Head space and chamber issues with my NoI MkIII

lledwod

lledwod

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I recently acquired a pretty little sporter with a one piece stock that has
Excessive headspace. There is another issue with the chamber ( I posted about
It in the reloading forum). I'd like a lead on a good place to send this to get the
Barrel turned back, and the chamber re-cut. I am assuming this is the solution to
The excessive head space and it should solve the other issue as well. Thanks in
Advance for any insight or leads to a guy ( gunsmith) who likes working on enfields!
I'm going to try calling Ellwood Epps tomorrow, but other than that I don't know where
To start.
 
If you have decided that you want to have the barrel set back and rechambered, no doubt Epps could do the job.
So could Jason Spencer, at Gunco in Nepean.
Here is a catch...
Postage back and forth is going to be a minimum of $80.
The job is being done on a non-standard rifle; the 'smith will be spending extra time because of this. Who knows what the 'smith is going to find when he tears the rifle down. I have found poorly cut threads and epoxy glue. When this rifle was set up, the chamber was not done correctly. What else is there? The rifle does look good, but the chambering was wrong.
The barrel work could scare $300. Starting to push $400 all in.
And there is no guarantee that there will be success.
Is it worth it?
 
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I know people who put an O ring on the case and slide it to the rim to hold the case against the bolt face to fireform the brass without creating head separation, then they reload the brass for that gun only taking care not to over resize the case. I don't know the other issue you were talking about but this might help with the excessive headspace.
 
Just trimming the brass below spec is much cheaper than spending money on a repair that doesn't really need to be done.If the head space is excessive us a 32 cal die to expand the neck and the use your 303 die to put a shoulder further ahead on the brass to take up the head space.
 
Have you checked the headspace or are you considering it a headspace problem because of case head separation?

Headspace on a rimmed cartridge only gauges the space that the rim takes up, you could have a headspace issue but it could also just be a screwed up chamber.

yomomma, this is a No 1 Mk III, the No 4 rifles had the bolt numbers for headspace, the No 1 does not do this, the bolt would have to be adjusted or the bolt set back.

The O-ring trick will also work to fire form the brass, I tried this on mine but apparently my headspace is too tight and I could not chamber with the o-ring in place.
 
Fox said:
yomomma, this is a No 1 Mk III, the No 4 rifles had the bolt numbers for headspace, the No 1 does not do this, the bolt would have to be adjusted or the bolt set back.

The O-ring trick will also work to fire form the brass, I tried this on mine but apparently my headspace is too tight and I could not chamber with the o-ring in place.
Click to expand...

Learning all the time ;)
 
Thanks for all the replies. The headspace was checked on this rifle and the bolt closes on the no-go gauge, but not on the field gauge. I could try trimming my brass and the O- ring trick, except that I have a good store of factory ammo I want to use. Also my intended use for this rifle is to be my boat and camp gun. In other words I would like to be able to count on the function. And yes, I do really like this sporter and in this case I am OK putting a little $ in that I would likely never get out.
 
Hi I am Shenkoh, just wondering if anyone know if the bolt head of a Marlin 1893 30/30 could be adjustable for headspace tightness? My spent brass has protruding primers after shooting.
It would be nice if I found out that this old gun has the adjustable feature.
This will solve the problem!
Thanks!
 
yomomma said:
Check your bolt for a stamped number, 1 thru 4. They adjusted head space by using one of four bolt heads. A 4 would be the tightest
Click to expand...

Yomomma, I am reading your quote with interest because if my Marlin 1893 has the stamped number ( 1 - 4 ) like you said, then does it mean the bolt could be adjusted for the headspace? That would be great. But how do you adjust it?
Any suggestion from you would be appreciated!

Shenkoh
 
Handcycle said:
Yomomma, I am reading your quote with interest because if my Marlin 1893 has the stamped number ( 1 - 4 ) like you said, then does it mean the bolt could be adjusted for the headspace? That would be great. But how do you adjust it?
Any suggestion from you would be appreciated!

Shenkoh
Click to expand...

Your 1893 does not have a marked bolt head for headspace. The marked bolt heads is referring to the No4 Mk1 and Jungle Carbine Lee-Enfield's only.
 
The Lee Enfield Mark 4s are the only rifle I know of that have different bolt heads that can be changed out to correct headspace,your lever gun has no such capability I'm afraid. You can compensate for excessive headspace if you hand load by fire forming brass to fit the chamber and then adjusting the die to not force the shoulder back too much.
 
Handcycle said:
Hi I am Shenkoh, just wondering if anyone know if the bolt head of a Marlin 1893 30/30 could be adjustable for headspace tightness? My spent brass has protruding primers after shooting.
It would be nice if I found out that this old gun has the adjustable feature.
This will solve the problem!
Thanks!
Click to expand...

A totally different problem than what the OP has.

Did you actually have the headspace checked or did you just have some primers pop? If you just notice some primers popping that does not mean a headspace issue, failing on a gauge means a headspace problem. Verify that and start a new thread to have the greatest number of people taking a look at it for you.
 
lledwod said:
Thanks for all the replies. The headspace was checked on this rifle and the bolt closes on the no-go gauge, but not on the field gauge. I could try trimming my brass and the O- ring trick, except that I have a good store of factory ammo I want to use. Also my intended use for this rifle is to be my boat and camp gun. In other words I would like to be able to count on the function. And yes, I do really like this sporter and in this case I am OK putting a little $ in that I would likely never get out.
Click to expand...

Try the O-ring trick, you would essentially just be fire forming your brass to your chamber and forcing the rim against the bolt face. You would be setting the headspace off the shoulder at that point. This is the best way to make ammo that you can reload again and again for the 303 Brit, the chambers are do large, No 1 rifles are worse, that it is almost the same as fire forming to an improved case.
 
What is happening isn't headspace related.
If it were my rifle, I'd gently try a finish reamer, turned by hand. Just might correct the issue at the case mouth. No change in existing headspace. The chamber may have been cut with a non-standard or off-spec reamer.
If that didn't work, I'd set the barrel back one turn, and recut the chamber.
I do my own work, so cost is not an issue, which it could be if the work is done commercially.
 
J.R.'s Custom Gunsmithing in Tomslake B.C. he's on here somewhere...1-205-786-5029. He a Lee Enfield guy, and does custom Lee's to...in 444, 45/70..etc. Has just partnered up with Can West triggers.
Great guy to deal with..and know his stuff.
 
tiriaq said:
What is happening isn't headspace related.
If it were my rifle, I'd gently try a finish reamer, turned by hand. Just might correct the issue at the case mouth. No change in existing headspace. The chamber may have been cut with a non-standard or off-spec reamer.
If that didn't work, I'd set the barrel back one turn, and recut the chamber.
I do my own work, so cost is not an issue, which it could be if the work is done commercially.
Click to expand...

He said that it does not pass when a headspace gauge is used, so it is partially headspace.
 
Fox said:
He said that it does not pass when a headspace gauge is used, so it is partially headspace.
Click to expand...

And how would slight excess headspace cause the brass flow issues in the posted photos?
The rifle would not accept a Field gauge, so headspace is below reject. Ever see another .303 rifle produce fired cases that look like the OP's?

Look at billdick's suggestion up above. Cheap easy and fast way of checking what is going on at the front end of the chamber.
 
tiriaq said:
And how would slight excess headspace cause the brass flow issues in the posted photos?
The rifle would not accept a Field gauge, so headspace is below reject. Ever see another .303 rifle produce fired cases that look like the OP's?

Look at billdick's suggestion up above. Cheap easy and fast way of checking what is going on at the front end of the chamber.
Click to expand...

I think that it is a rotten throat, the chamber does not even look that oversized based on the pictures.

I have a 303 Brit that makes banana brass, the chamber is massive but the headspace is mint.

I think he should try the o-ring trick, holding the brass back a bit may limit the flow forward.

It is not my rifle, I do not have it in my hands, I cannot examine the chamber or the throat. What brass is doing this? Is it just 1 type or all types of brass?

I have 1 type of brass in 30-06 that will flow into the bolt like it has massive over pressure but it was loaded with the minimum 4895 load, just soft and bad brass.
 
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