Krieger Lee-Enfield Barrel update

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With invaluable thanks to tiriaq and others, I was able to secure two examples of barrels from #4 Mk. 1 rifles and have submitted them to Krieger.

The Chief Barrelsmith, Helmut, is very excited about the project and has determined that they will be able to produce these barrels. He has secured an example of the rifle and they will be producing a couple of prototypes for tesng and evaluation.

After discussion with Krieger, and based on the poll to which you guys responed, the barrels will be Chromoly Steel, they will be true .303 (.311) and they will retain the ability to fix a bayonet.

These will not be a drop-in barrel per-se. they will be fully comtoured and threaded, but they will be short chambered, and will have some extra material at the shoulder in order to allow you to peoperly time and headspace the barrel to your individual receiver. Installation will require you to have the gunsmith finish the chamber and bring it into proper indexing. The other feature that will be subject to optional modification is the bayonet lug system. The barrels WILL have the lugs and they will be cosmetically finished, but if you want to actually fix a bayonet, some material will need to be removed in order to finish the lugs to a functional degree. Krieger CAN do this, and I suspect that we may be able to make a fully functional bayonet lug from the factory as an option. I just thought people would be more interested in minimizing costs. (Post your comments here is you have any thoughts on this)

In the interest of keep complexity and costs down, these will be a 4-groove and they will have a contemporary right-hand thread. These are not simply "replacement" barrels, these are true Match grade barrels .I expect that with these barrels attached, these rifles will be incredible shooters.

As to time-lines, well Krieger is swamped with orders right now, and the prototype process will be done over the summer. I expect we will have pricing and such at the end of summer and we can take orders.

Cheers!

ian
 
This is good news. I woudl like to replace the barrel on my #4T (keep it aside, of course).

I have had old match barrels re-contoured to #4 dimensions, complete with bayo lugs, and chambered them in 308Brit (303 case - 308 bullet).

The barrel channel can accomodate a bigger profile than the factory #4 barrel, which is kinda skinny. have you considered offering a slightly heavier profile?
 
Comment re bayonet lugs: Why would they leave extra on the shoulder? The bayonet lugs are aligned horizontally at the muzzle when the barrel is installed on an Enfield. If the barrel has to be altered for headspace and indexing, that means the bayonet lugs may end up at an angle from horizontal? That wouldn't look good, and thus what would be the point? And, let's not forget, the front sight base indexes on the bayo lugs...I see nothing to gain in leaving it long and making someone fit it.

I hate to say it, but leaving the bayo lugs off might make more sense if they are not making the barrels to index as is. (why not?)

Definitely, leaving the chamber shallow for a gunsmith to ream to spec is a great idea, thus we get around the let's make the chamber 25% bigger and longer so it works in the muddy trenches school of machining.

I can kind of see making the barrel in .303 size, but still...might it not make more sense to replicate a Canadian Arsenals 7.62 barrel, with no bayo lugs and in 7.62 Nato?

There is also the AIA system...vastly superior IMHO. Savage style barrel nut, adjustable for headspace with that clamp on front sight which can rotate around the barrel after headspace adjustment...a huge improvement. A very smart guy invented that setup.

If you're changing the barrel out anyway, why not upgrade to a modern calibre that is far more easily sourced and reloaded for?



With invaluable thanks to tiriaq and others, I was able to secure two examples of barrels from #4 Mk. 1 rifles and have submitted them to Krieger.

The Chief Barrelsmith, Helmut, is very excited about the project and has determined that they will be able to produce these barrels. He has secured an example of the rifle and they will be producing a couple of prototypes for tesng and evaluation.

After discussion with Krieger, and based on the poll to which you guys responed, the barrels will be Chromoly Steel, they will be true .303 (.311) and they will retain the ability to fix a bayonet.

These will not be a drop-in barrel per-se. they will be fully comtoured and threaded, but they will be short chambered, and will have some extra material at the shoulder in order to allow you to peoperly time and headspace the barrel to your individual receiver. Installation will require you to have the gunsmith finish the chamber and bring it into proper indexing. The other feature that will be subject to optional modification is the bayonet lug system. The barrels WILL have the lugs and they will be cosmetically finished, but if you want to actually fix a bayonet, some material will need to be removed in order to finish the lugs to a functional degree. Krieger CAN do this, and I suspect that we may be able to make a fully functional bayonet lug from the factory as an option. I just thought people would be more interested in minimizing costs. (Post your comments here is you have any thoughts on this)

In the interest of keep complexity and costs down, these will be a 4-groove and they will have a contemporary right-hand thread. These are not simply "replacement" barrels, these are true Match grade barrels .I expect that with these barrels attached, these rifles will be incredible shooters.

As to time-lines, well Krieger is swamped with orders right now, and the prototype process will be done over the summer. I expect we will have pricing and such at the end of summer and we can take orders.

Cheers!

ian
 
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