3 Attachment(s)
Building a P-13 Enfield in .276 Enfield
.276 ENFIELD … THE PHOENIX RISES
I collect firearms. I also shoot firearms. In fact, if I can’t shoot them I’m not really interested in collecting them because a big part of enjoying the history of a firearm is having the opportunity to load your own ammo and go out to the range and experience at least a part of that history. Now, sometimes I have the ammunition before I have the firearm and sometimes it’s the other way around. There is neither rhyme nor reason; just the way it works out. I also like to make unusual ammunition (for unusual firearms, of course). This brings me to tell this story, a story of my discovery of how to reform a rather common rifle case into one of the most rare.
This particular grail was to be a shootable version of the rarely to never encountered P-13 Enfield Trials Rifle, the forerunner of the British P-14 and our M-1917 rifles. The first problem was that even as late as 2004, there was very little information available on the .276 Enfield cartridge. I consulted my two favorite sources on cartridge conversion … George Nonte and John Donnelly and armed with at least something, I contacted a fellow who have manufactured some beautiful .303 MAGNUM from .280 ROSS BASIC for me and together we came to agreement as to which of a number of variations would be our target. I ordered a nice 7mm barrel from Pac-Nor which was profiled to M-1917 specifications and when he delivered the ammunition, I sent a couple of rounds off to have a finish chamber reamer made and when it came back, my gunsmith set about building my new P-13 MODIFIED.
That’s when the gremlins struck … and struck with a vengeance! The reamer was fine. The barrel was fine. The ammunition was dimensionally all over the place. No amount of tinkering, finessing, or cursing would make this ammunition work! I finally told my gunsmith to throw the ammunition away and just put the rifle and related parts back in the box and I’d get back to him with what I wanted to do with it. In the meantime, we’d move forward with several other projects we had in the que.
So while he worked on other projects, I toiled away trying to find a solution to this but nothing seemed to work. Turning the belts off .300 Win Mag cases was not going to work because I could not deal with the inability to properly index the cases so that all I turned off was just the belt and none of the case. Also, I did not like seeing base diameters more in the .510” range (even some at .508”)! I had apparently finally run into a cartridge that was just beyond my comprehension and ability.
Then, the gremlins which had been so cruel showed their perversity again, but in a totally unexpected way. I became the owner of an honest-to-god Pattern 13 Troop Trials Rifle and one round of Royal Laboratories .276 Enfield RL-18000C ammunition. Remember, I told you that if I can’t shoot ‘em … why own ‘em? Well, you can just imagine how crazy having this rifle and a single round of ammunition made me! I called my good friend Dave Davison at CH/4D and asked if he’d like to have a real, live .276 Enfield round to throw on the comparator to develop an accurate and complete set of dimensions. I sent the round out the next day and within a week was rewarded with a copy of his dimensions. The gremlins also helped me get my hands on a copy of the Enfield Pattern Room manuscript “.256 INCH and .276 INCH ENFIELD EXPERIMENTAL AMMUNITION” by Labbet and Mead. I now set about to educate myself on this obscure cartridge that had caused my so much trouble to this point.
Now I sometimes buy brass in calibers for which I have no use just because I like the way the case looks. That may not make much sense, but it’s all about just being nice to look at. (If you don’t understand that … you should not be reading this article, so stop now). I was sitting at my desk, pouring over a thumb-worn copy of Cartridges of the World checking critical dimensions when all of a sudden I was dumbstruck! I walked back into my workshop/reloading room and opened my 20 round box of RWS 8 X 68S Magnum brass, went back to my desk and got out my micrometer. I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT! The critical dimensions such as rim, base and shoulder diameters were exceptionally close to what I’d been looking for!
I got on the phone with Dave again and asked him if he thought the dimensions were close enough and he gave me a quick course on the differences between tolerances used for chambers, ammunition and reloading dies and happily, the answer was “yes”, the dimensional differences between the .276 Enfield RL 18000C and the 8 X 68S Magnum were easily within acceptable tolerances. The next day I sent the box of brass to him with an order for a complete set of forming dies (he was to determine how many would be required for easy and fool-proof forming) and a complete set of reloading dies. The only thing that remained was a source for .282” diameter bullets. Fortunately, Hawk Bullets will manufacture custom, jacketed bullets and a quick phone call to them got the ball rolling for an order for 500 pieces of 150gr softpoint.
Dave came through with both forming and reloading dies. All I had to do was have about .004” ground off the shellholder so I could push the case just that last little bit into the full length resizing die. By careful adjustment, I got things to the point where I could easily chamber the reformed brass with just the slightest bit of resistance when the bolt closed down the last ¼”. I then took 5 rounds and loaded them, seating a wax plug in the mouth so I could see what happened in fireforming. Needless to say, the results were fantastic. The secondary shoulder that had been present on the reformed brass was perfectly ironed out when fired in the P-13’s chamber. I took 5 pieces of .284” bullets and ran them through a .281” sizing die and turned my fireformed cases into dummy rounds for future reference and action testing.
One project leads to another and now that I knew the real P-13 would be shootable, I had the solution to my shelved project. So in 2007, my new gunsmith LITTLE CROW GUN WORKS (Dale Hegstrom, prop.) who had bought the business from his former partner (my old gunsmith) set about to complete what I have come to call the P-13M (modified). This is in a beautiful British stock without finger grooves, but with a complete front volley sight.
The rifle itself has the rear volley sight and a new Pac-Nor barrel to replace the one from before. We used the .282” diameter reamer I had ordered and opened up the chamber to .284” with a throater. I made another run of brass for this rifle and now have roughly 100 pieces for each … easily a lifetime supply if loaded to moderate pressures.
How do they shoot at the range? Well, I have no idea! You see, the gremlins struck again this year. Spring was rather nasty and wet and continued wet into the early summer. The result was a late season start on the range (being a fair-weather shooter … between 50 and 85 degrees) and then came the mosquitoes … millions and millions of them … it was Biblical! You couldn’t concentrate and itched all the time … even when they just buzzed around you! Hoping for a little relief later in the summer when things dried out and got nice … I managed to break my damned leg in August … just before things got really nice! So I can’t give you a range report as to accuracy and velocities. Oh, they have been fired with live ammunition … but only for the purpose of ensuring that the mechanicals are functioning and safe … but boy, does that fired brass look nice!
If you’re interested in building your own P-13Modified, you can contact Dale at LITTLE CROW GUN WORKS, 6593 – 113th Ave., N.E. Suite “C”, Spicer, MN 56288, (320) 796-5030. For your forming and reloading dies, contact CH/4D TOOL & DIE, P.O. Box 889, Mt, Vernon, OH 43050, (740) 397-7214. The 8 X 68S Magnum brass came from HUNTINGTON’S RELOADING SUPPLIES, P.O. Box 991, Oroville, CA 95965, (866-735-6237 (you may be forced to substitute 6.5 X 68 as 8 X 68S may not always be available).
HAPPY SHOOTING
Bill Kestell
I know this is an ancient thread but I need help!
I have never posted here before and am desperate for help with a 1913 Enfield trials rifle I have purchased. I could not send a private message without having at least one post. Sorry
