7.63x39 enfield?

Cheap ammo, certainly not unless for a VERY short time when boatloads of milsurp ammo arrive, but given that both 303Brit and 7.62x54R are rimmed cartidges, of roughly similar dimensions, it would appear to be a much more logical proposal.

Ganderite said:
I think 7.62x54R would be a more intersting conversion, given the abundance of cxheap ammo.
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45ACPKING said:
where might one find such a beast??? anyone who has one sitting gatherin dust , feel free to p.m. me hehehe
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I don't know anyone who has one but here it is...

...http://www.australianinternationalarms.com.au/product.htm

I'd love to get hold of one myself, I bought a couple of the No4 Mk4 s from Marstar and really like them.
 
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Republic of Alberta said:
I just bought a Stevens in 308 about 2 hours ago to do this conversion on. :D Just have to find a bbl, get an extractor, make a bbl vice, make/buy a bbl nut wrench, get a reamer, get some lathe tooling, make a cat head for my lathe....oh ya and lean how to run the lathe too.

Yep, I should have it all done in a year or two.:redface:


The one thing I was concerned about is having enough striking force from the firing pin for the military primers. They are hard.
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Can help you with the barrel. It will completely finished chambered, threaded and crown. You just need to spin it on your action and headspace. Extractor can be a modified 223.

Shilen makes 308 and 311 bores. They say they have made a bunch of 7.62X39 on 308 bores but I think it is a little tight for surplus. The 311 bore is 1 thou too big in some instances but pressure would never be a problem.

I am going to look in my piggy bank and see about getting one for myself.

Jerry
 
HD, what type of accuracy are you getting with comparison to the ammo type. Surplus giving you 1 MOA or worse.?

I only have feedback from SKS and CZ/VZ which aren't exactly match rifles.

If the 308 bore works, that would be much more interesting given all the match bullets you could access. There are some really nice 310 bullets that I can access not normally offered in Canada but 308 would make things a no brainer.

Look forward to your feedback.

Jerry
 
It shoots federal factory hunting ammo into just under 2 inches at 200m. No problem hitting clays at 200m shot for shot with the surplus ammo.
 
The absolute best conversion Extant is is cutting-off a .303 barrel and threading-it for an el-cheapo-segundo Carcano. End of story. otherwise it's just cheaper and easier to buy an SKS. The Carcano clips feed and the bolt face fits the 7.62x39 round better. You yust need to make-up a block for the front of the magazine for the shorter shell to ride. I used an extra piece of black nylon from a polaris snowmobile slider on my last two conversions. You can pick-up the double trigger Mannlicher Carcanos for next to nothing and do the conversion, no problemo. For these 6.5x54's that were made-up for canadian hardware stores in the 30's, you can even unthread the original barrel from itself and insert a smaller diameter chunk of barrel. These ones have a standard thread into the shank that threads into the barrel stub because the gain-twist rifling in the surplus mannlicher made-it necessary to shorten the barrel from the back.
 
The thing I worry about with the 308 bore is the squeeze down of steel core ammo....there is steel core 7.62x39 ammo out there isn't there???? Could be my imagination.


Just tried a couple of dummies in the 308 Stevens and they won't feed. To short, feed rail is not long enough. Looks like I may have to find a 223 single stack mag. I much prefer single stack anyways.


Mystic, I want to try to thread and chamber the bbl myself, just for the learning experience. I may have to contact you for some sort of part here or there though. I also may take this same action and put a big fatty on it for some bench fun too.
 
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Rep of AB, the reg. 308 mags will not work. The new center feed might be ok but I am using the new center feed 223 mags and these work slick.

If I had a lathe, I would definitely be playing with my own installs. Pity we can't rent reamers up here. Good luck with learning some very important skills.

mattimoose, Thanks for Carcano info but the cost of buying a rifle, then having gunsmith work done negates any savings over the Savage I already own.

I am working on a new Savage Tactical 223 and having a 7.62X39 switch barrel might just be the cat's A$$

Jerry
 
There used to be an write up on a US site on how to convert an Enfield to 7.62x54... I don't remember where it is but they said it worked well.
 
Just broke down and ordered a 7.62x39 reamer.
Haven't decided if I will set the barrel up to breech with a Savage style ring, or use a conventional shoulder.
There were 7.62x54R conversions done in the US. Run the reamer into the .303 barrel. The Russian round is shorter, but larger in diameter; does not clean up the .303 chamber entirely. Because of the different shoulder locations, the fireformed cases are strange. The barrel could be set back and rechambered for better results. But even with Marstar's Czech ball now available, is the ammunition cheap enough to justify altering a .303?
 
tiriaq said:
... But even with Marstar's Czech ball now available, is the ammunition cheap enough to justify altering a .303?
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I prefer to buy my ammo as fulls to be converted to empties. Several years ago I accumulated a couple dozen pounds of scrap brass that was sold to the recyclers. The good brass keeps piling up. (It doesn't go bad.) If consistent .303BR was easy to find in large quantities, I would be shooting my No.4 more often, but it isn't so I can't.

Converting a Carcano is a clever idea. Hadn't even thought about those wispy Italians.
 
The Carcano idea IS interesting. A bubba'd Carcano is possibly one of the least desirable firearms in the country. A Cooey Carcano is a rather handy sporter to start with, and 7.62x39 is a LOT more available than 6.5x54. A bit OT, but I did run into a chap one time who was wondering why his sported Carcano was exhibiting all the signs of grossly excess headspace when fired with 6.5x52 ammunition.
 
Weird, just came across a thread on another forum that mentioned converting carcanos to 7.62x39. For now it'd give a fun solution to what to do with bubba'd carcanos...
 
Well, I was mucking about with more 7.62X39 ammo in the new Savage 223 mag. OAL is perfect but some ammo doesn't sit high enough to feed. SO, this is not a reliable mag unless the lips are opened up to let the fatter case sit higher.

The steel is very resilient and not so easy to do, at least with the hand tools I have.

The staggered 223 mag should work but again, check for how high the cartridge sits relative to the bolt.

I wonder how the 223 follower in a 308 mag will work. Good thing I can try it in a week or two...

Looking at a take of P14 barrel and you should be able to rethread and chamber this barrel for the Savage. Of course you will have to run the reamer in part ways unsupported but I am pretty sure it will clean up nicely.

tiriaq, any interest in working on a barrel for me?

Jerry
 
+1 It'd be great if someone imported those Special Interest Arms kits...

Time to get out the Bueller photo...

teacher1.jpg
 
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