More Bad Press For The Enfield

[Thunderbox]

"This coupled with questionable gunsmithing and significantly undersized bores when the rifle was 'converted' from .303 gives a poor starting point in the safety stakes."

Its this phrase which for me seems to sum up the sheer fallacy of this guy's assertions:

"Undersized bores"?! The majority of 7.62mm Enfield are fitted with one of the two models of Enfield barrel. Is the author seriously suggesting that Enfield are "questionable gunsmiths" and that these barrels - which have performed flawlessly for 40+ years - are substandard in design?

Other barrels in use are Parker Hale, Swing, and other famous commercial target rifle names. Is the author suggesting that these barrels which were also widely used in mauser-actioned target rifles are also deficient?

In his article, he seems to give the impression that he believes .303 barrels were somehow bored out or relined to turn them into 7.62mm

"Questionable gunsmithing"?! The conversion of a No4 from .303 to 7.62mm is not exactly complex - its a simple modular system with components designed for the conversion purpose: barrel, breeching rings, headspace gauge. There is not a lot of scope for making a "dangerous" rifle. All UK rifles go for Proof in any case.