No4 7.62 conversion question.

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greyman441

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Im building a project from a No4 receiver that was originally .303 british.
Heres my question if I mounted a barrel in 7.62 (308) do I have to change anything to make it work correctly? Can I even use a .303 receiver or is it not strong enough?
Will a full wood stock set still fit with a 7.62 barrel?
 
You need to have a No4 receiver. It will be strong enough. If you get one with the same outer contour of an enfield barrel you should have no problem using full wood. The bolt head, head space is another ball game thought

In the EE milsurp parts section someone has or had replacement barrels for No4 Enfields that were the proper outer dimensions, but they had .308dia bores. You would still have to use .303 cases and load data, but your choice in bullets is opened way up.
 
You might want to get that receiver checked as well.

An old friend of mine, sent a few off to CA to be converted into DCRA rifles and even though the were new, they were rejected as being unsuitable.

They were just receivers with bolts. No barrels. They had never been assembled.

That might be the reason though. No proof testing was done on them.

Just a thought, tiriaq or one of the other knowledgeable people here could shed more light on the situation.

A bit of advice.

In the EE, a fellow with the handle of WAYNE, has a bunch of No4 rifles for sale, from his father's estate.

There are several very nice rifles. All of the rifles are top of the line stuff and done properly, no corners were cut and they all have the proper micrometer sights, unless otherwise built.

Some of them, especially when it comes down to the bottom line, are cheaper to buy, than to build one up.

If you're just up for the challenge, go for it.

The rifles I'm talking about, were all the property of a very finicky and successful shooter.

He wouldn't keep a rifle that didn't shoot well.
 
bearhunter said:
You might want to get that receiver checked as well.

An old friend of mine, sent a few off to CA to be converted into DCRA rifles and even though the were new, they were rejected as being unsuitable.
They were just receivers with bolts. No barrels. They had never been assembled.

That might be the reason though. No proof testing was done on them.

snip....
Click to expand...

Most of 7.62 DCRA rifles I've seen have a (replacement) Long Branch bolt.

If you look at the DCRA bolts and actions (especially) on the bolt body at the camming surface and receiver locking position you will see the hardness test impressions still in evidence (look for little pin prick sized impressions).

They were also "Magnaglowed" (a form of liquid mag particle inspection).

DCRA 7.62 rifles were proof fired (that is what the "P" at the bottom of the rolled maple leaf means).

So that would be 3 steps which could result in rejection of an action.
 
burnt_servo said:
here is a question .....

does a 308 magazine fit and function properly in a #4 303 action and floor plate ?
Click to expand...

It will work fine if you get a new/used of the following, The underside of the lee enfield action wasn't tapered like a Mauser to feed cartridges. It is tapered to take a 303 mag, the 7.62 cart is smaller on the rim and these mags work within the action space.

Sterling Armaments magazine (can't seem to find a pict) anyone?

picts from milsurps.com

RFI 2A1 mag

DSC00189-1.jpg


The L42 type will require some alteration, see link to get more detail

ht tp://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=438-7.62mm-factory-magazines-The-L8-and-L42-connection-%28by-Peter-Laidler%29
 
Keep in mind that the CA conversons, as well as the various British ones, were to 7.62x51, not .308. Not only are the internal ballistics not quite the same, 7.62 cases are thicker and stronger, particularly in the head area.
Remember that LE actions are springy, and reloaders must watch for case separations.
As mentionned, CA did carefully inspect the donor actions, and not all were accepted. Not all surviving actions are equal; these are now 55 to over seventy years old, and who knows what they have experienced. Many were made under the wartime pressure of quantity production.
When these converted rifles were used for DCRA competition, there were experiments made with bedding systems, trying to get them to shoot as well as the well understood .303 target rifles.
There are some quirks - there were concerns about shooting in the rain, if the cartridges got wet.
It is my understanding that Sterling magazines do not require receiver modifications, while L42 magazines might.
There are a couple of other options for .30 conversions - .30/.303 (just the .303 set up for .308 bullets), and .30-40 Krag.
 
Enfield mags do not need the receiver modification while the Sterling do. The Sterling has no ejector on the magazine and there is a button with spring for the ejector. You have to drill a hole in the receiver just ahead of the current ejector and then use the original ejector as the spring attachment. The sterling ejector will drag on the bolt unless you put a mirror finish on the head and I also found that on some I had to polish the bolt.
308 No.4 barrels are available if you want to PM me.
 
He can use any of those bolt heads with a 19T on them or any of those DCRA rifle bolt heads marked with a arrow inside a C they were reproofed for that reason.
And watch your pressures if you reload yourself follow what is in the loading books out there stay on the min.side of things.
This below is what you have to do to get the mag to fit and function right.

IMG.jpg




Cdn303 said:
You need to have a No4 receiver. It will be strong enough. If you get one with the same outer contour of an enfield barrel you should have no problem using full wood. The bolt head, head space is another ball game thought

In the EE milsurp parts section someone has or had replacement barrels for No4 Enfields that were the proper outer dimensions, but they had .308dia bores. You would still have to use .303 cases and load data, but your choice in bullets is opened way up.
Click to expand...
 
As I recall, the L 42 conversion kits included a new barrel and some kind of washer. Always wondered what the washer was for. Headspacing?

Grizz
 
Lee Enfield said:
Most of 7.62 DCRA rifles I've seen have a (replacement) Long Branch bolt.

If you look at the DCRA bolts and actions (especially) on the bolt body at the camming surface and receiver locking position you will see the hardness test impressions still in evidence (look for little pin prick sized impressions).

They were also "Magnaglowed" (a form of liquid mag particle inspection).

DCRA 7.62 rifles were proof fired (that is what the "P" at the bottom of the rolled maple leaf means).

So that would be 3 steps which could result in rejection of an action.
Click to expand...


Thanks LE that's some great information.
 
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