long branch troubles

[fredsbar1]

Hi I have had a great looking 1943 longbranch that the say was converted to .308 by longbranch in the 60s with the match parker hale sight on layaway for a while and was in the store looking at it the other day. I then asked a stupid question as there is no visible marking how could we be sure it was actually .308 and they bought out a few snap caps and drilled out empty rounds to show me. that was when the wheels fell off the whole situation as the mag wouldnt hold the rounds properly kept letting them fall out and when they finally got some to stay in it they were so low that the bolt would not pick them up into the chamber? when they loaded a round loose on top of the mag and tried to eject the ejector didnt pop it out instead it pulled it out of the chamber and dropped it into the top of the mag. they tried different mags same result.
any ideas what the h@ll is going on would be greatly appreciated.
could it be a .303 still could it need a special mag, ejector problems or some other major problem.
thanks for any input

Information

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[browningautorifle]

The mag is still a 303 mag. That's not unusual. They were for match so they didn't have to mag feed. The 7.62 mags are expensive and scarce, but available. The reason it doesn't eject properly is either the mag has the ejector attached or the ejector needs to be installed in the gun. There are two different rigs for this. I had one without either and it shot just fine like it was. Never bothered me a bit. The barrel will be marked with a Canadian Arsenals mark at the muzzle, on top. I don't recall there being 7.62 marked on mine either.

[Peter Laidler]

There's a few articles on the fitting of these repop or factory Enfield 7.62mm magazines. You probably still have a standard .303" extractor too. Start by getting a 7.62mm extractor from Brian at BDL Ltd in SCX. If he has them. They're getting rare now too!

To put your mind at rest, a .303" case won't fully chamber in a 7.62mm rifle and vice verca.

[Surpmil]

As mentioned above, there were no 7.62mm mags available when these rifles were converted and in use for competition, nor did the users want or need magazines, except as a single loading platform.

Personally I've never seen a DCRA conversion barrel without the "7.62mm" on top of the bbl. near the muzzle, but who knows?