Improved Cartridges and Ellwood EppsEllwood died in August, 2002, at the age of 94. He was a character.
Years ago, I used to chat with Ellwood Epps. He liked to reminisce, telling me that in the good old days before I was around, he and his friends would talk about fixing up rifles and improving cartridges. Nothing was made using equipment controlled by computers.
In a nutshell, he said there were three reasons to improve a cartridge: to clean up the chamber, to increase case life and to obtain better velocity. Of the three, cleaning up the chamber was the number one reason to improve. Next was case life. Velocity increases ran third. This may have been Ellwood's practical side. It was likely at odds with Ackley's need for speed.
This was before short and fat were in vogue, and most magnums were bottles of champagne. Brass was harder to come by and there were a lot more surplus rifles – including surplus single shots. As well, civilian industry was less involved in cartridge development.
Ellwood sold, repaired and played with a lot of surplus 303 British rifles here. The condition of the chambers varied greatly. Some chambers were too long and one firing was all you got from a case. Some were poorly made and abused. But while most people saw these as damaged goods, he saw them as an opportunity. There was money to be made!
He consulted with Ackley about improvements. In part, because of the atrocious chambers. He also looked at the 303 cartridge. It had a rimmed case, was designed in the 19th century, and had a droopy, 16 degree shoulder.
Small gun shops and home experimenters did the lion's share of R&D years ago.
Ackley started using a 35-degree shoulder, as did Ellwood. PO changed to a 40-degree shoulder, while Ellwood stayed with the 35.
Ellwood's primary concern, horrible chambers, was virtually eliminated with a finishing reamer. Like other gunsmiths of the time, he removed the barrel, took a thread off the back and reinstalled it. Then he took a finishing reamer and cleaned up or "improved" the chamber. In effect, it was tighter. A better fit for the unfired cartridge.
He could have simply tightened things up by chambering the rifles again in 303 British, but the cases would still distort. It would just take a little longer. He opted to improve the 303 by reducing the taper and sharpening the shoulders. This increased the useful life of the brass. His creation became the 303 Epps. His improved line expanded and became the Epps line of cartridges. Next to the 303 Epps, the 6.5 Epps was probably the most popular offering, and the favourite of his wife, Isabel.
For Ellwood at least, more velocity at the same pressure level was just icing on the cake.
In the good old days, when experimenters were improving almost everything, there were a lot more rimmed cartridges and single shot rifles around. Feeding problems associated with improved cartridges were not as much of a problem. In the early part of the 20th century, rimless cartridges took over. Severe tapers and droopy shoulders were great when black powder was king, but design requirements changed going into the 20th century. Improved cartridges were a logical progression for shooters using smokeless powder and wanting better performance.
Epps was also a large mail order business that published a catalog several hundred pages thick. He sold rifles, accessories, reloading equipment, and converted or improved milsurps. Everything a hunter or shooter needed was contained within it.
Ain't that a pretty 303?
Ellwood's influence on Canadian sportsmen was more than that of Parker Ackley. And many (but not all) of Ellwood's improvements concerned military rifles. He realized that there was a market to sell beat up, former military rifles and make a buck. And he was getting them by the truckload. They had to be sporterized – many using Fajen stocks and aftermarket iron sights – to be hunter friendly. Some had mechanical issues that included poor feeding, mismatched bolts and bad chambers. Epps restocked Mausers, Enfields, Krags, Mannlichers, Remingtons and others too.
Ellwood carried a lot of 303 stuff, and listened to his customers...for the most part. Many Canadian shooters were familiar with Lee Enfield rifles because of their time in the military. It was just after WWII and Korea. LEs were our primary small arm from 1916 into the late 1950s, and there was a huge desire to buy a rifle that you were comfortable with. He converted a lot of P14s, No 1 and No 4 LEs before conversions became evil. In fact, it was looked upon favourably by everyone in those days. I have heard that over 7 million Lee Enfield were made.
So where am I going with this? Well, many of the chambers were in need of work. Improving, or rebarreling and rechambering rifles was more common around here in those days. There were fewer cartridges and powders, so you worked making things better with the tools, components and technology available at the time. That is no longer necessary because we have more cartridges, powders, and technology and design have advanced.
Ellwood read about what Ackley and others were doing. They wrote to each other, talked on the phone and swapped ideas. It’s important to remember however that Ackley and Epps were not the first to improve or wildcat cartridges. They were also just two of a number of gunsmiths and experimenters active back then.
I cannot say exactly when Ellwood started his work improving milsurps and rifles in general, but I would guess it was in the 30s or 40s. He opened his first motorcycle shop in 1929, and repaired rifles as well. He went into the firearms biz full time in the 1930s.
By the 1950s, he was converting, sporterizing and repairing all kinds of surplus rifles. If you are lucky enough to have one of his old catalogs, you will see many pages of his work. He marketed his Epps line of improved cartridges and rifles based on the 303 British in a number of ways.
My favourite memory of his old shop, before George Winkel bought the place and changed things around, was a glass top counter with letters and souvenirs sent to him by customers. One of the mementos was a small wooden box with a Plexiglas front that he kept there. It was a 303 Epps cartridge with velocity data handwritten on paper and placed inside.
I cannot recall the exact figure, but he claimed the increase was something in the order of 400 fps over the standard 303 British muzzle velocity of 2440 fps for a 180 grain bullet. I believe he claimed 2900+ fps. That was unlikely though, and I doubt any of his loads were chronoed back then.
In my work with Epps cartridges, I got an average 130 fps increase with 180 gr. bullets. I got more with my P14, but that was because I pushed the pressure up.
Today, I would improve because the cartridge shape might be pleasing to my eye, or I had a rifle lying around unused. Otherwise, it is easier and cheaper to buy another rifle chambered for a cartridge that will get me what I want.
Ellwood's shop couldn't exist today. Government regulations, a wood stove not too far from the reloading powder and a bunch of older men smoking pipes and cigarettes are only seen in the movies nowadays. In some ways, I am envious of the simplicity. No fancy chronographs, illuminated scopes or cellphones loaded with ballistic software. It was just a bunch of guys shooting the breeze, talking about their last hunting trip or range experience. I bet it was easy to pick out the city types and prevaricators.
A different time for sure!
My 200 gr. Mk 9 bullet (right) beside a 180 gr. spitzerThe 200 gr Mk 9 was made in my workshop and is loaded into a 303 Epps case.