What's the deal with 7.62 Lee Enfield mags?

[bdft]

I picked up a No. 4 Longbranch chambered in 7.62. Seems to shoot pretty good. Needs a decent rear sight (Came with a Mk 3) but it has potential. Can the 303 mag be modified or must it be replaced with a purpose built 7.62 mags? I have heard talk of Sterling mags but they seem few and far between. It would be nice to have a repeater instead of a single shot.

 

[SKScanuck]

You need a 308 mag. I paid about $80-100 for mine. Brace yourself. I can't recall the name of the web site but it had collector in the name?

 

[tiriaq]

A Sterling or L42 magazine would be a screaming bargain for $80 to $100.
The 7.62 target rifle conversions done at Long Branch were not intended to be repeaters, but installing a magazine that will work without altering the receiver will do no harm.

 

[can14]

Sterling magazines fit fine in long branch rifles.

 

[Crisco 1]

collectors source

 

[cantom]

collectors source

Sterling are best but hard to find. Additional work is needed to make them eject.

Enfield mags do not sit high enough in a Long Branch to feed rounds. The Brit rifles that were modified for them had some milling done underneath.

Never tried one of the square Ishapore 2A1 magazines in a Long Branch. I know a couple of members on here have 2A1's and wish they'd mention how they fit and work in non Ishapores.

 

[SKScanuck]

collectors source

That is where I got mine. I see they do not have them. The mag works fine in my DCRA.

IIRC, I picked up a spare extractor and spring at the same time.

 

[can14]

Sterling has been out of business for many years. We bought all the magazines that they had available at that time.

 

[Claven2]

Sterling are best but hard to find. Additional work is needed to make them eject.

Enfield mags do not sit high enough in a Long Branch to feed rounds. The Brit rifles that were modified for them had some milling done underneath.

Never tried one of the square Ishapore 2A1 magazines in a Long Branch. I know a couple of members on here have 2A1's and wish they'd mention how they fit and work in non Ishapores.

If I had a brit 7.62 receiver to copy, doing the milling would be pretty trivial.

 

[bdft]

It looks like I have an Ishapore 2A mag on the way. According to the seller it will fit, more or less. Thanks for all the info, guys.

 

[HeadDamage]

I used to have a 7.62x51 #4 that worked well with sterling, enfield, and ishapore mags. I've got an ishapore that I've been meaning to try on a DCRA 7.62 but the rifle is at the smiths right now so I haven't tried it yet.

 

[Timberlord]

Tried it
Fits in nice but wouldn't lock , not sure why.

 

[HeadDamage]

I tried fitting the Ishapore mag in a 303 #4 and it clicked in ok.

 

[millwright]

So how does it feed?Does it pick up the rounds ok?

 

[WWIII]

Just an update for those who want to know - I have a No4 with the Sterling receiver conversion, I use the aftermarket Ishapore 2A MKIII 308 mags from Numerich and they work 100% after a bit of fitting. You have to remove a little material from the locking tab on the mag and the feed lips to feed and lock in the magwell properly, but remember I have the Sterling 7.62 Ejector mod on the left side of the receiver. I don’t know how they will work without the 7.62 ejector on the receiver.

 

[HeadDamage]

Still waiting to get my hands back on my 7.62 #4, it has been getting some buba smithing fixed.

 

[bdft]

A further update on the Ishapore mags. The one I ended up with fit well enough but needed a little doctoring on the follower until it fed smooth enough to suit me. It locked in place and fed ammo well enough right out of the box though.

 

[John Sukey]

Keep in mind those No4 .308 rifles were meant to be single shot target rifles.