Slight 303 confusion .

[bigedp51]

budman

You don't need to take your Enfield rifle to a gunsmith to check your headspace, now I'm going to show you how to make the cheap bastards headspace gauge and all you need is a vernier caliper.

1. Take a new unfired case or a full length resized case and measure its length and write it down.

2. Next take a fired spent primer and start it into the primer pocket with just finger pressure.

3. Now chamber this case and slowly close the bolt and use the bolt face to seat the primer as the bolt is fully closed. Remove the case and measure the case again and write it down. your head clearance.

4. Now subtract the first case measurement from the second, and this will be your head clearance or the air space between the bolt and the rear of the case.

5. Now measure you rim thickness and add it to your head clearance measurement and this will be your actual headspace.

Military headspace is
minimum .064
maximum .074

Civilian GO gauge .064
Civilian NO-GO .067

NOTE: as an example the average rim thickness is .058 and if your actual headspace is .067 you will have .009 head clearance. This .009 is more than a new factory rifle will have so fire forming your cases and letting them headspace on the shoulder will improve case life greatly. And since bolt heads are getting hard to find and need to be fitted properly most of the time your better off keeping the one that came withe rifle as long as do not have bolt head over rotation and the headspace is over .074.

I have headspace gauges but they are not needed if you use the above method.

 

[budman]

A very informative and helpful post, thank you.

 

[rookie wildcat]

budman

You don't need to take your Enfield rifle to a gunsmith to check your headspace, now I'm going to show you how to make the cheap bastards headspace gauge and all you need is a vernier caliper.

1. Take a new unfired case or a full length resized case and measure its length and write it down.



2. Next take a fired spent primer and start it into the primer pocket with just finger pressure.





3. Now chamber this case and slowly close the bolt and use the bolt face to seat the primer as the bolt is fully closed. Remove the case and measure the case again and write it down. your head clearance.



4. Now subtract the first case measurement from the second, and this will be your head clearance or the air space between the bolt and the rear of the case.

5. Now measure you rim thickness and add it to your head clearance measurement and this will be your actual headspace.

Military headspace is
minimum .064
maximum .074

Civilian GO gauge .064
Civilian NO-GO .067

NOTE: as an example the average rim thickness is .058 and if your actual headspace is .067 you will have .009 head clearance. This .009 is more than a new factory rifle will have so fire forming your cases and letting them headspace on the shoulder will improve case life greatly. And since bolt heads are getting hard to find and need to be fitted properly most of the time your better off keeping the one that came withe rifle as long as do not have bolt head over rotation and the headspace is over .074.

I have headspace gauges but they are not needed if you use the above method.

You totally beat me with this headspace method, but I never have the cool graphics you do, Ed. You are truly a resource here.

ted

 

[H4831]

You totally beat me with this headspace method, but I never have the cool graphics you do, Ed. You are truly a resource here.

ted

Yes, he beat me to the headspace "gauge" also. Only I don't even bother measuring it, just eyeball the case face, feel with my knife blade, etc, to see if, or how much, the primer is sticking out after it was pushed in by closing the bolt on it.

 

[bigedp51]

You totally beat me with this headspace method, but I never have the cool graphics you do, Ed. You are truly a resource here.

ted

Who "git thar fustest with the mostest wins"
Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest

 

[bigedp51]

The really, really cheap bastards headspace gauge.

Headspace/head clearance on the Enfield rifle can be checked with a empty unfired case in the chamber and a feeler gauge.

The gap will be your head clearance or the "air space" between the bolt face and the rear of the case. add this figure to your rim thickness and that is your actual headspace.

Below is the worst headspace condition you will ever have, it is caused by unscrupulous bartenders in dimly lit bars.

 

[budman]

Thanks again for the education.

 

[Tinman204]

I must say I love Ed's posts, they have been a great help over the years.

I personally have 7 or 8 303s. When I get a new one I simply inspect the rifle for damage etc. Then I chamber a round hold it at my hip and pull the trigger. I then inspect the brass and neck size only. I've yet to have one that will blow the back end off the case. Usually get a minimum of 15 firings on my brass if I keep pressures sane and neck size only.

I do have brass here that is on loading 20 or so but I've neck sized them and only shot light cast loads from that brass.

 

[sunray]

The headspace issue with Lee-Enfields has nothing whatever to do with the cases used. And they and bits of rubber have nothing to do with fixing it. The issue stems from having a removable bolt head and thousands of both models being assembled out of parts bins with zero QC.
Budman's repro No. 5 Rifle very likely has a barrel that is not .311" as well. You need to slug the barrel to find out. It can be anywhere between .311" and .315" and be considered ok. Over .315" means the barrel is shot out. More than .313" does these days too.
Nor are most bullets .312". Only Hornady makes a .312", but their .303 Brit 174 grain FMJ bullet is .3105". Sierra and Speer use .311" only.

 

[budman]

This is why I mentioned my rifle is a no 4 receiver and no 5 barrel.
I have to slug my martini henry,I'll slug my enfield the same day
and let you know the numbers I get.

What size bullet should use to slug the enfield, .315 or larger??
And should I go from the breech to the crown,or can I go the
other way?

The headspace issue with Lee-Enfields has nothing whatever to do with the cases used. And they and bits of rubber have nothing to do with fixing it. The issue stems from having a removable bolt head and thousands of both models being assembled out of parts bins with zero QC.
Budman's repro No. 5 Rifle very likely has a barrel that is not .311" as well. You need to slug the barrel to find out. It can be anywhere between .311" and .315" and be considered ok. Over .315" means the barrel is shot out. More than .313" does these days too.
Nor are most bullets .312". Only Hornady makes a .312", but their .303 Brit 174 grain FMJ bullet is .3105". Sierra and Speer use .311" only.

 

[TrxR]

Great info as always.

I just recently had a different bolt face put in my No1 Mk3. Was lucky to find one.

 

[bigedp51]

The headspace issue with Lee-Enfields has nothing whatever to do with the cases used. And they and bits of rubber have nothing to do with fixing it. The issue stems from having a removable bolt head and thousands of both models being assembled out of parts bins with zero QC.
Budman's repro No. 5 Rifle very likely has a barrel that is not .311" as well. You need to slug the barrel to find out. It can be anywhere between .311" and .315" and be considered ok. Over .315" means the barrel is shot out. More than .313" does these days too.
Nor are most bullets .312". Only Hornady makes a .312", but their .303 Brit 174 grain FMJ bullet is .3105". Sierra and Speer use .311" only.

Dear sunray

As always your full of fecal debris, military cartridge cases are made stronger than their civilian counterparts . And a perfect example of this are the new Prvy Partizan .303 cartridge cases made to military standards. And another example is Winchester commercial .303 cases that are much thinner in the base web area and also have thinner rims.

So one more time and let this sink in, at maximum military headspace of .074 and using a Winchester case with a rim thickness of .058 you will have .016 thousandths head clearance. This will let the case stretch and thin .016 and cause case head seperations in 2 to 3 reloads if not sooner.

The object of the rubber o-ring is to hold the cartridge case against the bolt face and not allow the case to stretch and thin on the first firing. The reason I favor the o-ring method is because you have idiots telling you to lube the cartridge case so it will not cling to the chamber walls. The problem with this is it doubles the bolt thrust and increases the rifles headspace because of the pounding the bolt is taking.

From the 1929 British Textbook of Small Arms.

I have an Enfield rifle that I tested headspace settings from .006 tighter than minimum headspace to .010 over maximum military headspace, meaning from .058 to .084 which was emergency war time headspace.

The factory loaded and once fired .303 case below stretched .009 and the Enfield rifle had the headspace set at just under .067 which is within commercial SAAMI standards.

And in closing commercial headspace settings between the GO and NO-GO gauge is .003 and British military headspace settings between minimum and maximum is .010. So don't tell me or the other readers of this posting that the type cartridge case doesn't matter.

So again you need to read and study a subject more before spreading your BS all over a forum on a subject you know little about.

 

[budman]

I am getting concerned. I have somewhere shells I have fired that I had
planed to reload with new to me shells. I'll set them up on my lathe and
measure them with both techniques on head spacing.

Thanks everyone for the info for me to delve deeper into this.

 

[rookie wildcat]

The headspace issue with Lee-Enfields has nothing whatever to do with the cases used. And they and bits of rubber have nothing to do with fixing it. The issue stems from having a removable bolt head and thousands of both models being assembled out of parts bins with zero QC.
Budman's repro No. 5 Rifle very likely has a barrel that is not .311" as well. You need to slug the barrel to find out. It can be anywhere between .311" and .315" and be considered ok. Over .315" means the barrel is shot out. More than .313" does these days too.
Nor are most bullets .312". Only Hornady makes a .312", but their .303 Brit 174 grain FMJ bullet is .3105". Sierra and Speer use .311" only.

Thanks, Sunray. Good info to forget. If it wasn't 10:30 at night, I'd go down and photograph the armourers' manuals stating that a barrel can be up to .316" and STILL be considered within specs. That's the reason Ruger made such sloppy barrels on the run of no1's they did. They obtained "ORIGINAL" specs and went with that.
Nothing to do with the cases? Dang near every manufacturer has different rim thicknesses, with original military brass having the thickest and Winchester the thinnest. It's not worth getting up and going down to my gun room to set up and take the pics to prove this to you.

 

[LUTNIT]

I never shoot 303B reloads without a broken case extractor. Got mine for ~$15 on eBay. It has saved my day at the range from ending abruptly on several occasions.

 

[budman]

Just ordered one,thanks.

I never shoot 303B reloads without a broken case extractor. Got mine for ~$15 on eBay. It has saved my day at the range from ending abruptly on several occasions.

 

[Tinman204]

Honestly, I've shot 1000's of 303's in my life that were all handloads.

I've had exactly 2 head separations. The separations were with old imperial brass that i bought many times fired at a gun show years ago. I FL sized that imperial brass like 4 times after shooting it in my sloppy chambered 1916 smle. Then i FL sized them once more and fired them out of my No4 longbranch. After that I bought a necksizing die and necksized em like 6 more times before they were toast. I keep pressures safe and measure headspace when I feel it nessesary with the above methods.

My case removal tool is a 410 brush that I push into the case and then swiftly pull the case and the brush out, works for me.

As for reloading 303, keep pressures at non magnum levels, necksize whenever possible and inspect your brass every firing and you be just fine.

Oh and NEVER listen to a word of what Sunray says, and always listen to Ed and you're golden!!

 

[TargetAcquired]

I never shoot 303B reloads without a broken case extractor. Got mine for ~$15 on eBay. It has saved my day at the range from ending abruptly on several occasions.

Same, but I've never had to use mine. It famed home and I've looked at it once or twice, but it lives in the oiler slot in the stock, there if I (hopefully never) need it.

 

[Tenguns]

This is why I mentioned my rifle is a no 4 receiver and no 5 barrel.
I have to slug my martini henry,I'll slug my enfield the same day
and let you know the numbers I get.

What size bullet should use to slug the enfield, .315 or larger??
And should I go from the breech to the crown,or can I go the
other way?

Don't bother with him. He won't be back to answer you. He just likes to stick his nose everywhere and leave.

 

[budman]

Well fellas, I just did a cheap head space check. I took one of my old
shells, de primed it, and re primed it in the gun. The primer is very much
flush with the rim. It is just slightly visible looking across the rim.