Where are all the Enfield's?

maple_leaf_eh said:
I happen to know a manager at Parks Canada who has been assigned a role in their small arms "department". It is important to distinguish between their historic and antique pieces that were excavated from a dig site and have genuine cultural value, from the reproduction pieces that get fired off for salutes and other smoke-belching reasons. I've seen the syllabus for their cannon safety program. No one fires any black powder piece on Parks property who does not have that qualification. Consider it the difference between an ordinary driving permit and the ticket to operate a vehicle on an airport apron.

Apparently Parks has a large inventory of more modern small arms for their living history displays and programs. Like a lot of organizations these days, there are knowledge gaps across the demographics. The old-fashioned subject matter experts die, retire, or get other duties, and the new incumbent arrives ill equipped. Not necessarily their fault, but where does anyone get develop in-depth firearms experience these days? This is where my friend comes in. Meeting the subject matter experts across other departments makes a difference! And forming those friendships pays off.
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It was brought to my attention by a very decent collector of such things, who works for Parks Canada and has some very unique pieces that he displays at the Victoria/Saanich Fair Grounds every Fall.

He is a treasure trove of information as to what Parks Canada has in their warehouses.

I forgot to ask him if the Provincial Parks also had inventories of such firearms.

It would be a real boon to Canadian collectors if those warehouses could be catalogued and the contents sold as "surplus'' to Canadian civilians.
 
bearhunter said:
It was brought to my attention by a very decent collector of such things, who works for Parks Canada and has some very unique pieces that he displays at the Victoria/Saanich Fair Grounds every Fall.

He is a treasure trove of information as to what Parks Canada has in their warehouses.

I forgot to ask him if the Provincial Parks also had inventories of such firearms.

It would be a real boon to Canadian collectors if those warehouses could be catalogued and the contents sold as "surplus'' to Canadian civilians.
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True but it would destroy the market for clapped out smooth bore cobbled together Ross rifles.
 
Rare1 said:
Is there a practical way to reload milsurp Berdan primed cases?
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It can be done but why bother. Special size primer, larger which was extremely hard to get before the current shortages. I have a berdan decapper. 303 boxer primed cases are plentiful. All 303 Berdan primed cases go in the scrape bullet. I have the correct primers but I am not wasting them on 303 British. They are saved for old and obscure rounds.
 
Where can I get Boxer primed 303 cases? I have many Berdan military cases and cartridges but hate to toss them after 1 use. I broke my RCBS Berdan decapper once, ordered replacement from US, as Cda way too much $, and cannot figure it out. Cannot find 0.25" Berdan primers anyhow so need to adapt Boxer some how.
 
Rare1 said:
Where can I get Boxer primed 303 cases? I have many Berdan military cases and cartridges but hate to toss them after 1 use. I broke my RCBS Berdan decapper once, ordered replacement from US, as Cda way too much $, and cannot figure it out. Cannot find 0.25" Berdan primers anyhow so need to adapt Boxer some how.
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New Privi brass is available, although not cheap.

Rusty Wood might have some?
Budget Shooter Supply has a good stock of cases.

Berdan cases are basically garbage.
 
Rare1 said:
Where can I get Boxer primed 303 cases? I have many Berdan military cases and cartridges but hate to toss them after 1 use. I broke my RCBS Berdan decapper once, ordered replacement from US, as Cda way too much $, and cannot figure it out. Cannot find 0.25" Berdan primers anyhow so need to adapt Boxer some how.
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You can modify Berdan cases to Boxer using a primer pocket swager and copper tubing. Drill out the Berdan anvil. Cut a small bit off the copper tubing and insert it into the primer pocket. Sand down the protruding bit of copper piping. Swage the primer pocket to force the bit of copper tubing into shape. Done.
 
Polish-Jack said:
You can modify Berdan cases to Boxer using a primer pocket swager and copper tubing. Drill out the Berdan anvil. Cut a small bit off the copper tubing and insert it into the primer pocket. Sand down the protruding bit of copper piping. Swage the primer pocket to force the bit of copper tubing into shape. Done.
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One suspects it is a whole lot more involved than this. And that a whole bunch of things can go badly in the process.
 
Prvi brass is excellent, the best new production brass you can get, but the best brass is actually one type of surplus military.

The headstamp is: 1) the year made ie. 1944 2) Bullet type - typically 'Z' 3) Most importantly 'DI'. This is the best ammunition ever made in 303 Brit. IMHO. If you see it at a gun show, pawn shop, gun shop, buy it. Non-corrosive and boxer primed, it's worth what they're asking. The brass is fantastic for reloading. This ammunition was made right here in Canada. Typically you'll find it in a brown cardboard box with a white and green label, 48 rounds to the box.

If you're looking for 'once' fired brass, it's available here: https://www.westernmetal.ca/product/303-british-fired-brass-bags-of-20-br-303b-20/
You'll have to full length size it before loading, but the brass I received was clean and in excellent shape.
 
I have some 1944 VII CAC along with 51, 1942 and others
All Berdan. But I will watch for the 1944 Z DI. And thx for the westermetals tip, will followup. I wonder if they take trades....
 
RWS used to make the 1/4" (Kynoch No.126) primer as their #6000. They had a shakeout some years ago and dropped a number of slow-moving lines, though there might still be some shelves somewhere.
 
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