Deformed Brass

O

Ottawa_Rob

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Good afternoon,

I have Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1 sporterized rifle that seems to be deforming the brass upon firing but I'm not sure if it is dangerous or not. A more knowledgeable friend took a look and said I have a No 3 bolt head but was unsure about the brass.

Any information would be appreciated.

First pic is a protruding primer. Remington factory load 174gr FMJ. Not all of the brass has this issue but this one is the worst.
stn1eDO.jpg


Left to right. Federal SP, 150gr?, unfired Remington 174gr, 2 fired Remington. Notice on the Remington brass the brighter ring near the rim.
kCwXWRx.jpg


The final photo shows a slight bulge (can be felt more than seen on most brass) and the casing seems to tip away.
afIgUy6.jpg
 
Most Enfields have this "issue", its usually due to generous chamber tolerances but the headspace may play a small role as well.

Things a lot of us Enfield guys have found useful is switching brass (if you reload) PPU is much closer to original military case thickness and has a slight bevel to the rim, almost entirely negating a rim jam unless you have a serious magazine issue.
With the extra case thickness, this ring takes a few firings before it even begins to appear.

Neck sizing works well if you fireform the first shot properly, the most popular way is fitting a small rubber o-ring at the base of the case against the rim. Once the bolt is closed the case will be centered in the chamber and square against the breech face, this works in all but the most beat up shot out Enfields. After that, neck size until the shoulder needs to be bumped back 1 or 2 thousands (usually 4 or 5 firings) even with Lee dies this can be achieved by patiently adjusting the die body out in very small increments.

If the headspace on your rifle makes you worried, take it to a gunsmith or order some gauges, Okie Gauges makes good ones for cheap and will ship to canada, all you really need is the field gauge.
 
let me guess,

primers are struck off center too?

head space alone is not the only culprit here. I suspect that you have a generous chamber as well.

I see one primer that is protruding from a fired round.

The round sits off center (on the bottom) of the chamber and when fired expands more on one side then the other.

you will need to measure that #3 bolt head, I have come across bolt heads in the past that 'gumsmiths' have shortened to make fit a rifle.

I have one that is marked #2 that is shorter then a #0
 
It is normal to see an expansion ring at the transition between the solid head and the case wall. However, look at the second case from the right. There is a frosted ring just up from the transition zone. That looks like an incipient separation.
That suggests an excess headspace situation.

kCwXWRx.jpg
 
A couple pieces of good news. When the bolt head it turned out one rotation, I cannot lock the bolt. Also, it appears as if the primers are being struck in the center.

Thank you all for your comments. Anyone local to Ottawa that might have headspace gauges to try out? If not I'll take it to a local gunsmith to have it looked at.

Mz4KHsB.jpg
 
I did a bit of interweb searching, and if one were to print all that is written about the 303 British, it would use up several thousand gigareams of paper, small font, no pictures.

I've deleted my post, as there isn't anything of wisdom I could add to the topic.

Nitro
 
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^
I seem to recall Peter Laidler and other Lee Enfield experts strongly warning against oiling brass on Milsurps forum.
 
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