Lee Enfield with Suppressor

[Coote]

If you've noticed my posts, you may know that I've had trouble getting lead boolits to perform well in the bore of this rifle. So I decided to go for the 'trainer wheels' option and load up a few "J" words to see how they went. They grouped amazingly well.... certainly good enough for hunting up to 80 yards or so which is the practical/ethical range for these cartridges which are travelling just under 1000 fps.

I may try shooting lead in this again some time if I manage to obtain or alter a mould that suits the barrel (or maybe I just need to learn more).

Anyway... here is a link to a video showing this little gun shooting. You might want to turn up your volume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7x4Ok52JU

[303Guy]

That is sooo cool!

Your suppressor is just fine. Change nothing. It's way quieter than mine (which only has two baffles). Mine has a 14.5 inch barrel. Your Dad did a fine job there.

Yup, you really gotta get a suitable mold for a nice heavy subsonic boolit. 208gr is about the limit for magazine feeding. As I've said before, I'm loading 44gr AR2209 under a 206gr boolit (not range tested yet).

You may have seen I loaded 14.8gr Trail Boss under a 158gr paper patched boolit and pressure was real mild.

Just had a brainwave - how 'bout we challenge each other to see what we can do with these little gems of ours?

[Coote]

I don't mind a bit of a friendly challenge... but meanwhile the process of trying to tune all of my rifles is creating more than enough challenges.

What I really want to do is to take these rifles out hunting to see how they perform.

I took my two .308s to the range today. The Mossberg seemed to be shooting high. I eventually discovered that the danged scope has moved in the rings. I fitted the scope myself and I guess I was being a bit cautious about not crushing the tube. So I have to fix that - probably with a dab of mild epoxy mix under each ring, and a bit more tightening force than before. Then I have to go through the sighting process again.

My dedicated lead-shooter, the Rossi Pomba single-shot, didn't group particularly tightly today. Mind you, it was windy and I had just fitted a new scope. But I wasn't thrilled with the results. Never mind, I've got enough powder and primers for more tests.

[303Guy]

Silicone rubber under the rings stops that moving without excessive screw tightening. It does allow a bit of time to set the cross-hairs level. It's even possible to remove the rings again.

[Coote]

Thanks for that. Oddly, while I was lying in bed this morning I was wondering if something 'soft' like silicone rubber might work. Wish I'd used it when I first fitted the scope.

[Multigunner]

Thanks for that. Oddly, while I was lying in bed this morning I was wondering if something 'soft' like silicone rubber might work. Wish I'd used it when I first fitted the scope.

A friend uses a very fine wire mesh cut in strips under the rings.
The mesh was available locally as scrap from a Rayon factory where it was used as a filter material. This particular mesh is as fine as a silk socking but of a tough stainless steel.

[Coote]

Hmmm. It seems that I'm not the only one who has had a shifting scope. That mesh would probably lightly 'bite' into the surfaces and hold them nicely. Plus there would be no problem removing the scope again. Good idea.

[rockrat]

I use golf grip tape. Sticky on both sides and holds very well

[303Guy]

I've used thin cotton cloth. That also works well.

[20nickels]

If you've noticed my posts, you may know that I've had trouble getting lead boolits to perform well in the bore of this rifle. So I decided to go for the 'trainer wheels' option and load up a few "J" words to see how they went. They grouped amazingly well.... certainly good enough for hunting up to 80 yards or so which is the practical/ethical range for these cartridges which are travelling just under 1000 fps.

I may try shooting lead in this again some time if I manage to obtain or alter a mould that suits the barrel (or maybe I just need to learn more).

Anyway... here is a link to a video showing this little gun shooting. You might want to turn up your volume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7x4Ok52JU

What's your powder recipe?

[Dead Dog Jack]

208gr is about the limit for magazine feeding.

303Guy - Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by this? Have you run into feeding issues with heavier?

[leadman]

I use the silicone inside the rings also. Works well, and easy to remove if you need to.

[303Guy]

Have you run into feeding issues with heavier?

Yes. They get too long for the magazine and hang up or if even heavier then they won't fit the magazine at all. I don't seat below the neck. The rifle will stabilize 245gr smooth sides with no problem.

[Coote]

My powder recipe? In the particular load that features on You Tube there is 9 grains of Trail Boss (according to my scales, yours may differ). I didn't use any packing in the case and the groups were good. The projectiles were flat-based 150 grain jacketed of an unknown brand. Federal LR primers.

I didn't shoot many loads through the Chrony. When I used 8 grains of Trail Boss I got an average speed of maybe 850 fps. With the nine grain load I got around 960 fps. Lee Enfields seem to have quite a bit of variation in the bore and groove diameters, so the same load may perform differently in a different rifle.

I fitted that tricky scope with silicone rubber this morning.

Thanks for all the comments. Interesting to see I'm not the only one with a wandering scope.

[Coote]

In my collection I have maybe fifty flat-based, round nosed jacketed projectiles which weigh around 210 grains. I'd like to try these in the suppressed Lee Enfield, but I'm a bit nervous about using a projectile that heavy. I need to do some research to see if something that big would be overloading the old action. If it were a cast boolit, I'd be confident to give it a go. But cast boolits seem to slide through the bore a lot easier than a copper jacket.

[303Guy]

The Lee Enfield was first designed for 215gr bullets with cordite and a velocity of 2200fps. ADI give loadings for the 215gr but do not indicate pressure. But starting loads would be the same pressures as starting loads for the other bullet weights.

[Coote]

Thanks.

[drhall762]

Very nicely done. Gotta' love suppressors!