Just bought 2 303 enfilds.What could I have built with one of them,with more power,an still be able to use the military clip.

Post this in the Canadian and Aussie forums and you'll get a littany of possibilities. The most common I know of are the 35-303 and 375-303. I suppose a 9.3 would be easy too. You can buy magazines from Gibbs Rifle Company for 45-70 but you can also buy the whole rifle for less than you can convert your own. Haven't seen one so I can't say how well done they are.

quote:

Originally posted by Slewfoot:
Just bought 2 303 enfilds.What could I have built with one of them,with more power,an still be able to use the military clip.

What kind of Enfields? The P-14/17's, or the SMLE design?

If it is the P14/17, the sky's the limit. If you bought SMLE's, then you're pretty much limioted to some kind of wild cat based on the .303 case, or some other rimmed case with a similar rim size, and are also limited to pressures not much over 45,000 PSI....

I think he's talking about the Lee-Enfields with the 10rd box..?

Yup has 10 rnd mag.The one I want to convert is kinda all ready sportized,the stock is cut back half the barrel lenght,an you can see the barrel band.

quote:

Originally posted by Slewfoot:
Yup has 10 rnd mag.The one I want to convert is kinda all ready sportized,the stock is cut back half the barrel lenght,an you can see the barrel band.

In that case, there are MANY wildcats based on the .303 case that you can use. There's one series designed by a Canadian gunsmith, Elwood Epps, one or two of which would probably meet your needs.

If you use a blown-out case with straight sides, the case sides will grip the chamber walls on firing, and take some of the backthrust off of the bolt, allowing the use of somewhat increased pressures over the standard shape .303 case. But, even the basic .303 British is a good cartridge for sporting use!

Use case life as your guide to acceptable pressures.

I have a set of 35 winchester dies I got at a gunshow, a hornady .405 case run into them makes a perfect case and fits right nicely into a smle. One of these days I'll get a reamer and make one up to play with.

Check out this gunsmith's website. He makes rifles in several different calibres on the Lee Enfield action. You would get some ideas looking at his work.

Don't forget to post pictures of whatever you build once you get started.

Don't count on a straight case to "grip the chamber". It will only "grip up to around 40 kpsi, then The case head will come back with full force.
The 303 is a good cartridge in it's own right, about like a 30/40. If you want to spend money, and shoot hotter loads, start with another action.
Good luck!

Since most of the top grade long range match rifles we see here are .308's built on lee enfield No 4 mkII actions- you are sertainly not pressure limited with a No 4 or No 5 action ( I have seen No 1mk III's converted to .308 and they are banned from the range!)

However- they make such good long range rifles as they have rear locking lugs- and the case stretches considerably on each firing. In target rifle we do not bother to try and get more than one reload out of a case. In .303 out of my No 5 carbine I get 3 full power reloads and then the case is history.

Styr had the same "problem" with some of their rifles. Rear locking lugs allow so much flex that in .375 the cases cannot be reloaded.

Straight tapered cases like .45-70 that are low pressure and easy to trim are the way forward on lee actions - or go to .308

The Enfield 303 is a really great round, although not as fast as some would like. Thirty years ago I had an Enfield 303 that had been somewhat sporterized, it looked pretty good but still had the two-way apperature military sights on it. It was a real shooter. My brother and I had a little informal shooting competition one day. He was using his Rem 30/06 autoloader with a variable Redfield, and we were shooting in a pasture at a junked car to see who could get the closest to a chrome door handle. The distance was a good 300 yds at least though we never paced it off. He couldn't believe I was outshooting his rifle with iron sights, but I sure was. I had young eyes back then, I can't even see something that small now without manified optics let alone put a bullet within an inch of it. I don't think I would beat the bushs for another rifle chambered in this cartridge but if I fell into one I'd sure be happy to own and shoot it. I agree with some of these others, I don't think this is a good foundation to built a higher pressure cartridge on.

Seems to me a 215 gr Woodleigh soft would squeeze just about all the juice from that case...

The standard norma 180grn softs pack all the punch necessary for leopard, kudu and the like. Never bothered to 'scope my No 5 (19" barrel) as it shoots just fine to 300m if you estimate the range accurately (and in our bush who shoots beyond 100m anyway?).

Given the availability of cheep military surpluss ball- why convert when the rear locking lugs shorten case life?

Also two good tips for fun loads in a .303. Load speer or horniday 100grn .32 cal bullets (.312 " as oposed to the .303's nominal .311) in most rifles they are very accurate at at 3000fps make a mean monkey vaporisor!

Also Try loading an O buck shot pellet ( .32") on top of 5grns of bullseye. Need to bell the case mouth slightly so that the shot can be seated firmly by thumb pressure alone. No filler needed. When my sights are set on 100y for military ball, those round balls at 800fps are spot on at 25m. A nice bunny , guineafowl load

The original load was a 215 grain bullet for the .303 and woodleighs ia a fine choice for it .