Anyone here loading for British Enfield revolvers?
I recently picked up a 1943 No 2 MkI*, and am trying to find the right load for it, using what I have for molds and components, and I'm wondering how sturdy this gun is, being a top-break design.
I have a Lee 358-158-RF mold. I don't have the necessary sizing die, but these bullet, unsized and powder coated, come out to about .361", so they seem to work OK. I started out with a couple grains of 700x, and got around 540fps. I had some old factory Remington 38 S&W (146gr I assume) and they clocked around 560 fps.
Should I stick to these seriously anemic loading levels for this old gun, or can I bump it up a little? I don't want to hot-rod it at all, but it would seem that perhaps something like 700 fps might be safely attainable. I'm making the assumption that the weak factory loadings are because of the millions of really cheap revolvers produced in this chambering in the early 20th century. I also assumed that a British military arm would be at least marginally stronger, but that's a lot of assuming.
Any thoughts or experiences?