This is for a Lee Enfield, pre-SMLE.

The rifle was originally modelled around the 45-70, its predecessor being the 45-70 Remington-Lee Navy. It's about what enough and practical and whether to stay with the 303 Brit case or get a 45-70 barrel for it.

The 375 opens the neck to remove the original neck and shoulder while the 41 gives it a longer neck. The 44 removes all body taper and does require fire-forming to remove the 'waist'. One could make an expander to remove most of it. The 375 should work in the magazine as is while the bigger calibres would require some magazine mods and the 45-70 an in-line mag. The mag is not the issue though. It's recoil and range and that long neck that will hold a wad and allow deep seating if desired.

The 45-70 is on the list because it's an historic cartridge plus barrels might be available.

Have you considered starting with the 348 case? Slightly improve to 405 Win capacity and use 405 loads.

That should work, so would a 348 with no wild catting. Shortening a 405 Win would seem the easiest. However, my aim it to use the 303 Brit case as a basis with a straight walled case being the objective. That's where the 375 falls short, perhaps not enough to be a concern.

The 41-303 doesn't change the case body with the 'neck' blending into the body about half way down. The 375 blends in at the old shoulder.

There is plenty load data for the 44-303. It's a 444 Marlin in a 303 Brit case. I can't find anything that comes close for the 41-303

Hi 303 Guy,
Take a look, on this forum, for a 405 Grenadier.
Its a wildcat that uses 7.62x54R Russian cases.
Yours with 303 cases will look very simular.

Cheers, John

Old friend gave me a loading manual from the 1950s we guessed. I was shocked to find that the .405 Winchester was just a slightly longer and straight sided .303 case. (Or .30/40 Krag case for that matter.) So, you could make a short .405 case, little uncommon at the time, by blowing out a .303 case. I am not a huge fan of the SMLE's but if I were to ... I would just go .405 WCF. You might have to seat bullets deeper but factory ammo. I am being lazy, YES. Otherwise, there was a .35 WCF. The .405 necked down to .358. Went nowhere FAST. With this you would have a relative wildcat and might rival the .35 Whelan for preformance. MIGHT. When I was young and foolish, I had Mr. Ackley himself (the shop anyway), do a .35/.348 WCF Imp on a Siam Mauser. I have used factory data manual "starting loads" [DAMNIT, I said "starting loads"--I accept no responsibility for stupid conduct] for the .358 Norma Magnum without unreasonable or even interesting pressure in my gun. (I have decapped a bunch of .30/30's and don't think I was at that level.) You want a "thumper," a BIG THUMPER, ... T. Roosevelt spoke well of the .405 in Africa, but then he was a politician and everyone's friend. LUCK. Happy trails.

I looked at the 405 WCF. I suspect its the parent to the 303 Brit. I'm leaning toward the 405.

I have discovered a problem, I can't bore a Lee Enfield barrel to 405 - not even the pre-SMLE ones because of the sight tapped holes in them. A No4 yes but I don't have one I want to change. So, I'll have to find a 405 barrel or go with 358.

I think I'd make a .411 and use the Hornady 300 gn flat and spire point and you could probably use the .410 400 gn in a pinch.

The 411 would be a 405 would it not? Bore of .405 and groove of .411? Which would be my leaning.

quote:

The 411 would be a 405 would it not?

Yep.

Thanks. Sounds perfect. Now to find an affordable barrel.

I see NUMRICH has reasonable 44 Mag barrels but that would require re-chambering and somehow fitting a thread adaptor and then ending up with a 44 instead of a 41 and keeping the 44 Mag is a bit of a compromise requiring some tricks on the magazine - well, bigger tricks than a 41-303 would need. Anyway, I want a 350-400gr bullet at 'making a pig sit down' velocities.

J E S does reboring if needed.

JES Reboring

541-942-1342

715 South 6th Street

Cottage Grove OR, 97424

Thanks, Smokin Joe. I see they only offer 35-303 which makes sense. That wouldn't be a bad choice mind you. But if I could find an old barrel than can take a 411 re-bore then that might be an option.

How about a: 375, 404 or 44 caliber!
And if you go for a large mouth cartridge, then i see no reason not to go for a 50 or a 54 bullet.

Why do you want to do a Dodge car out of GMC parts?

Choose a cartridge that fits your needs, dont invent it!

Maybe thats just me?
Cheap rifle, cheap dieset, cheap bullets?
Dumb me?

If you want to pay way to much for your reloading equipment then by all means do buisness with me!
I'll smear the paycheck as thick as your wallet can bear, on altered "standard" items.

Sounds unfair? Then just contact me and i'll do you up with any caliber of your imagination.

I make my own sizers and stuff. Molds too. I already have the case reforming dies but not the neck thickness iron which I would need for any calibre I open the neck to. I'm going to build one anyway to uniform the 303 case necks.

For me the optimum calibre would be .405 (.411). I started out with the idea of boring out an old 303 barrel and cutting the rifling myself. Now I realise it can't be done because of the tapped holes in No.I barrels. If I could get a reasonably priced 45-70 take off barrel then I might go that route but a strait or semi-straight wall 303 Brit case is my preference and 405 is the natural choice. So is 375 which has no case body changes, just the neck ans shoulder opened up to body diameter. I have in mind playing with black powder at some stage and straight walled cases are the way to go because of the wadding under the boolit and to that end the 411 is better because the case internal diameter would be near straight. I also keep 303 Brit cases on hand. If I can only get hold of a 44 mag barrel then I'll fit that. I'd load the cartridges long for increased case capacity and a heavier boolit.

Since a shorter barrel with maximum performance is the goal, the larger bore would be the better choice.

The 405 Grenadier gets my interest but reloadable x54R cases are like hens teeth in my parts and besides, it would mean starting all over with sizer dies and stuff but do-able just the same as is 45-70. The 45-70 has an historic appeal and would be easier as one can get 45-70 chambered barrels.

Something like this might be useful:

Exactly! Now make that from the 303 Brit case and we have what I'm looking for although that one would fit the magazine and action but overall length might be a little less. Mind you, the idea is to use paper patched bullets and that long case would be able to hold the patched portion within.

Go with a 35 cal. Use gas checked 300 grain bullets at 2200 - 2400 fps. Duplicates 30-06 energy levels at modest pressure. A.375 will do the same but bullet variety is limited.
Casting bullets will keep you off the streets at night. roger

That 416 Strauss is kinda like exactly the thing! The guy might be pushing the pressures a bit there though in his P14. Way more power than I'm looking for though, not having all that many Cape Buffalo in my parts - about zero. But that's the idea.

The 35 is of course a good choice and is do-able with the existing barrel and probably makes more sense but I suspect a 300gr bullet would have to be seated below the neck and I can't change the chamber and set the shoulder back with a rebore, that's why I wanted a straight walled case. But 300gr cast would in fact fit the bill. I should check the overall length.

Why do you use that Bruce Willis Avatar? roger

Some feedback. I've decided on a 40-303 with a short barrel. That's if I can get the barrel shipped to me from Green Mountain.

I look like Bruce Willis - slightly!

Any more on this 303Guy, I just got my 375Ex 2 1/2 Lee Speed & playing with loads now, using blowen out 303 cases & can use the same loads as the 375Ex case it seems ?

I really wanted a 40/303 or similar in a made up Lee Speed/BSA sporter, I want to use 400Gr & get near 2000fps if I can ?

Did you ever find that old rear sight of the BSA sporter your Nephew has now ?

oh yes, www.303british.com is the site of a .303 fan. He lists the link to the Epps gun shop now in the hands of offspring. Elwood Epps in consult with Mr. Ackley did what could be done to the .303 from .224 up, both standard and improved. Seems Mr. Strauss is duplicating earlier work that he may well not have heard of. Don't recall the biggest Epps cartridge. He also did a .303 Canadian Magnum on the P14's, .300 H&H with blown out shoulder, no unlike Mr. weatherby's efforts. Luck.

I would pick a bore diameter, that has the avialability of sutiable bullets, for the game I would be hunting, at the velocity I will be shooting.

Here is an example of what I mean.

444 cal [bullet diameter .430] Most bullets are pistol velocity bullets, except for the 265 Hornady.

416 cal, most of these bullets are designed for higher velocity than you will get with your Wildcat in the 303 case.

405 cal, this would be perfect IMHO as bullets designed for the 405 Winchester are made for the velocities you can get in your 303 case.

You can get 300gr bullets from, Hornady, both FN and Pointed, from Woodleigh RN, and from North Fork a very good bullet for bigger game.

In the 303 case I do not think a heavier bullet is warrented, but North Fork does make some 360gr bullets IIRC.

I wouldn't be using factory jacketed bullets. They would be paper patched or plain cast and no gas check either. But should I want to sell it then availability of factory bullets would make a lot of sense. 405 sounds good. 375 has factory bullets too. I can get a ready to fit 35/303 barrel which might be a good compromise.

This project has been on hold for some time now and it's time something happened!

If you have a 303 Brit this might be interesting...
Run RUM brass in 348 dies and expand to 44 cal bullets.
The rim diameter and the case length are about the same as the 303.
44-348 rimless or 444-348 rimless.
A 44-348 rimmed would be interesting as well improved or unimproved.

yes, and there are a set of 348 dies in the classifieds.

303guy You have pretty much thought out all the calibres available to you. I would suggest you go with the 35-303 or the 375-303. There are bullets available in either caliber designed for velocities you will get with this cartridge along with your cast bullets. However I would suggest you choose a cartridge that has minimal case preparation. That old action is going to be a little springy and your case life may be short so it might be practical to spend as little time as possible forming cases.

quote:

Did you ever find that old rear sight of the BSA sporter your Nephew has now ?

I never did find that sight, no.

It's a good point about case life. For my 303's, my 25-303 and my hornet I get indefinite case life because I lube the loaded cases. For the hornet I use enough lube so the case does not grip the chamber at all and for the Lee Enfields I use minimal lube for controlled grip. That means there is grip but not enough to break the case. I could do the same for a straight walled case but maybe the 375-303 would be the best since there is a small shoulder. The 375-303 might also be better from the magazine capacity point. That and its availability as a screw on.

The 348 RUM is a rimless cartridge which is not what I'm looking for. If I was I might consider the 9.3x57. Anyway, I have an idea the 375-303 will work in the standard mag while anything bigger might require mods.

I think this is what you are looking for: 405 Grenadier

It is a .411 caliber. I have been using it in the Marlin 1895 with a McGowen barrel and had plans to chamber it in a bolt rifle but other priorities came up. I will eventually get to it in a Siamese action. Nevertheless, it should do very well in the Enfield with little or no alteration. Woodleighs are difficult to find in the USA but they are easy to find in your neck of the woods and would be just the ticket for this cartridge. At SCI, the Woodleigh rep told me that both their .410 and .411 bullets will work well in this caliber. If you want to give it a go, PM me and I will be happy to loan you the reamer.

I remember it now. That's quite a cartridge. Thank you for your offer. From what I can gather the action needs some mods to feed from the magazine and the magazine would need some mods and will only take five cartridges or something like that. Looking at the action , the opening is a little too narrow.

That Sarps 40-65 would work although the OAL might need to be reduced. The case is quite similar to a 40-303 but shorter. Cases would be unavailable in my parts.

I came across this that someone sent me.