Safe to fire modern .303?

Drachenblut

Drachenblut

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Hello,

I am looking into aquiring a 1901 Enfield Carbine, chambered in .303 British. Based on the Martini-Henry action. Is it safe to fire modern .303 ammunition in it? Action seems sound, barrel is fair.

- Drachenblut
 
Try looking for the MkVII proofes on the barrel, if it was tested for MkVII ammo their would be marking around the chamber, I think they are "HV" (high velocity) or "HVSC" (high velocity short chamber). I would think that yours would be for the older, black powder round, not modern smokeless powder.
 
MkVI can be cordite too... (Cordite Propellant charge(pre 1912))

ie: Kings Norton Metal Co. Headstamp KN 1890 - 1919. next to Woolwich Arsenal
Produced Cordite Mks 2,4,5,6, and 7 Ball
 
British made .303 Martini-Henry's are supposed to be able to safely fire modern .303br due to their quality of manufacture and strength of the action, so I'd imagine you should be alright.
 
I have owned two Martini Enfield and a friend owns and shoots a Martini Enfield NZ artillery carbine. All of them shoot any 303 you can run through them. I have shot Mk 7 1943 ball ammo up to modern commercial 180 grn with no problems at all. The Martini action is very strong.
 
bdft said:
I have owned two Martini Enfield and a friend owns and shoots a Martini Enfield NZ artillery carbine. All of them shoot any 303 you can run through them. I have shot Mk 7 1943 ball ammo up to modern commercial 180 grn with no problems at all. The Martini action is very strong.
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I'de say. Look at the 577/450 it was designed for :eek: 120grns of Black powder with at +400 grain bullet.
 
I believe that the modern .303 ammo is loaded down to the specs that are safe for the old Enfields. Not many if any .303 chambered rifles are being made. So manufacturers would provide ammo fit for Enfield pressures.
 
Winnipeg Toymaker said:
I believe that the modern .303 ammo is loaded down to the specs that are safe for the old Enfields. Not many if any .303 chambered rifles are being made. So manufacturers would provide ammo fit for Enfield pressures.
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True, but it wouldn't hurt to have a competent gunsmith check it out for you as well just to be safe. Some of these older guns can have issues that aren't readily apparent to the average shooter.
 
Try factory loads using flat base bullets. Enfield rifling takes well to flat bases, perhaps they tend to upset more and offer a better grip on the rifling.
I know from experience that Sierra's Pro-Hunter 180 gr. bullets shoot real good in my no.4s.
I try to stay away from 150gr. and lighter.
PP.
 
"The Martini-Enfield Mk I was effectively a Martini-Henry Mk III rebarrelled to .303 and with a new extractor installed, whilst the Martini-Enfield Mk II rifles were generally of new manufacture- although there are examples of converted Mk II rifles.

Originally (from 1889) Martini-Henry conversions used Metford rifled barrels (and were known as Martini-Metford rifles), which were more than suitable for the first .303 cartridges, which used black powder as a propellant, but they wore out very quickly when fired with cordite/nitrocellulose cartridges (introduced in 1895) and so in 1895 the Enfield rifled barrel was introduced, which was much more satisfactory and suitable for use with "modern" (smokeless) ammunition.

The Martini-Enfield was in service from 1895-1918 (Lawrence of Arabia's Arab Irregulars were known to have used them during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918, along with any other firearms they could acquire), and it remained a Reserve Arm in places like India and New Zealand until well into World War II.

Martini-Enfield rifles were manufactured/converted by:
RSAF (Royal Small Arms Factory), Enfield Lock
LSA Co (London Small Arms Co)
BSA & M Co (Birmingham Small Arms & Metals Co, later simply BSA)
HRB Co (Henry Rifle Barrel Co, later went out of business and taken over by Blenheim Engineering)
NA&A Co (National Arms & Ammunition Co)

Martini-Enfield rifles were very well made and are more than capable of handling modern commercial .303 British ammunition- but as with all second hand firearms, they should always be checked by a competent gunsmith before attempting to fire them.

Khyber Pass Copies

The Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, home-made copies of firearms using whatever materials are available- more often than not, railway sleepers, junked motor vehicles, and scrap metal.
During the various British military expeditions in the North-West Frontier, the locals acquired examples of the Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, and later, Lee-Enfield rifles and began to make their own copies.

The quality on such rifles varies from "As good as a factory-produced example" to "dangerously unsafe", tending towards the latter end of the scale.[citation needed] The ammunition used in the region is often underloaded, being made from a variety of powders -or even old film (which contains nitrocellulose, a key component of smokeless powder). As such, Khyber Pass Copy rifles cannot generally stand up to the pressures generated by modern commercial ammunition, and it is generally advised that they should not be fired under any circumstances, although some collectors have made mild handloaded cartridges for their Khyber Pass rifles.[citation needed] This practice is not recommended, and anyone firing a Khyber Pass rifle is doing so at their own risk.

Khyber Pass Copies can be recognised by a number of factors, notably:
Spelling errors in the markings (the most common of which is a backwards "N" in "Enfield")
V.R. (Victoria Regina) cyphers dated after 1901- Queen Victoria died in 1901, so any rifles made after this should be stamped "E.R" (Edward Rex, referring to King Edward VII)
Generally inferior workmanship, including weak/soft metal, poorly finished wood, and badly struck markings."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini-Enfield
 
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