Last Round jamming, feed lip adjustment

[rickv100]

I have a No 4 Mk 2 that jams on the last round. It appears that when the magazine is loaded the rounds are held wider apart by the next round and they feed fine. When I reach the last round,the raised part of the follower is narrower and the last round is able to move to the left and slip from underneath the right magazine lip. It then tilts upwards to the left jamming when the bolt is brought forward.

Rather then work the magazine lips and risk breaking them I figured I would ask first.

Which way should the magazine lips be adjusted?

Rick

Information

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[browningautorifle]

You won't break the feed lips on Lee Enfield mag. They're soft enough you can adjust them. You'll see...and you have to figure it out from what you see. The lip either needs to go outward or inward...just that simple.

[Peter Laidler]

Like BAR says. You need to watch and digest exactly what is happening to the last round feeding when you very slowly close the bolt. It's obvious I know, but the nose of the round must be guided to the opening of the breech. Once it is heading in that direction, under guidance and control of a) the bolt face and b) the magazine lip, then that's all there is to it.

The feed front and rear feed lips control the round when it is in what we call 'the twilight zone'. That is when it's being moved forwards in the magazine by the bolt face, under control of the feed lips, heading towards but not quite IN the chamber opening. Once it's in there, you're home and dry

[Seaspriter]

I've had similar problems. Little things like fit and feed make a big difference.
-1) Be sure the mag you use has a strong, "fresh" follower spring -- a soft spring will create problems.
-2) Be sure the follower travels easily in the mag. One I had was too tight because the follower bound on the sides along the grooves. I took out the follower, then, using a Dremel tool, ground a shallow curve in the area of the mag groove, filing any hard edges, and then using a little grease to make sure there was no binding between the follower and the mag -- it must slide easily.
-3) The feed lips are very delicate both front and rear. For me this was trial and error. If the forward feed lips aren't properly adjusted, you will experience failures to feed, and failures to strip. This can show up in a variety of ways: Last Round won't feed, Every Other Round won't feed, or sometimes every round jams. The forward feed lips just barely hold the front of the cartridge in place. The rear feed lips must be set so that their is enough of the cartridge rim to be picked up by the bolt. This problem can be made worse if the mag isn't seated firmly and completely in the mag well. Additionally, the rear feed lips have to have the right "tilt" so that the cartridge angles properly into the chamber when the bolt contacts the cartridge rim. And be aware that each of the rear lips must be carefully adjusted independently.
-4) Lastly, in my experience, chambering a cartridge must be a quick, snappy movement. A slow movement of the bolt can result in cocking the cartridge (as Peter Laidler refers to the "twilight zone,") with the bullet jamming before it enters the chamber.

None of this adjusting will prevent "rimlock" -- when the rim of the top round is behind the rim of the next lower cartridge.

[mike16]

could you buy a spare magazine that works on all ten rounds. compare its overall conditionand specificaly its lips conditions to your own. and then bend your own accordingly. this would put you in the ball park without alot of bending and breaking of magazines and lips.

I did this because my mgazine was numbered to my rifle and I did not want to damage beyond repair that particular magazine.

[CINDERS]

There are articles on this fitting a mag here written by a member if not someone will chime in I am sure, as its not a case of one mag fits all according to the burst they have to be tailored to suit the weapon and going on todays prices for the mags unless you know someone they are getting a bit pricey

[mike16]

yes but how much more valuable is the one that matches your gun....undamaged.
your probably right.
it did work for me though.
and wasnt every soldier issued with two magazines.

[browningautorifle]

As a matter of fact...there was a written direction that no extra mag would be issued per rifle. There's more than one thread here too discussing that very thing. I'm quite certain you can get the feed lips working correctly on your current mag...no fears there.

[mike16]

As a matter of fact...there was a written direction that no extra mag would be issued per rifle

extra as in a third magazine?

off the topic but Skennerton indicated both one and two magazines. and who can really say with a couple of millions of rifles spread out over 25 % of the world over a period of about 100 years among units in combat vs units in support positions in wars around the world almost constantly?

perhaps that document represents a period of time stated by Skennerton when there was a batch of deffective mags and a shortage of good mags? and would that one mag rule apply to units stationed away from combat in order to relieve the shortage in the combat zone? I dont know. but it is at least plausable. Skennerton does not go into depth on this. One thing he does state is that with the deffective mags. capacity was limited to 5 rounds.

. I can assure you when some desk warrior sent a memo like that down the line ( and they did often) it never stopped us from packing extra mags. Our unit armorer back us up on this too. Those extra mags were the ones the desk warriors never used. I had 10 extra mags shipped to me from home. I carried a browning hi power with two mags..... 6 more from home and I made sure every one worked first. Everybody from our capatain on down, understood and looked the other way.

so....

you might want to confirm this with the soldiers who actually carried one., two or more extra mags. You might be surprised

[browningautorifle]

extra as in a third magazine?

One mag per rifle. No extras were issued. This has been stated over and over...through various threads. Hard to get this through it seems.

you might want to confirm this with the soldiers who actually carried one., two or more extra mags. You might be surprised

I started in the army with those guys, seems they didn't carry extras, just bandoleers.