I'm intersted in converting a Lee Enfield No 4 to 5.56 x 45 (223). Has anybody had experience with this?. I'm particular interested on how people have handled the problem of ejecting rimless cartridges.

Thanks in advance
Murray Crofskey

I knew a guy in Canada who has recently done it.

Before I get into it I must say the barrel must headspace just right because so much work is done to the bolt head, adjusting headspace cannot be done by replacing the bolt head.

From what he told, he had the bolt face recessed, and fitted(or should I say "engineered") a plunger ejector into it. He said it works well.

If you wish I can find him for you.

A couple of years ago, I saw a scanned sales flyer for a company in (I believe) Australia that made a new, scaled-down version of the No4 in .223. It had been posted on the Enfield Collector's forum. I haven't seen or heard anything about the company since, but it might be worth looking into. They looked like nice rifles, but I believe the consensus of the board was they were overpriced. Sorry I don't have more information about them. - John

Beelzebubba,

I know what you are talking about, back then I was looking for a 7.62X39 plinker and the company said will build LE in .223, 7.62X39, 308Win, etc. I haven't seen or heard about their product coming to life, at least in the North America.

I made a fixture for holding the Enfield No.4 bolt head in the lathe.
It turns out that the bolt head is better held in a collet, but the fixture hold, heatsinks, and provides a coolant reservoir for Silver soldering on a shim to the bolt face.
Centering the shim with the right diameter steel wire and cutting it out to make at tapered firing pin whole are also difficult.

Another surprise was the No.4 bolt heads for sale in Shotgun New currently have never been fitted to a treaded bolt body and require a relief cut on the shoulder above the threads - not an easy cut to make.

Here is a picture of the shim being turned off as the Silver solder joint was not uniform.

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