Epps .303/Enfield Wildcat Conversions

[Blastattack]

I was trawling the web a week or so back, researching the idea behind turning a butchered No4 or No5 Enfield into a big bore, short barreled repeating carbine and came across the Epps series of wildcatted .303 cartridges. The idea of having a .375 or .338 repeating carbine thoroughly intrigued me and begged the question, does Ellwood Epps, store, gunsmith and/or inventor of said cartridges still rework Enfields to feed and fire with the cartridges? Or has that boat sailed? If the knowledge and expertise are still in play, what would the cost be to convert an Enfield as well as get the supplies to reload the cartridges?

Anywho, just though i would put that out there. This certainly intrigued me, and perhaps might spark the interests of others as well. And heck, who better to contact than the Gunsmith/Store bearing the name of the Cartridge inventor?

[theoneofthechuck]

I'm interested in the answer to this as well. Thought about it many times myself. Pick up a cheapy butchered bubba job and make a fun work horse outta her =D

[Curly1]

I had a P14 converted to "Epps Improve" and was able to get close to 300 mag velocities/energy. It worked great and I shot the barrel out of it before selling the action. If I had another P14 I'd do it again.

[mg4201]

The gunsmith is deceased. He was however very talented. They do not make smiths like that anymore.

[Blastattack]

The gunsmith is deceased. He was however very talented. They do not make smiths like that anymore.

That is highly unfortunate. However, it does not rule out the possibility of doing a conversion, just makes it a tad harder. The knowledge has to know be relearned as opposed to being simply passed on. Unless of course, someone at Ellwood Epps still has the knowledge and expertise to make the conversion happen.

[TCBF]

http://www.303british.com/

Try Stephen Redgwell, he might have a pretty good idea.

http://www.303british.com/id5.html

[BGILL]

They still do gunsmithing and such at epps but i dont know whether this is still available. They have a website. It would probably be worth a look/call.

[Ax.338]

Someone at Epps may be able to the conversion. But it is not likely they learned it from the late great Ellwood Epps. There is no connection between the two, other than by name.

[bruchawk]

Don't know for sure but Jim Butcher former owner of Ontario gun services in Clinton took over the place when Elwood Epps moved north. He's retired now but i head that he still does some occasional smithing might be worth looking into

[c1a1]

I did a Epps conversion. Its no big deal. Borrowed a .303 Epps reamer from a friend, and reamed out a bubba'd P-14. Reamed by hand, the main problem seems to be metal chips, so I reamed 5-6 turns, and blew out the chips with an air nozzle. Using Hornady's 174 gr., H-414 ,MV was 2760. Very accurate, no signs of pressure.Case life was better that the standard .303 loads. Anyone interested, I have a set of RCBS dies.