Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Rebarreling an old war horse - lots of pix, improving the cartridge

That certainly looks like it was worth the wait, Steve.

Now comes the really fun part. The 308 British lives!

Happy New Year,
Ted

Thanks. And thanks to Yukoner for providing the 4x33 Leupold. I just put the scope on, using Warne rings. I don't know if you can tell, but the scope just clears to rear aperture.

Good to go!

Thanks Ted. I didn't know you were on. Happy New Year to you too.

You are welcome, Steve. That old Leupold looks good on there.

Glad to be part of the project.
Ted

I got to take the rifle out to the range for some adjustments and to zero the scope. It was a short session because of the weather. It was -11 Celery or -12 Foreign Heat, if you're living in the US.

I had mentioned that the new barrel was bobbed. I asked that the gunsmith make it 24 inches. This is what people notice (if they notice anything). Something doesn't look right, but so far, no one has figured out that the barrel was replaced.

The rifle with the fore sight is a 1950 No 4 Long Branch.



They look like standard 303 British cartridges, ja? I had about 40 bulk Remington 125 gr. PSPs in a bag on the shelf, so I loaded them up.



I this is a photo of my fall moose hunt. I just couldn't pull the trigger.

I managed an abbreviated range trip this afternoon. It started snowing quite heavily and made it difficult to see the target at 100 yd. Did the 25 yd sight in and set up a target at 100 yd. See below.

No one was there which was nice, but...

...the club executive installed an audible alarm and flashing light, so if anyone walks to their target, forward of the firing line, everyone gets to listen to an audible alarm and watch a flashing light.

This, in addition to the red and green flags, and a new controlled access metal gate with magnetic sensor. If this keeps up, we'll have to bring a babysitter and a note from a judge or authorized official.

Anyway, I wanted to tune the scope for 100 yd with the 4x33 Leupold. I managed six shots @ 100 yd before the snow made the target disappear. No issues. Everything went well. It will be interesting to see how well, or poorly, the different bullets group.

The rifle is very tight. The feed ramp will have to smooth out. The PSPs hung up unless I briskly worked the bolt.



The only thing left to do is bring down the POI about an inch. With these 125s, the group was 2.5 inches high @ 100, but the windage was good.

I'm looking out the office window and cannot see the lawn. It would have been nice to spend more than 1/2 an hour there, but stuff happens. I don't put much stock in a single group of six @ 100yd., but to save anyone from asking, it was 1.4 inches.

Other bullets and loads will group better, but I'm already happy. New barrels is a lotta fun. Like Purnell's country sausage - It's gooood!



Hey Al, you owe me a case of sausage!

Great thread! Looks like she's shooting "minute of moose" to me.

Thanks.

I wonder why this site bleeped country?

Good shooting for brand new barrel and sighting loads. Portends well for the future. Stay warm.

I think the most important thing was matching the bullet diameter with the barrel.

My homemade jacketed bullets regularly shot 1 to 1.5 inch groups at 100 yd. No magic, just the proper diameter bullets.

But I never expected anyone to listen to me. Guys that shot jacketed bullets only from Lee Enfields should have clued in when cast bullet shooters sized their bullets and got good groups. That should have been a big hint!

😁

Some people won't notice a 2x4 between the eyes. Too subtle.

Looks like a fun build.

I've been thinking about doing the same thing to a Mosin. Rebarrel to a .308 barrel due to a much greater choice in bullets compared to .311 bullets.

Great build. I've enjoyed reading. By the way, I have a No4 Mk 1 made in 1942. Only 2 grooves down the barrel. And it's a fun little rifle.

As for Enfields, I lived in BC back in the 80's. It was by far the most popular rifle, with the Winchester 30-30 following close behind. People used them for EVERYTHING. Deer, Moose, Bear, Wolves. You name it. With proper shot placement it will do just about anything asked of it.

Jeff.

Jeff

It looks like a fun build. As I'm sure you are more aware than anyone, the British and Canadians , converted many Number 4s to 308. All you need is the barrel, which you have, a magazine, an extractor and ejector which you may have difficulty finding today, although they were fairly common at one time. I thought of doing the same thing, because of the shortage of 311 bullets, but other projects, both gun and household got in the way and it was easier to buy a 308. Hope you have fun and carry it thru. By the way your book on shooting the 303 is excellent. Bob

I used to mention it because I was often asked how to make LEs shoot better. One suggestion was to shoot cast. There are a lot of people that wouldn't go within a mile of cast bullets. I don't know why they thought that. There are so many great hunting and target cast bullets available.



It's been a lot of fun. And not nearly as expensive as people think. Just buy a barrel and pay the gunsmith to install it. No extra parts to buy. You'll enjoy being able to use .308 bullets in your MN. More weights. More types. More choices.

This rifle started as a 2 groove Savage. Then I reamed it to 303 Epps. It's on its second barrel and third life!

Using LEs was a given not too many years ago. Back when I first started shooting, most people were blissfully ignorant about how tough deer and moose would become, and the Kevlar they would wear. Silly, those people. They learned to shoot and put a bullet where it needed to go.



Thanks Bob. The build is all done. I'll shoot it more as the weather gets better, I'm sure. There's a book here too.

I considered converting it to a 308, but a mag and other parts were not readily available. It's actually cheaper and easier to build a 30-303. No change to the bolt, mag, ejector. Just the barrel.

Steve,

If I might diverge a bit off topic, I would like to know who you use to replace the Lee Enfield barrels. SMLE's seem to cause most gunsmiths fits due to having to set headspace and clock the extractor cut at the same time. I seem to recall an article by an old Royal armorer who went into tiny detail explaining how they used various thickness washers to clock the extractor and set the headspace.

The easiest way is to set the headspace with the extractor removed from the bolt head. Once that is done, locating and machining the extractor cut is pretty much A B C.

Ted

I used to do it myself until I retired from the service. The reason LEs give some gunsmiths fits is they try to do the job without an action wrench, a piece of gear makes removal of the old barrel so much easier. And less danger of cracking the action.

This last job was done by John Rempel in BC - JR Gunsmithing.

As Ted mentions below, most gunsmiths will pull the extractor.

I don't know about that article and the British armourer, but CDN armourers have always had the proper tools for LEs, with the possible exception of when they first appeared, or when on deployment.

Okay, Steve, it's just 16 days short of two years since hearing about this rifle. You're holding out on us!

Obviously it has been a complete failure.

Ted

yes more info please! super cool!

Hi Ted. It's taken a bit longer than I had planned. Originally, I wanted it finished for Sept 2018, but experienced some delays. I had equipment problems and issues with other projects.

Here is the table of contents. I have finished everything except load development for four of the 13 bullets.

Introduction

30-303 Cartridge Specifications
Rechambering My No 4 Rifle
A Tired Rifle!
Understanding Headspace
The Reamer

A Tour of My Rifle
The Stock
The Scope Mount
• Commercial Mounts
• The Indestructible Scope Mount
The Magazine
Refinishing the Metal – Cerakoting

Notes on Reloading the 30-303 Cartridge
Conventional Sizing Dies – Changing the Neck Expander
Lee Collet Die – Changing the Mandrel
Redding Body Die
Case Neck & Bullet Run-out
LE Wilson Case Gauge
The Lee Factory Crimp Die

Bullet Notes
30-303 Load Data
Preface to the Load Data Section

Hunting Loads

125 gr. Sierra Spitzer – 2120
130 gr. Barnes TTSX-BT – 30364
150 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting – 30150
150 gr. Rem. PSP Core Lokt
160 Hornady FTX – 30396

165 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting – 30165
180 gr. Hornady RN – 3075
180 gr. Rem PSP Core Lokt
200 gr. Speer Spitzer – 2211
220 gr. Hornady RN – 3090

Target Loads

168 gr. Speer BTHP – 2040
175 gr. Sierra HPBT – 2275

173 gr.* Lyman LFN – GC 31141