303 Single Shot 1896
- Thread starter mitch-ell
- Start date
You have the second one I have ever seen.
This is the first one I have seen.
http://www.shootist.ab.ca/drif18.html
This is the first one I have seen.
http://www.shootist.ab.ca/drif18.html
BlackPowderBurner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- the chesterfield
Who exactly advises this?
I have one in about the same shape. Only lead bullets through mine. Decent accuracy. Came in on a multi rifle deal so value is hard to say. Don't think I'd sell mine for under 500.
I'd say you pretty much have it figured out. However, that looks like an "E" stamped on the top of the barrel reinforce, so yours would be a Martini Enfield, not a Martini Metford. The Enfield rifling replaced the earlier Metford rifling and many service rifles were upgraded to the Enfield rifling.
bdft
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I shoot Mk 7 loads in mine all the time. The Martini action is a massive block of steel ansd a lot heavier loads than 303 are based on it. The "Not For Ball" stamp is interesting. Somebody in the British Army thought that regular (ball) ammunition shouldn't be shot through it. I would take a very good look at it. The bore might be shot out, there might be cracks or the armourer might have been sick of it. A friend of mine has one marked "DP" drill purpose and it's in mint condition. Its something to have a look at.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
so converted 1896 Martini Enfield Artillery Carbine MkI
Nice little find.
Not for ball may have been stamped at a later date as it was considered an obsolete weapon by the end of WW1
This was an official directive from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
Cordite is brutal stuff and this was well known fact from the outset (Cartridge, Cordite, Mk.I) in 1891. The Brits quickly changed the recipe for cordite soon after it was introduced to tame it down a bit. A nitrocellulose cartridge was first trialed in 1894, but the winning quality of cordite over nitro is that it is stable in all temperatures.
The Empire use of the 303 cartridge could be in the tropics or it could be in the frozen tundra, same ammo.
You might have noticed some Lee Speed rifles with 'for cordite only' marked on them. This is from early days where another smokeless powder was in vogue, 'Rifleite'. Rifles were failing. Rifleite is a true single base nitrocellulose propellant, clean and relatively cool burning, but not stable in high temperatures. There were some instances of commercial rifles were bursting and litigation ensued. The problem was traced to Rifleite loaded cartridges sitting in the sun. BSA were sued for damages and had to fight in court, hence the disclaimer added to commercial barrels to cover their butt.
Cordite does not generate high pressure spikes but it does generate excessive heat which is what erodes the throat of a rifle. Yes it quickly destroyed Metford barrels but it also did much the same to barrels with Enfield rifling, same amount of erosion, it just took the effects a bit longer to destroy the bore with the deeper square shouldered rifling.
The 'Traveling View' of those days where an armourer road show would travel around the Empire and gauge each and every single rifle in service, every year, and would focus on the amount of erosion in the barrel. If need be, the rifle would be tagged for barrel replacement. A common thing with the Lee Enfield, cordite quickly wore the barrels out.
It still does, I simply will not put surplus cordite ammo through any of my toys. That coupled with corrosive mercuric primers, the ammo is nasty stuff.
Accuracy tests by the School of Musketry proved that a rifle that was shot exclusively with nitro cartridges retained accuracy over a given period, however, with only relatively few cordite cartridges through it, that barrel's accuracy would be ruined and start to drop off measurably as the lead grew towards the muzzle.
I'll dig it out the refs, but basically the note was that rifles firing cordite should not be used with nitro and vice versa.
The impulse from the milder nitro ammo used in a cordite barrel just did not kick the base of the bullet hard enough for it to obturate into the worn lead of the rifling.
If a barrel had been used for cordite, cordite should continue to be used. Barrels using nitro were to continue to use nitro, the two should not be mixed.
So what I believe Geraldtao is eluding to, is that if the rifle has been shot with cordite ammunition (which it no doubt has), modern commercial factory ammo should not be used. It is an accuracy, not a safety thing.
Hand load with a soft lead flat based bullet and a stout load to give the bullet a good kick in the arse to fill the lead.
It is often the reason that some Lee Enfields, even though appear to be in very good condition and are well bedded, for some reason they shoot like crap with factory ammo. The lead is most likely worn. There is a good chance that it would shoot just fine with cordite ammo.
I see people trying a bullet in the muzzle to see if the bore is worn. Yeah, that is a good ad hoc test, but the critical wear in the barrel is at the chamber end. If you can insert a lead gauge more than 1/4 inch up the spout, the barrel is done.
Some sage shooters will tell you that Lee enfields will only shoot well with flat based bullets. Often that is true. They need that flat base to obturate.
But if you find a rifle with a barrel that has shot only nitro, you can shoot boat tailed bullets all day long with good results.
The nitrocellulose loaded Mk.VII cartridge was introduced in 1916.
I stick with Canadian made ammo. Nitrocellulose and non of it is corrosive.
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