " and re-crowned to get rid of the destroyed parts of the barrels, and a new Parker Hale Front Sight Ramp, modified Wood on the Fore End and Sling Swivels. They also got a new 5 Round Magazine which is worth more than the gun itself! These guns sold for $75?

Mine got new Boyd's Gray Laminated Wood with a Pachmayer Recoil Pad. The barrel was bored out to .35-303 by JES Reboring and the entire barreled action and all bottom metals were Cera-Koted. In addition I made an Adapter to fit a Redfield Receiver Sight to the gun which is something I have done before on other Enfield's.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out and am waiting on a Lee Boolit Mold to start shooting it. I am starting with load data for .35 Remington as that is close to what this cartridge will be when sussed out. It is not a new Wild Cat Cartridge as many guns like this were converted in AUS and other British Empire Countries. But it is not that common here in the US. My contacts in AUS as well as JES suggested the .35 Rem as a starting point for load development. Pretty sure this gun with 220 gr Jacketed Bullets will be sufficient for anything in N/A, and most other places as well.

It is functionally a "Hunting Rifle." Handles nicely and whereas it has an Enfield Trigger I got it to where it is not bad at all.

I was going for the Classic 1960's Canadian Hunting Rifle look? I think I got close? Even with the upgraded Laminated Stock?

Here's some pics.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK the Second Gun Completed this last weekend is one that has been on the back burner for many years because I really didn't want to just throw it together. IE: Screw it up!

It is my "Springfield NRA Sporter Replica." I say "Replica" because it was built around a "Brand New 03A3 Barreled Action." My good Friend and Metal Shop Teacher from High School bought this barreled action from the DCM in 1965 for $15! I bought it from him around the year 2000 for $150, still a screamin' deal!! I had originally wanted to build a Springfield Sporter out of it and got a sporter stock for it but then found out about the "Springfield Armory NRA Sporter" (See Charles Garfield's gun for an example) which is so much cooler I decided I wanted to go that Route. I was able to pick up the two parts peculiar to these guns, the Butt Plate $100 and the Barrel Band with Sling Swivel $125! off Ebay. a few years back and have had them stashed until recently. It also has a Timney Trigger which is excellent.

I tried many outfits to find a knock off Stock as the stock is also peculiar to these guns but nobody would make one. I finally found one but when it arrived is was Garbage and the people wanted a 25% restocking fee to return it, so I turned the return over to Paypal!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got all my money back! Last year I ran into a guy in Oregon who had a stock duplicating machine and he also had a NRA Sporter Stock for a template ! I got one from him and it fit perfectly and was decent walnut. Not cheap at $300, but worth it in the end. So now I had all the Piece Parts, just needed the time to get it together.

So last month I sent both the barreled actions for both guns off to my Friends at Vang Comp and got them Cera-Koted Black and they came back perfect! The only other thing done to the Barreled Action was Drilling and Tapping it for a Lyman #48 Receiver Sight. The one I used was a newer model than the ones that were made in the 1920's but still in keeping with the newer 03A3 action. It took me 4 hours to drill and tap those two holes, and I Sweated Blood the entire time as I broke the tip of the same 6-48 Tap 4 separate times and managed to get the chip back out to the holes 4 times and resharpen the $28 tap which I still have. Every time I got into the case hardened portion of the outer and inner surfaces of the action it would snap the end of the tap off with the minutest application of force to the Tap Handle. I even had a Center in the tap handle on my Mill so it was going into the hole dead strait. It is on there now, and looks like I knew what I was doing. No one reading this is allowed to disseminate this story!!!!

I finished the wood in a somewhat controversial Color. I kind of went nuts with the Burgundy Tint in the Tru-Oil, but with the Black Action and Sling it looks pretty good out in the sunlight.

This Barreled Action has never been fired since it left the factory in 1943! I am looking forward to many enjoyable hours of shooting this one, and it will be my Nation Match Gun..

Pretty happy with the way this one came out, probably will do some more refinement on the wood as I've seen some small places that need some more attention.

Here's some pics.

Randy

[Mk42gunner]

...as I broke the tip of the same 6-48 Tap 4 separate times and managed to get the chip back out to the holes 4 times and resharpen the $28 tap which I still have. Every time I got into the case hardened portion of the outer and inner surfaces of the action it would snap the end of the tap off with the minutest application of force to the Tap Handle. I even had a Center in the tap handle on my Mill so it was going into the hole dead strait. It is on there now, and looks like I knew what I was doing. No one reading this is allowed to disseminate this story!!!!...

Golly gee whiz Randy,
If I had that happen, I would be demanding everyone shout the news everywhere.

Good looking projects, even if they don't look like they came from the factory.

Wood and metal always looks better than plastic and metal.

Robert

[ulav8r]

Two FINE rifles.

[deltaenterprizes]

I have a sporterized 03 Springfield but it doesn’t have the barrel band I picked up from a pawnshop for $150! I have not shot it yet but I think it will be a cast boolit gun!
I have gotten recoil sensitive in my old age!

[Texas by God]

I like them both. Good work!


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[W.R.Buchanan]

Got the Lee Mold in for the .35-303 today, so it's off to the garage to Cast some Boolits! Mold # is C358-200RF 200 gr. Waiting for Gas Checks to arrive later this week.

Later::::

Boolits came out great!
Randy

[rintinglen]

OH my, those ARE rifles. That Springfield is exactly the way a rifle should look, at least to my eyes.

[Green Frog]

There are machinists and there are toolmakers and artists. You definitely fall into the latter category and I tip my hat to you! The reddish color on your NRA Sporter homage reminds me of an early Winchester color and I bet it will age beautifully to a darker shade. Nice work my friend. :2_high5:
Your ‘Pibian Phriend

[W.R.Buchanan]

Here's a .35-303 next to a regular .303 just for comparison. 200 gr boolit from Lee .358-200 RF These also get a Gas Check and probably PC as well.

Randy

[garandsrus]

The Springfield looks a lot like a M2, which is not a bad thing! They are great looking rifles.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have a Pristine M2,,, with wait for it,,,, 2 Magazines.

On the M2's the Barrel Band is the same, and the rear sight is the same as the NRA Sporters. The Stock is different in that it has Finger Grooves, however I just saw two M2's that were for sale at Rock Island Auctions, that had NRA Sporter Stocks with no Finger Grooves and the Sporter Butt Plate,

My gun was completely refurbished at the Benicia Arsenal in 1957. It has a new barrel, and a new stock, and as is common with these guns, the parts are all serialized but well mixed so nothing is from the original gun that was made in 1935. MY SN is 4604,,, IE: 1935 mfg.

The people that used these guns had a habit of mixing and matching parts until they got what they wanted for "their Gun."

Really wish I could get a letter from them stating it was Refurbed in 1957 for sure, but they say all the records are gone? If anyone knows anything about those Records, do speak up.

Randy

[fixit]

I have a #1 mk3 that I have gone back and forth with concerning the very sort of things you've done. That is a beautiful piece of work, and it adds to the idea of sending mine out to jes to become a 35-303. That aperture sight looks natural on the receiver, as it should. You do very fine work!

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK the guns are done but the ammo for the .35-303 is still in question? I bought a Lee 358-200RF mold and the boolits came out nice, but alas the cartridges don't feed right from the magazine. The boolits just aren't long enough. I can still single load them, and I found that if I run the bolt really fast most of them go in the hole, except for the last one which ejects as soon as the boolit gets past the Feed lip on the right.

I got some Sierra 225 gr Game Kings and put a few in some old cases that I opened up to .358. They feed just fine although there is a small amount of work I need to do on the underside of the Feed Lips to smooth them out so they don't scratch the bullets.

I am loading these with .358 Win Dies, as all I need to do is Open the Case Mouth to load them, and then Neck Size, Seat Bullets and Crimp. There is only .015 difference between the OD of the Neck and the Shoulder of the case

I will be using .35 Remington load data to start with and I Have found some Real Live .35-303 data from AUS for the Sierra 225 bullets using common powders that just have different numbers on them than what they are here. Talking W748, Varget, 3031 Etc. All made in AUS at one time before coming back here to the US now.

Here's a pic of the round. you can see there isn't much of a shoulder and what is there will probably change after firing. But it really doesn't matter since the round headspaces on the rim.

Randy

[pworley1]

Great work.

[Green Frog]

Randy, that 35/303 should be heavy enough for anything that walks or runs in the Western Hemisphere! What kind of recoil does that round give with that 225 gr bullet? Is it a lot more “rowdy” than the original 303?

Froggie

[W.R.Buchanan]

Froggie: I haven't shot it yet as my range has been closed due to a washed out road. But from reports I have dug up around the Internet, I am expecting .44 Magnum recoil at 2100 fps. The gun has nice fat Pachmayer Recoil pad on it which I'm sure will mitigate the recoil down to a very tolerable level. I might add, just for you, that I will be loading these cartridges with my BPM Hand Press, which should only make you want one more! Ha!

Included is a picture of a custom rifle made by some Gunsmith in the Western US. Never did get his name. The gun has been converted to .45-70 and this is the gun that inspired my gun. Obviously mine is not in the same class, but a true Sporting rifle from a Military Battle Rifle just the same.

Randy

[dverna]

Nice work Randy.

I have an article buried somewhere about accurizing the .303. If I can find it, I will get it to you. I like your choice of making into a .35/303. Growing up in Canada "converting" a .303 was something I wanted to do but never did. They were $15!

When I was in university (University of Toronto in Canada) our range officer was an old fellow who used to shoot .303's at 1000 yards and competed at the long range matches at Bisley. He was quite a character. He had Parkinsons when I met him and shook badly. But when he got into the prone position he settled down and the shaking stopped. It was amazing to see.

Hope you get the feeding issue sorted out.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Don: After the recent "gun control measures" passed in Canada in the last few weeks, I bet you are glad you moved south.

Randy

[elmacgyver0]

Very nice work.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I installed one of my 1.5" wide Nylon Belt Slings. I was surprised how much I had to cut off both ends to make it work. This gun is shorter than most. I also weighed it 8 lb. 4 oz. and it is 42" long. A nice handy gun.

Only thing left to do on this gun "project wise" is to find someone who can do "Cut Engraving" so I can get the new Caliber Tattooed onto the barrel. It is very irresponsible to change the caliber on a gun and not do something to indicate what the new caliber is. In my case they'd probably try to fire regular .303's in it and the accuracy would be poor? What's another .025 clearance on each side of the boolit. HA!

Anyway here's some more pics of this gun with the sling installed. Obviously this sling is a "Carry only Sling." Not a Military Style "Bracing Sling." But it is 1.5" wide and is made from nice soft Nylon Belt Material so it is comfortable to carry. It also has Removable Sling Swivels so it can be removed if desired .

I usually make these slings up 10 at a time to sell, but end up using them all on my own guns. "In My Not So Humble Opinion" (IMNSHO) they are the best all around slings there are. All my Carbines use them and Tactical Shotguns as well.

Randy

[Shawlerbrook]

Beautiful Randy ! That 35-303 would be perfect for a moose hunt.

[ulav8r]

I had D'arcy Echols engrave the caliber on a barrel I installed, only cost me less than two dollars. I traded an oval drawing template for the engraving. That was in 1977 or 1978. :)

[W.R.Buchanan]

I'm at the point where I'm trying to develop loads for the Enfield (.35-303). There is virtually NO info on this caliber anywhere on the internet. I talked to Brian Pearce yesterday and he suggested using .35 Winchester load data, however none of my manuals even have that cartridge in them. My earliest one is Lyman 45 which I got in 1971. It goes directly from .35 Remington to .358 Win, as do all my others.

So I am looking for data from anyone here for .35 Winchester 225, and 250 gr bullets. and 250 gr cast. My first loads will be with 225 gr Sierra Game Kings. I ordered a 250 gr mold from Accurate. I have the Lee 200 gr mold but the bullets noses are too short and they won't feed off the magazine. The Accurate Mold has a much longer Bore Rider nose on it and should feed off the mag just fine.

If anyone has any data for the .35-303 it would be welcome. I'm waiting to hear back from the Ellwood Epps store on Ontario Canada as the cartridge was also known as the "303-35 Epps" Also ."35-303 Territorian." I've got everything off the internet on those names. This caliber was a way to refurbish shot out barrels without completely replacing them

So .35-303 or .35 Winchester. Hopefully someone has a loading manual from the 1940's or 50's with info on the .35 Win?

Thanks Randy

[Texas by God]

I don’t have .35 Winchester data, but couldn’t you compare case capacity of your 35-303 to a .358 Winchester then extrapolate down?
Just looking at a .35 WCF and a .358 Winchester side by side made me wonder.


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[Baltimoreed]

I love those Springfields. Beautiful work.

[W.R.Buchanan]

[QUOTE=Texas by God;5574837]I don’t have .35 Winchester data, but couldn’t you compare case capacity of your 35-303 to a .358 Winchester then extrapolate down?
Just looking at a .35 WCF and a .358 Winchester side by side made me wonder.

I actually did that yesterday as I can't find any .35 Winchester data anywhere. I just threw out powder amounts that generated more than 45,000 PSI.

Starting Loads for 225 gr bullets were 44 gr of IMR 4895 at 2180 fps. Max loads were 49 gr at 2440 fps at 49,600psi, which was above my limit. 46 gr. yielded 2283 fps at 43,060 psi and 47gr. was 2335 fps at 45,240psi.

The 46 and 47 gr loads looked most promising for the 225 gr bullet. That is probably the biggest Jacketed Bullet I will shoot. I've got a 250 gr Bore Rider Boolit coming from Accurate that I will probably shoot the most of. At a dollar a piece the Sierras are nice but will be of limited use.

Anyways I got the Rifle back from the Engraver today with the new caliber tattooed on it and it came out OK. The tool hit a Hash Mark in the barrel and deflected a little. but it is good enough.

This gun is ready to shoot. I just need a place to shoot it.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK, I figure I ought to put this picture up with the NRA Sporter as this is the guy I bought the Barreled Action from in 2000. His name is Mason Parrish and he was my Metal Shop Teacher in High School and also the Long Term Swim Coach at Buena High School in Ventura CA. He bought that Barreled Action from the DCM in 1965 for $15 ! I gave him $150 in 2000, and he was very interested to see how it came out. I took the gun to my Gun Club Meeting last night to show it off and he was there . He was quite happy with the way the gun turned out. So am I. Also my NRA Match Director was there and he really approved of the gun as well.

Our range is supposed to open back up by Labor Day so we are working on moving dirt that was displaced by the heavy rains we got in January, but by then I will have the gun completely sighted in and ready to go it it's first match.

Randy

[nekshot]

Very good guns indeed. I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see a wood stocked gun. I sure like the red and I never get tired of reddish gun stocks. My son has all the metal for a springfield and maybe after seeing this he will go the same route. He is stuck on making his stuff original, and I guess I am to blame for that because I was always chasing the mental pictures I get when seeing a gun I would buy.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So My bro in law has Quickload and Quickload has .35 Winchester so we will be putting in a bunch of inputs to that program and come up with something even if it only verifies my .358 Win Interpolations.
that program will tell me things about this cartridge and gun that I never even knew I wanted.

A few years back we did a work up on a AR upper I did with a 1:7 twist 24" barrel and the program deduced that with 77 gr bullets the proper load was 23.8 gr of W748/BL-C2 based on the barrel harmonics. That is the only load I have ever used in that gun and it is way below 1" at 100 yards. So no need to go farther.

So that's what we'll do with this one. hoping for similar results?

Randy

[Rapier]

The Levergun.com forum has some 35 Win reloading data on line, for the 95 Winchester guns, probably get you started with R-7, 5744, Varget, or 4064 and the cast in your 35-303. One fellow uses 30-40 brass necked up. A bit short for a 35 Win, but still may give you an idea of where to start with the 200 grain bullet.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I searched that forum every which way and did find a thread about 1895 Winchesters in .35 Winchester. One guy mentioned 4895, 3031 and 4064 powders with 250 gr bullets at 2200 fps but gave no charge weights.

Another guy talked about a 250 gr Cast Boolit at 1600 fps using 5744, but again no charge weights. I have found some .35 303 info from AUS using 5744 at 28 gr for a 250 gr cast, I was going to start at 26 gr and go up until I couldn't stand it any more.

I have Venturino's book on Leverguns he only mentioned 3031 42gr./2000 fps and 46gr./2200 fps is higher than .358 Win Looking at @ 40 gr of 3031. His info came from Lyman 43 from 1964.

It blows me away that this cartridge has sild into obscurity and there is very little about it and virtually nothing about loading it, which is kind of weird as there is NO Factory Ammo for these guns, and yet there is still plenty of these guns still out there! I want to know why there is a virtual black out on load data for this caliber. Is there something wrong with it?

Randy

[Mike H]

I have a Lyman reloading handbook 41st Edition,200 grain jacketed,3031 powder,suggested load 45 grains,velocity 2195.Maximum load 50 grains,max velocity 2400 fps.
250 grain Jacketed:3031 powder,suggested load 42 grains,velocity 2025.Maximum load 49 grains,velocity 2320 fps.
245 grain Cast gas check 358318:3031 powder,suggested 34 grains,1680 fps.Maximum 42 grains,2050 fps.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mike: thanks so much, a friend just sent me a picture of that page as well as the same page from Lyman 42 which has a lot more of the blanks filled in. Exactly what I was looking for, and thank you!

Do you see many of these converted Enfield's in AUS? Wondering how many .35-303's are out there.? Where you are at they are called 303-35 "Territorian."

Randy

[Mike H]

Randy,
I think they are very scarce,I am 81 years old and mine is the only one I have seen,it is built on a Martini Enfield action that was rebored from .303 to 303/35 by Sprinter Arms in South Australia many years ago.They haven’t done rebores for years.My friend has a Number 4 Lee Enfield rebored to 303/375 calibre but it has only fired a few cast loads on the short range.
You don’t see these rifles advertised so I think there aren’t many of them and they are tightly held by their owners,the description The Territorian 303/35 is new to me ,I first heard of it on this forum not so long back.

[Texas by God]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230525/1b96e60b65d64def97f8b326aeeaaaaa.jpg
By the way,
I got around to checking the H2O capacity (to the bottom of the neck) of the 35 WCF to the .358 Winchester.
They both hold 46 grs.
Hope it helps.


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[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes it does help and Thank You! I printed your post out and it is now in the .35-303 folder with the rest of the info I have gathered that is pertinent to this project.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I just received my new Boolit Mold from Accurate Bullet Molds for the 35-303.

It is a 250 gr Bore Rider style Boolit ( Accurate # 360-250D) which should feed well from the magazine as the nose section is about twice as long as the Lee 358-200 boolit.

As you can see the mold is Machined Brass Jewelry! I will cast a bunch of these up this weekend and get them sized and loaded up. Will be starting at 26 gr of 5744 and working up until the velocity is between 1700-1800 fps which should be the sweet spot for this type of Boolit.

Some time later;;;; I casted up abut 60 of these new Boolits, and they look like this VVV

Randy

This thread continued here https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?457005-Loads-for-my-35-303-Enfield-Sporter