.30-40 Krag Go/NoGo gauges for .303 Brit are a NoGo for P14 Enfield

Bubba Yugga

Bubba Yugga

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I own a triad of .303's and decided to get myself Go/NoGo gauges for them.
My source sent me gauges for .30-40 Krag, as the headspacing is the same.

These worked fine on the No1 Mk3 and No4 Mk1 due to the open bolt face design.
On my Eddystone 1914 Pattern Enfield, the Mauser styled bolt face is shrouded except for where the case rim slides up from the fixed magazine.
The lip on this bolt face wouldn't let the rim of the gauge engage.

On Wikipedia, I noted that the .303 British rim is .540" diameter, while the .30-40 Krag is .545".
I mentioned this to my source.
This is the first he's heard of it, but he has kindly offered to turn the rims down on his gauges no charge if I send them back.
Thanks, Dave. I'll do that.

I guess the P17's in .30-06 vastly outnumber the .303 chambered P14's, and have their own Go/NoGo gauges.
Seems a rare oddity, especially if no one feels compelled to check their P14's for headspace...
 
I have 4 .303 P14's and every one has a far tighter chamber and with less headspace than any of my 5 Lee Enfields. I only need to neck size my P14 brass and get about 3x the amount of reloads from their cases compared to my Lee Enfields which all have a very generous chambers and headspace but are still safe and within the generous industry limits of 0.064" to 0.074" or 1.63mm to 1.88mm.

My Lee Enfield cases tend to develop splits way sooner than the P14 cases because of the generous chambers and the amount of case stretching from the springier action and rear locking bolt.

My P14's tend to shoot much better groups than my Lee Enfields too.
 
Well - I've had issues with my P-14's and their mauser style extractors not being able to swallow 303 rounds that did not have the relief cut at the base of the case. This may be the issue with your gages.
 
cosmic said:
Well - I've had issues with my P-14's and their mauser style extractors not being able to swallow 303 rounds that did not have the relief cut at the base of the case. This may be the issue with your gages.
Click to expand...

That's more likely the issue. The rim of the 30-40 is .545 -.010" and .303 is .540 -.015".
 
Well, I already handed my gauges to DHL to go back to Dave so he could turn the rims down to .303 spec. (take that 5 thou off)
It's a good little P14, but it did split a case on me, so I got a little suspicious of it. Also, a few rounds were a bit hard to extract even though they hadn't gone and split.
I don't know if it's the gun or the ancient CIL ammo I was using up at the time.
Regardless, I'll wait till I get the gauges back, then play with it a bit more (including some more contemporary Federal feedstock).
 
I remember reading that it was the Winchesters that were selected for sniper duty owing to their better performance.
As an owner of all 3 producer's offspring, what if any differences have you noticed that you can share?
 
Bubba Yugga said:
I remember reading that it was the Winchesters that were selected for sniper duty owing to their better performance.
As an owner of all 3 producer's offspring, what if any differences have you noticed that you can share?
Click to expand...

The Winchester ones are most definitely the best followed by the Remington and with the Eddystones last in accuracy and quality. My Winchester one with a excellent bore is more accurate than any other .303 rifle I have ever shot and I own about half a dozen Lee Enfields of various types and makers, it is almost as accurate as my best Swedish Mausers.
 
Bubba Yugga said:
I remember reading that it was the Winchesters that were selected for sniper duty owing to their better performance.
As an owner of all 3 producer's offspring, what if any differences have you noticed that you can share?
Click to expand...
The Brits reported that the Winchesters were better made, but probably the reply reason was so that the jigs and gauging was the same.
There are minor differences between the manufacturers.
 
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