Ishapore Enfield .410 **looking for experiences/photos**

.22LRGUY

.22LRGUY

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Hey guys~with no desire to own a .303 anything, I've always been intrigued by the MK III .22LR trainers and more recently, the Ishapore single-shot .410s. (I've never owned any milsurp except an SKS) I've read you can get them with chambers cut for modern .410 shells, wondering who here might own one (past or present)...who has photos to share, whether or not anyone has actually tried to hunt small game with one, etc. The "novelty" factor for me is way up there, just wondering whether any practical purpose might be served by one.

Thanks!
 
had one when I was a kid. it was as original full stocked and all that. it was my dads it used to stand in the corner of the shop for pigeons. chamber was cut to take factory 410. it was neat and fun to shoot, no choke though you had to be close. not that I'm advocating this but we also used to shoot 44-40 out of it. wrecked the bras ofcoarse. all in all I wish I had kept it
 
I had one. I annealed 303 brass and then fire formed it to 410 size. It worked.

I fired a case loaded with a 30 cal leab bullet. This blew out the case mouth. Then I annealed the case and re-loaded with a 44 cal pistol bullet. After that fired, the case was a straight wall brass 410 case.

MUSKETAMMO.jpg
 
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I have one of each. So far, my scientific data is lacking. Blown out .303 brass is good. I also have a box of .410 brass, and some .444 Marlin brass. I have only fired the one that is chambered for factory .410. I loaded some paper & plastic hull and used WW balls. Not exactly Olympic accurate but a hoot to play with. With light loads I could shoot these at our indoor range, using a ball.
 
Thanks for the replies guys... Sounds like more of a novelty gun from a practical POV, but, fun to play with. What's a fair price for a full-stock? What do you search the EE with... "Ishapore"?
 
Ganderite said:
I had one. I annealed 303 brass and then fire formed it to 410 size. It worked.

I fired a case loaded with a 30 cal leab bullet. This blew out the case mouth. Then I annealed the case and re-loaded with a 44 cal pistol bullet. After that fired, the case was a straight wall brass 410 case.
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I blow out .303 brass to make .410 shells just because commercial .410, at $0.75-$1.00/shot is a wee bit pricey to pick off the close in gophers when I'm toodling around in the quad patching fences. I'll take a scoped .22 with me, to reach out to 75 yards or so, but when they're under 10 yards, it's a lot easier to pop them with a .410.

Anyway, I blow out the cases in one shot. Anneal the case, clean, prime, load half the powder from a 12 gauge target shell, wad with a small chunk torn off a cotton ball, fill the rest of the case with corncob tumbler media, seal with another torn off chunk from a cotton ball and a drop of Elmer's white glue.

After that, you can load them as you would any other .410 shell. The case capacity allows for 1/2oz of #7 or #8 shot. Buying powder/shot/primers in bulk, I'm at about 12 cents a shot now for .410 - which is comparable to .22lr nowadays.

410_brass_small.JPG


Did a couple videos on the process and a write up in the Hunting and Sporting shotguns section, but was roundly ignored by the Fudds there.

.22LRGUY said:
Thanks for the replies guys... Sounds like more of a novelty gun from a practical POV, but, fun to play with. What's a fair price for a full-stock? What do you search the EE with... "Ishapore"?
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I've seen them at gun shows for $500-$600. Generally speaking, the same few guys bring the same few Ishy .410s to the same gun shows, year in and year out, put them on the table for that price, then pack them up at the end of the show to bring them back for next time.

Soo... you should pay a fair bit less than that.

As for novelty? I dunno. I use a .410 for varminting and small game, just keep the shots within 15 yards and .410 is an effective shell.
 
Beater said:
that shotgun looks like its a lil shorter than 18.5 in the bbl department
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Corwin Arms sells those in 410/20/12 gauge. They are perfectly legal because they are factory made and over 24 inches in length. Take a look at his site. corwinarms.com. They also post a few ads here as paying sponsors.
 
bearhunter said:
Corwin Arms sells those in 410/20/12 gauge. They are perfectly legal because they are factory made and over 24 inches in length. Take a look at his site. corwinarms.com. They also post a few ads here as paying sponsors.
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https://www.corwin-arms.com/

The short .410s don't show up often, and disappear fast.

As mentioned, so long as it's:

a) Manual Action (not a semi auto)
b) Factory made short barrel (no cutting down an existing barrel below 18" / 457mm )
c) OAL above 26" / 660mm

You're good to go.
 
Darn, saw some action in my thread an thought "maybe some photos of one of these guns beside a grouse!" :) I've been down the "shorty" shotgun road a few times, still have a bead sight 12.5" that is all kinds of fun to use! Still, an Enfield in .410 would be an interesting pigeon blaster. :) Always wanted an Enfield, never needed a .303 is all...
 
There were never a lot of the .410 MkIII rifles available. Most of them were in GOOD only condition with the odd Very Good. I have only seen one in EXC condition and found out later it had been restocked with furniture from a 303 Ishapore.

Even the GOOD only rifles will fetch $400+ if they haven't been molested. I have shot mine a few times with 2in 410 cartridges and 45 colt cartridges. I shot a couple of 444 Marlin cartridges out of it as well without any issues whatsoever. I will admit, the 444 Marlin was not a pleasant shooting experience. They were factory loads and gave substantial felt recoil. Groups with the 45/444 at 50 yards were more than good enough for Deer. The 444 likely would be good well beyond that if accuracy was OK and the cartridge fits in the chamber of my rifle easily.
 
I took two lee enfield no1 rifle and drilled and polished the barrel to .410" and then bored the chamber into it on the lathe with a boring bar. The head space was a bit much but i found two bolt heads that were .640" and the head space is fine
 
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Bumping this thread again. :) I've been looking (on and off) for one of these guns in the last year, when I have a little $...they don't seem to be around. If anyone has a lead on one, please advise. If I can find a nice-ish copy that will shoot modern 410, I'll start checking under couch cushions. :) This isn't a WTB, just looking for leads. Actual purchase may be after Christmas, or possibly early spring.

Thanks for considering.
 
.22LRGUY said:
Bumping this thread again. :) I've been looking (on and off) for one of these guns in the last year, when I have a little $...they don't seem to be around. If anyone has a lead on one, please advise. If I can find a nice-ish copy that will shoot modern 410, I'll start checking under couch cushions. :) This isn't a WTB, just looking for leads. Actual purchase may be after Christmas, or possibly early spring.

Thanks for considering.
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Too bad you're in Ontario, there's a guy who's been bringing the same 2 Ishi .410 conversions to the three gun shows in Calgary for the better part of a decade.

Your best bets in Canada are to keep an eye on CollectorsSource ad PSMilitaria. They seem to get them from time to time.

Joe Salter in the US has one right now, if you're willing to fork over more than its worth, plus all the import crap:

https://www.joesalter.com/category/products/Lee-Enfield-Single-Shgot-410-RF1-Musket
 
grelmar said:
Too bad you're in Ontario, there's a guy who's been bringing the same 2 Ishi .410 conversions to the three gun shows in Calgary for the better part of a decade.

Your best bets in Canada are to keep an eye on CollectorsSource ad PSMilitaria. They seem to get them from time to time.

Joe Salter in the US has one right now, if you're willing to fork over more than its worth, plus all the import crap:

https://www.joesalter.com/category/products/Lee-Enfield-Single-Shgot-410-RF1-Musket
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Thanks grelmar, much appreciated. That US one would probably be in the $1,000 range when the dust settled...so yeah, significantly more than I'd pay for one. I appreciate the link though, and the ones for Canada. I'll check with those Canadian sites..
 
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