I finished this rifle a couple of weeks ago in preparation of an up coming pig hunt. Its a Mark 4 Longbranch barreled to 45-70 24 inch barrel with an Addley Precision scope mount they are out of Canada. I am using a Boyd stock The action is unchanged and I turn the rims to .550, they feed slick. I am still working up a load to use with a 300 grain bullet.

Now this is something I like. And turning the rims down is what I do as I don't like to open up the receiver; that leaves the bolt head unsupported.
Working up loads; just add 3031 until you don't like the recoil.
Good job.

Should be a good pig thumper.

quote:

Originally posted by Rolland:
I finished this rifle a couple of weeks ago in preparation of an up coming pig hunt. Its a Mark 4 Longbranch barreled to 45-70 24 inch barrel with an Addley Precision scope mount they are out of Canada. I am using a Boyd stock The action is unchanged and I turn the rims to .550, they feed slick. I am still working up a load to use with a 300 grain bullet.

That is awesome work, Rolland! Very nice!

I especially like how you retained the irons sights for back-up use in case the optic goes down.

The old .45-70 will kill a lot of different animals - deer, hogs, elk, Caibou, and bears. And it can be loaded from mild to almost .458WM-'hot.'

One question though: what's the hottest level of .45-70 the SMLE action can tolerate? For example, the Ruger #1 can handle a much hotter .45-70 load than the various lever-actions in this chambering.

I limit them to about 40K psi. Look at what the 303 produced, although they were successfully converted to 7.62 Nato too.
So can Ruger loads be used? I don't recommend that; I limit them to 95 Marlin loads.
It's not the radial pressure that is important;; chrome moly steel will take anything; it is back thrust.
Calculate the back thrust, on a worse scenario oiled case. Case ID used for area, times pressure.
So a 303 has about 6300 pounds of back thrust at 45K psi.
A 45-70 has about 6460 pounds of back thrust at 38K psi.
You get the idea.

AJ
The books show 49,000 max pressure for the 303. My understanding is that the Mark 4 is a little stronger than the earlier guns so I would not want to exceed that.
I load for the midrange loads for pig hunting using a 300 grain bullet which is in the 24,000 to 26,000 range 2000 fps.I load using the midrange loads listed for the lever actions. I have loaded some in the past for the Ruger actions but did not like the recoil, As I get older I find that I cannot tolerate recoil as well as I use to. and at the ranges for pigs these loads work very well.

quote:

Originally posted by Rolland:
AJ
The books show 49,000 max pressure for the 303. My understanding is that the Mark 4 is a little stronger than the earlier guns so I would not want to exceed that.
I load for the midrange loads for pig hunting using a 300 grain bullet which is in the 24,000 to 26,000 range 2000 fps.I load using the midrange loads listed for the lever actions. I have loaded some in the past for the Ruger actions but did not like the recoil, As I get older I find that I cannot tolerate recoil as well as I use to. and at the ranges for pigs these loads work very well.

Okay, good info!

By the way, in the pic, that looks like a standard 10-rd .303 Brit mag. How many 45-70 rounds does the mag hold, starting with one in the chamber? 5+1? 4+1?

Thanks!

It is a standard magazine modified. It will hold 3 down. I have not mastered getting it to work with more than three yet.
As they say its a work in progress (sort of)

quote:

I load for the midrange loads for pig hunting using a 300 grain bullet which is in the 24,000 to 26,000 range 2000 fps

That load well kill a lot of critters.

Gents; it is not the chamber pressure that is important; it is BACK thrust on the bolt; as I said, the barrel will easily handle any pressure but the action won't. I told you how to do the math.
49K is a lot more in a 45-70 than in a 303.
As for mag capacity; I can only make 3 rounds work in a 303 magazine but more will work in a 7.62 mag. Due to the taper on the 303 mag and lack of it in the 308.
Also, you can make a straight line feed internal box out of plastic and those feed 5.

quote:

Originally posted by Rolland:
It is a standard magazine modified. It will hold 3 down. I have not mastered getting it to work with more than three yet.
As they say its a work in progress (sort of)

Yep, that's a really sweet big bore SMLE!

I can't imagine a more capable hog smacker. Nicely executed project, Rolland.

The 350 grain Hornady RN works great on hogs.

That stock sets it off!
Pretty and effective . . .
What more can one ask?

A very nice rifle for certain. But it's not a SMLE, it's a #4 MK 1*

That is right; I was letting it slide.
SMLE is just an abbreviation of Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield.
This one is a Rifle, #4 MK 1*, as stated. OP does correctly call it a #4.
Actually, there is about one part common between the two. Look similar but aren't really.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
That is right; I was letting it slide.
SMLE is just an abbreviation of Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield.
This one is a Rifle, #4 MK 1*, as stated. OP does correctly call it a #4.
Actually, there is about one part common between the two. Look similar but aren't really.

It's too bad, sporterizing destroyed most of it's value.

Grizz

I don't feel bad about these; they are still common. And they do make neat 45-70s.

Good For you, Mate. TOTALLY A COOL BANGER

I did a 458 American some time back, using a MK III Isapore action, orig a 308, 24" McGowen bbl #4 contour, Richards Gunstock...it was SOOOO much easier to get the 10 round 308 mag to feed the shortened 458 case and no mucking around turning rims...I DID try that 303 mag thing first.

I contacted Accurate Arms powder company to inquire about pressures with that case base size difference and they recommended no more than 45 KPSI(DON'T QUOTE ME OR TAKE THIS AS GOSPEL could have been 42 K). You do need to do the math regarding case base size and pressure relationships. Study the SMLE actions closely to see how and where the weak points are...I have my own thoughts and calculations on this subject and won't argue the points...I just don't push pressure things.

I load to ~42 KPSI with 300, 350 gr, 405 to 430 gr and 500 gr bullets also because of the OAL limits of the mag...3.07" is max for my 308 mag. 6 down and 1 up. I also used an 458 WM reamer because there weren't any 458 AM rentals available, which gives me a bit of a "Weatherby" action as far as in initial pressure spikes go.

I ran the velo/energy calculations for the various velos I got with the various cast lead and jacketed bullets I shot and found that bullets in the 400 +/- 25 gr or so were the winners with highest M.E. and downrange to ~250 yds...this is definitely NOT a long range proposition.

I am getting slightly over 2500 fs with 300 gr jacketed, ~2300 with 400 gr jacketed, almost 2400 with 350 Jacketed, 2200 with cast lead 430 TS without leading...and everything in between depending on load.

I also use AA 2460 powder as all my testing, I.E., accuracy, case life, recoil, velo, etc, indicated it was about the best powder as compared to 2230 and 2495 and most of the other brands similar burning rate powders...I tried Varget, 2015, RL 7, 10, 15 and AR-Comp, Benchmark (I haven't tested any of the newer powders(past 10 year newbies) I was/am getting 20+ firing per case with very little trimming so cases could last another 10-20 if I pushed them, but cases are cheap and 458 once fired are readily available.

Today if I were doing on I would use the 450 Marlin case probably, there are a few more pro's in my estimation, but, Hey...they all will work...samo-samo as the 458 Amer or 45-70...

One thing I did find was due to the case rims and headspacing I can shoot BOTH the 45-70 and 458 Amer single loaded...a little bulging in the 45-70 base because the chambers have different dimensions, but not enough to bother with, sizing takes care of that.

These cartridges can churn upwards of 4000 ftlbs M.E. with the 430 gr TS cast lead bullet at ~2000 fs and literally stomp the Podunk out of ANYTHING it hits with about 33 ft lbs recoil without a brake, not much more than 20 with MB....WHY would you want more???

I have 10+? various 458 cal cannons in 450 M, 458 Am, 45-70 thru 45-120 with barrels from 18 to 30", lever, bolt, S.S., break barrel and falling block...I don't know how or where they all came from...

ANYWAY you can't go wrong using whatever cartridge you decided on, have, or have used...it's YOUR TOY, ENJOY IT.

Good Shooting

Makes me want to build another one; and I use one piece stocks like the original Lee. Everyone here knows that the Lee had a one piece stock, and the first 300 were made by Sharps. They went bankrupt and Remington took over the design.
Then the British Govt got it, put the Martini stock design on it and the rest is, history. Medford, then Enfield, refers to the rifling types
Doesn't take much push for me to build another rifle.

Hey..Push, push, push...go for it.

Mine is two piece walnut...I'm no stock maker and too cheep to pay for a custom stock...plus you might have to do some snipping and carving around the wrist or just cut that whole rear stock mount off and redesign it...I've never seen how it would be done or even thought about it. My two piece doesn't wiggle, shake or dance. I used a 2" I believe aluminum bedding block epoxied in...that's basically a metal to metal lock.

If I were doing one today I would use the 450 Marlin case as 50 dollar rental reamers are available for cutting the chamber it and only a little bit of lathe work to clear the action for the larger case head. Besides the 450 M load data is for levergun pressures and a 350 gr bullet is an ideal compromise at about 2.60 OAL.

You might even get away with using 458 WM cases if you are careful with your headspace setup and chambering...and play with your sizing dies a bit...take a look at the specs for both cases...Don't want to get into a dust up and DON'T ask me how I know HOW it MIGHT be done...been down that road already on another forum.

Good Hunting

You have to completely cut off the butt socket; as the original Lee had none; the British added that to make the stocks stronger in combat, and to use smaller wood blanks.
I have done several of them and I have the stock pattern.
The receiver needs no alteration to feed a magnum case; it is big enough; remember that etc .303 rim is .540 and mag cases are smaller.
I would use the 450 American unless you have a stock of 450 Marlin.
Which is why I turn the rims down on 45-70s, as did the OP; I do not like to open up the receiver bolt race; it leaves the bolt head unsupported and the brass still works in other 45-70s anyway.
No need to ask how it might be done; I have already done it.