I have one question:
where did you get that bullet mold?
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This is a pertinent article to what many of us are doing right now.
TTT>
Randy
Jeff...Thank you for the excellent write up. I know this is an old post, but my regards to your efforts to post your techniques. Regarding your last comment about the addictive qualities of the Enfield rifles, I am afraid that you may be in error. I am an American, and I have two of the old workhorses. I first restored an Enfield No1 Mk4 for my Son In Law, and became enamored with the field serviceability of the Enfields. To make a long story short, I ended up with two of the arsenal "sporterized" (sadly) rifles, but I got them at a good price. One is dedicated to cast bullets, and the other is dedicated to higher velocity (2500fps) 165 grain Sierra boat tails (It is a Long Branch). Both of the rifles have very tight bores, and for the HV rifle, I use Sierra .308" 165 gr. HPBT Game King bullets with Accurate 2520. My typical 200 yard groups reliably come in at or below 5", and on a good day I have elatedly come in at 3" at 200 yards. The cast bullet rifle is loaded with Lyman's 200 grain 314299 mold with a large charge of Accurate 8800(very slow powder), with typical results of 3" at 100 yards, and as good as 6" at 200 yards. I have both rifles scoped as my eyes are not the 20-10 eyes I had when I was young, but I still shoot and hunt without glasses (except, sometimes :^). I don't shoot competition, so the modifications aren't a show stopper for me. I mostly like to punch ScoreKeeper targets, with an annual deer season in October.
Thanks again for the techniques you mentioned on your post. I always enjoy other's experiences with the Enfields.
Hi NYBushBro...Just a note about the 314299 Lyman Mold. I have two of them, one being very old and the other more recent. In the Enfield, it is important to have that long nose supported on the lands of the bore. My old mold makes bullets that are around .304" to 305" and engrave on the rifling by a couple thousands. The newer molds were changed, and the long nose diameter casts bullets that are between .300" and .302" and barely engrave on the lands. The old mold bullets are more accurate. If you get a newer 314299, you may need to lap the mold to increase the nose diameter. Just something to look for before you go through all of the head scratching I had to do to figure this all out.
Great thread; hope this isn't too off-topic. I just got a #5 Jungle Carbine (all original 07/1945 Fazakerley) and I've taken it out to the range a couple of times. The bore is a little pitted, and these don't have a great reputation for accuracy to start with, but my question is why this gun shoots way to the left. I mean over a foot at 50 yards with the front sight centered. I did drift the front sight over a fair amount, but to get this sighted in, I'd have to nearly knock it out of its dovetail. The groups aren't bad, but I have to aim at the right edge of the target stand to hit the bullseye!
The gun shows no sign of damage, and the bore looks straight. What's going on here? Supposedly, barrel harmonics have a huge effect on Enfields, and I have noticed the front end of the stock is warped a little and touching the right side of the barrel; could this do it? The front sight base and flash hider are supposedly pinned in place, and they are certainly not moving---could that all be twisted around?
Fore-end touching on the right of the barrel and the rifle shooting to the left? That's what I would expect.
I've had to work with a 'sporterized' No.4 Mk 1 that has the long axis of the barrel kinked over at a noticeable angle from the long axis of the receiver (mis-threaded??)...........but Weaver deluxe rings that are adjustable on BOTH sides fixed that and it shoots true at 200.
I've started working on that by sanding the inside of the stock a little and oiling the other side, to relieve any pressure; trying to do both gradually, so we'll see if that helps. I think the previous owner had this in a safe, unfired, for about 40 years, so there was no attention paid to the wood. Hoping normal use and care will (literally) straighten things out!
I hope so. I love Lee Enfield accuracy stories! I have one or two pretty accurate ones, all with free floating barrels. One has a heavy fore-end (made by me) that I did try contacting the barrel in different points and all that did was open the groups. I have a record somewhere of a 1 MOA ten shot group shot at 100m but I think 1.25 MOA ten shot groups were the norm with the bullets I was using. At 200m the groups doubled.
Firstly, the No.5 should be free-floated (unlike a No.4). So if it's touching the wood forward of the chamber, make it stop :)
Then, drift the sight.
You might also want to check the barrel is straight.
The barrel looks straight, and the fore-end is definitely touching. I'll try sanding more; anyone have suggestions for steaming or oiling the wood to un-warp it? I'd like to avoid removing more material, if possible.
trying to unwarp it is likely to lead to frustration. I would scrape and sand it so it's properly clear, even when hot, and have done with it.
One of my favorite rifles to shoot and reload for. I'm sure Ill be reading this a couple of times.
I just wanted to report some good news about my efforts to bring this old JC back to shooting shape. As I've had the rifle, used it and cared for it in the usual manner (and not left it sitting on one side in a safe for 40 years, like the previous owner) the POI has started to come back to center. So much so that I've had to move the front sight back closer to center, while not needing to hold to the right anymore. I think the stock fore end is un-warping itself with normal use and care, after only mild sanding initially. Can't believe the difference, and the magnitude of the effect! We're talking about roughly 2 feet at 100 yards that this was off, and that's mostly fixed itself.
Hello from Belgium,
Is it possible to reinsert photos, step by step, to improve accuracy of an Lee Enfield no4 MK2 ?
I bought an Long Branch two weeks ago and I would like to improve accuracy....but my english is limited...and I can't find a clear enough post (thread) for me...........
Thank you in advance.
clic...., Steve Redgwell is one of the more expert writers on .303 Lee Enfield rifles and how to improve their accuracy. You may want to google him and see what's offered.
I made a post in the military rifle section titled Sporterized Long Branch No4 MKI where I discussed a few changes that I had to make that includes mold, load and resulting target that may be of interest but that section is shortened so you could find it using the search function. Final results were a 2” by 2.5” (5 cm by 6.4 cm) 10 shot group at 100 yards.
Here in USA the 303 is little used.
Across The British Empire, and Canada, the 303 is their "every man's" 3006.
Given reasonable range, and proper shot placement, .....mission accomplished, both ctgs.
It's a matter of a good rifleman, properly placing the bullet, we all know that..
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As for accuracy; if you are shooting the 303/Lee Enfield rifle off a bench, against a model 70, well, forget it, the guy with the 303 will lose, every time.
The 303 was designed to hit people, at ranges of point blank, out to 300 yards.
When shooting human targets, past 300 yards, The Empire selected the most accurate of their standard rifles, along with the most accurate lots of their production ammunition, they put a scope on the gun, handed that rifle to their best shooters, and went with that.
In the hands of a decent sniper, the 303 was just as effective as a 1903, a k-98, or a Nagant.
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Reloading, is where the 303/Lee Enfield does not shine.
It was purposely designed to have a long chamber, sacrificing accuracy, for battle field reliability.
A 303 case is lucky to last 6 reloads, and more likely 4, then the case separates from headspace problems.
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The 303, and The Lee Enfield Rifle was/is a great ctg/rifle combination,,, ....for what is was designed; IE; shooting enemy soldiers, and killing game animals. But the 303, in the Lee Enfield rifle, it is not, and never will be a precision target shooting combination.