6 groove Lee Enfield

[smellie]

Bullets coming out of a rifle with left-hand twist tend to drift left because of pressure on the point of the bullet. This has to do with gyroscopic effect. Bullets coming from barrels with right-hand twist will tend to drift right. In either case, once you know the direction of twist, adjustment to compensate is simple. In the case of the Lee-Enfild there was sufficient adjustment in the basic design for it to pose no real problem.

There were two batches of Number 4 Rifles made with 6-groove barrels. The earlier was the first production by Savage, which was set up already for a 6-groove barrel. It would have taken considerable time to build the equipment for standerd 5-groove Enfield left-hand rifling and Britain was nearly out of time, so they said to go ahead.

The later production was by Long Branch, well after the war, when some 6-groove barrels were made using Bren Gun machinery from the old John Inglis plant. These barrels were peacetim-made and beautifully done. They were VERY much in demand by the DCRA crowd but, at $60 plus installation, they were never common. They were very hard to beat out to at least 600 yards. These also were Right twist. A fellow just ran into one on a 1950 Long Branch rifle; I think he is happy.

Hope this helps.