Lee-Enfield Savage 2 Groove

[Hi-Standard]

A friend of mine asked me to have a look at his old hunting rifle. He said it was key-holing. I cleaned the bore and it appears fine so I slugged the barrel. I came up with .305" on the lands, and .315" on the two grooves. Seems tolerable for a two groove. I'm defiantly not a fan of 2 groove barrels, however they either seem to shoot ok or key-hole. Any thoughts on this? Should I ask him if he used different ammo this fall? Should the 2 groove be .303" and .311"?

Cheers

 

[antiqueguy]

anything with a boat tail bullet may not work well in it that's about all I can think of.

 

[tiriaq]

Number of grooves should be irrelevant. Check the muzzle for a bulge or other damage.

 

[Hi-Standard]

The muzzle seems fine as well, I'll check to see what ammo he was using. Thanks

 

[Bubba Yugga]

That's the way I've heard it, that you need lots of cylindrical section on the bullet for the 2 spirals of land to engage in a stable manner.
Spire (spitzer) points of 180 grains or less, especially with boat tails, won't line up.
Round nose 200+ grains ought to run awesome in that beast.

 

[Butcherbill]

While I’ve never slugged my 2 grove LB no.4, it shoots factory Federal 180gr power shok and S&B 150gr soft points accurately. 1” to 1.25” at 100y if I do my part.