Reloading for 2 groove enfield

[aric84]

Just picked up a minty BSA No4 with a pristine 2 groove barrel on it. I have never loaded for a 2 groove before and I ran across something interesting today. Bore measures .303/.317 and is new looking.

Load was 35 gr H4895 and I had it pushing both the Hornady 174 gr BT FMJ and Hornady RN bullets. The FMJ was a very light load and shot so so ( not surprised) but the RN was a much hotter load and caused a head separation and flat primers. I am guessing the larger lands cause much higher pressure with the larger surface area of the RN.

I am going to try a starting load with IMR4320 since the pressure curve should be a bit longer, see what kind of results I get. Going to try the 150 gr flat based bullets as well.

Any recommendation for other powder / bullet combos in the 2 groove enfield? I'd be interested in a load for boat tail bullets as well since I can get a good supply of them.

 

[Ganderite]

2 groove probably had nothing to do with the pressure difference.

Is it possible the RN bullet touched the rifling and the FMJ did not? That would make a pressure difference.

 

[bigedp51]

You should fire form your cases using the rubber o-ring method "FIRST" and prevent them from stretching and thinning.

A Enfield rifle at maximum headspace of .074 and a rim thickness of .058 will have .016 head clearance or air space between the base of the case and the bolt face.

Place a small thin o-ring around the rim and this will hold the case against the bolt face. And when the o-ring is compressed it will center the case in the rear of the chamber.

After this you neck size only and let the case headspace off its shoulder. I use a .303 case forming and trim die to bump the shoulder, and this die does touch the body or neck of the case.

I use .312 100 grain pistol bullets and reduced loads of SR 4759 or Trail Boss to fire form my cases.

With my Enfields I got the best accuracy with Hornady .312 174 grain round nose bullets. And flat base bullets are more accurate than boat tail bullets.

And in my opinion Prvi Parizan .303 brass is the best modern case you can use. These Prvi cases have a larger base diameter, the case walls are .010 thicker in the base and they have thicker rims.

Below, both cases were fired in the same No.4 Enfield rifle, and you can see how much small the base diameter is on the HXP case.

Question, did you check your rifles headspace? And what brand cases are you using, I never had a case separate on its first firing but had Winchester cases separate on the third firing.

 

[aric84]

I forgot about this thread!

I have since done some more shooting with this rifle and some BLC2, getting okay results with fmj's and no signs of pressure.

Ed,
As for the case head separations I think it was due to the Winchester brass... RP and Federal brass seems to be holding up fine and I am neck sizing only. Going to source some PRVI ammo next time I buy some. All cases were at least once fired but checked for possible head separation before loading.

I am going to try the RN again with IMR 4895 and double check the OAL to make sure there is a bit of a jump. I tried BLC2 with this bullet and the groups were terrible. I also have lots of the BT/FMJ on hand and would like to get a load built up for them since I have a good supply.

 

[zuke]

I tried cast in my Savage 2 groove a couple time's with really bad accuracy. I use 180gr RN SP's now

 

[aric84]

Been thinking of trying cast at some point, my 314299 Lyman mould should be perfect if I water drop some ww alloy. Apparently 2 grooves really need a harder bullet.

So far I have not played enough yet to see if the gun prefers flat base or boat tails yet.

 

[Why not?]

I have used the Lyman 311284, 218 gr as cast in wheel weigh metal, over the past thirty years. In several 30-30 rifles, which of course have 308 groove diameters, and a number of 303 Br, at least one of which was a two groove Long Branch it was quite accurate and very little leading.



Used it without the gas check and IMR 3031 in the 30-30 at 1500-1600 fps.
Ted