I bought my first Lee Enfield.

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

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I'm excited. It's a No4Mk1, in good condition from the looks, 2 groove and was inexpensive...$350 taxed/shipped. I love full wood stocks, so I've wanted an Enfield for a long long time. my brother went 'holy sh!t' when I told him I finally grabbed one because I've talked about wanting one for so long to him. he was in shock!

sent the MO today XpressPost, so they should have it by Monday. going to take a bit of time for the rifle to come as it's in QC and I'm in BC, but it'll only fuel the anticipation (disappointment?) and give me time to find/read reloading data on the 303 British.

that said, under the Enfield sticky, there's a link that goes to a milsurp forum and says it's for collectors and re-loaders. either I'm blind, can't navigate that forum well or the re-loading data available isn't easy to find. could someone give me some directions to re-loading data on the 303 for me to prepare myself for?

thanks! happily excited! :D
 
Hi Mr. Friendly
I'm excited for you. My first full military lee enfield is one that i will never forget. I loved that rifle and have many fond memories of it.

I'm relatively familiar with these rifles and I'm probably not too far from you. If you run into troubles let me know.

I have had good success with 174gr hornady and 45gr IMR 4350 as I recall (I'd have to check my notes). Look online for loading recipes from IMR, Hodgeton, etc... Remember the 303 was designed to shoot a 174gr bullet .311" at 2440 fps. This is the magical combination.

Good Luck
Richard
 
well, first thing I plan on doing is buying a bunch of factory ammo at different weights to see what this rifle happens to like. that said, I like the arguments presented for why one would want to consider going to a sans-lead, copper-only bullet. just checked Barnes and they don't make any. does anyone?
 
- A few years back, I took in My Long Branch to get it checked out before I started firing it on our local Service Rifle Shoots. It had a mis-matching bolt, so I wanted the headspacing checked (would have done it probably anyway, with a matching bolt). Plus, they slugged the bore and crowned the barrel.

- Then the News: the bore slugged out at 0.319!! Most LEs are between 0.309 and 0.317, I believe.

"Well...?" I asked. "Every rifle is different, " he said. "Try different loads and see what it likes. Worst case, try casting."

- So, I have been feeding it every manner of Ball, PSP, KKSP and what have you made from 1915 to 1992. It groups like a two-groove 1943 battle rifle out of the rack might be expected to group: mostly four to six inches. Once I start paying more attention to it, I expect to get a bit better with it. It does like 1943 Dominion Industries Mk VII Z.

- Still, four to six inches was okay in the FNC1s and C2s we used to shoot.
 
I'm working on a ladder test using Winchester brass, CCI primers, SMK 174gr HPBT (#2315) and Varget. Starting load is 38.0 gr and goes up by .3gr until 41.9gr.
I did this test before, off sandbags, on a bench, but declared the results unuseable when I found the mounting plate for the Central aperture sight had come loose. Plus I found the target I was using too difficult to see clearly at 200yds.
With all that said though, it appeared that I had a very nice flat group not much bigger than an inch wide and half an inch vertical, a node at 39.8, 40.1, and 40.4gr. There was another node at 41.3 to 41.9, but that had a bit more vertical than I'd like, around 1.75in. I'm thinking there might be something at about 41.5 to 41.7gr.
I've reloaded that same test, tightened down the mounting plate, and improved the target, now I'm just waiting for a chance to get up to the range.
 
Since you're intending to reload, take a look at the PRVI Partisan 303 factory ammo, the brass is about the best you'll find - and make sure you only neck size (since you CURRENTLY only have one LE - you'll end up with more) there's no need to full length size for one rifle and it will cost you accuracy if you do.
 
enefgee has a good idea there: your brass will last a LOT longer if you neck-size only AND your ammo will be more consistent all around.

A point to remember is that the British settled on the combat load for the .303 (174 grain slug at 2440 ft/sec) AFTER they had already determined the most accurate loading, which was about 200 ft/sec UNDER that. I am loading 37 to 38 grains of IMR 4895 under a SIERRA FLAT-BASE 180 bullet. This works out to just about 2250 ft/sec in my 1918 Lithgow and my 1918 NRF, goes 2325 in the 30.25" tube on my 1910 Ross. Does okay, too: bullets touching at 100, off the sandbags, needless to say.

The British also found that ANY Lee-Enfield shoots its best with bullets made to the upper limit of tolerance, that is, .312".

Doubtless you will find lotsa guys willing to 'help' you to get better accuracy. I fell for this, once upon a time and wrapped the barrel of my 2-groove until it was solid in the wood. that's a no-no; they are supposed to be loose, bearing with a downward pressure of 4 to 6 pounds against the forestock.

Don't let anyone tell you that 2-groove barrels are no good. Sure, they're not as neat-oh as a 5-groove barrel, but they will keep up with the 5-groovers up to 600. after that, you need either a scope (S&K mount is the ONLY choice) or else far better eyes than mine!

Most important: do have fun..... and welcome to the club!
 
I'm the re-loader who will be doing the reloading from the my brother and his newest acquisition and your right about resizing the neck only. Only time the brass gets a FL is when I have NEW brass fresh from the bag just to make sure it's Factory sized after that it's Neck only just been having problems finding neck dies lately for all my newest calibers :D I've also heard about the .308 down the .311 pipe, but I've also heard bad things about it seems not all results are the same. And please do me a favor make him give me the LE before he ends up sending it up to me for long term storage maintenance and use like his Russian SKS, Auto 5 and P17. My guns still out number yours in my safe brother ;) I'll take good care of it ;)
 
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A few of my favorite loads.

***THIS IS A CUT AND PASTE FROM MY OWN RELOADING DATA, BUT NOTHING HERE IS OVER LISTED MAXIMUMS IN MY MANUALS***

#1 Light Load (approx 2050 fps, shoots nice, accurate!!)
Primer: CCI #200 Large Rifle Primer
Powder: IMR 4831 40gr (listed max is 47gr)
Bullet: Sierra Prohunter 180gr spitzer
Brass: W.W Super X

#2 Factory Style Load (Approx 2309 fps)
Primer: CCI #200 Large Rifle Primer
Powder: IMR 4831 45gr (listed max is 47gr)
Bullet: Sierra Prohunter 180gr spitzer
Brass: W.W Super X

#5 Alternate Max Load (Approx 2450fps)
Primer: CCI #200 Large Rifle Primer
Powder: IMR 4895 42gr (listed max is 42gr)
Bullet: Sierra Prohunter 180gr spitzer
Brass: W.W Super X

#7 C.O.L 2.930" (To bottom of cannelure)
.308 DIA load (2412 fps - measured - No4 Mk 1)
Primer: CCI #200 Large Rifle Primer
Powder: IMR 4895 41gr (listed max is 42. gr)
Bullet: Winchester .308 dia 180gr PP (bulk)
Brass: W.W Super X

#8 C.O.L 2.999" (My dad loves this load for use on the trapline)
Dangerous Game Load
Primer: CCI #200 Large Rifle Primer
Powder: IMR 4895 36gr (listed max is 38gr)
Bullet: Hornady .308 dia 220gr RN
Brass: W.W Super X

.308 Win decapping die can be used to neck size .303 Brit for
.308 dia bullets. Shooting .308 dia bullets in my rifles so far has
given me all the speed and accuracy of .311's. Performance is just
as good except bullets are cheaper and easier to find!

4064 is good for .303 British.
38gr-45gr for 150's (2300 - 2700 fps)
37gr-41gr for 180's (2200 - 2400 fps)

Woodleigh lists the following loads for the 215gn bullet in .303:
AR2208 (Varget):
Start 36.0gn for 2130 fps, max 39.5gn for 2265 fps
AR 2209 (H4350):
Start 42.0 for 2045 fps, max 45.0 (Comp) for 2185 fps
 
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Northman999 A Great Big Thank You for that data. I am just starting to reload for my 303. Other than the data from three or four manuals, it is great to have first hand info. Not many willing to share their pet loads. Very interesting about your Dad's favorite trap line load. I always thought about the Speer .308 200 gr. spitzer as something to try. with a BC of .556 it seems like it would be worth a try. I have always been Leary of deviating from .311 to .308, but I have just bought 100 Hornady .310 V-Max 123 gr. bullets to play with, so I am bending. :cheers: Jack
 
Congrats on the new (old) Enfield. Of course, you will soon learn that the damned things are like potato chips. You can't have just one. I started out looking at just one and within two months I had four.
 
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