Criterion No4 barrel

[ssj]

I know Walther is doing them,

and the guy in England?

and another in Australia and a guy in New Zealand?

I'm full length resizing. I could get more life out of them but I like to have a margin of safety so no more than 3 reloads after the initial "fire Forming" . most begin to show signs of failure at 7 reloads.

I do realize that they are combat rifles and that chamber tollerances factor in combat envirionment. I don't personally think there is anything wrong with the barrel and I am sure the chamber meets those combat tollerances. But they are loose, It affects accuracy and brass life. And brass in bulk is still not available in .303 with all the hoarding going on in other calibers.

303brits are hard on brass, forget what you know from loading other cartridges IMHO.

3~5 reloads of full re-sizing is normal brass life on a No4 assuming no insane loads. You do not want to full size unless you need to bump the shoulder / fix excessive CHS.

If you want 10+ reloads then use the Lee collet die and a wilson SAMMI gauge to check. Watch for a sized and then an assembled bullet that is sticking out more than the CHS of the particular rifle, if so it needs to be emptied and full resized. Typically every 3rd or 4th neck size reload you may well have to full resize. On mild loads (38~40gr 2208/varget) the brass will stretch <1 or 2 thou per firing (hot loads ie 43gr+ 2208/varget can be 10thou per firing). OAL it with the delux Lee quick trim watching to see how much brass is trimmed off. using this will show up if you have a case that has stretched more than 1 or 2 thou on mild loads, if so throw it out, its about to fail on you. I shoot up to 600yds with my No4 range gun, typically a set of 50 303 brass will last me a season+ of use.

Are you in the USA? If so get privy brass though ReloadingInternational.com

It is great brass, cheaper, easily available, and better than Winchester and they do ship overseas.

[mike16]

I live in Arizona.

the rifle shoots very well, perhaps better than my sight allows. I try to be exacting in my reloading procedure as with bench rest. I know that sounds like a cliché to state that I reload to bench rest standards but I do very well that way and spend a lot of time on brass befor loading it. that's what frustrates me about brass life. I understand the need for tolerance because when these rifles were made the 303 ammo was manufactured in how many different countries? for rifles and mg's. Maybe I'm mistaken but I think I could reduce my group a bit with tighter chamber and improve brass life as well.

[ssj]

I also reload to close to bench rest standards. I shoot 308w palma and FTR to 1000yds using lapua match brass and Nossler or HBC competition projectiles which I weigh so I am being as precise as possible with my brass and loads. I do the same with 303brit putting out of spec components to one side to shoot in service rifle which is only 100yds. Certainly NZ gunsmiths used to set very tight chambers on 303s and indeed that seems to be the norm to improve accuracy on many guns, My Ar15 is very tight, so tight I cant use a spikes tactical bolt in it. I would indeed expect to see better accuracy, I mean you are comparing a precision after market barrel made in 2015 v at the youngest a 1950s mass produced barrel. In terms of cartridge life I have milspec barrels and a new Lithgow aftermarket H barrel with NZ gunsmith reamed tight chamber, on one range gun, I ahve seen no discernible difference in brass life. Biggest factor so far is the quality/maker of the brass. I am very un-impressed with Winchester brass and DI 1943 brass also doesnt seem to last well. S&B and privy seem to be the better so far. I cant get Remington brass in NZ to try but I dont think that is an issue. I will be trying Hornady next year.

Two things you can do, a) neck size and you will significantly improve brass life by a factor of 4 or more. b) Run as mild loads as you can, anything above or approaching 43 gr of varget/2208 will significantly reduce brass life as the pressure makes the receiver stretch and teh brass with it. Even if the brass doesnt seperate you will be forced to full re-size more often to get the reload to chamber.

Oh and Fed210M s work well for me.

[Vincent]

Any idea when they will be available?

[Bubba in Redcliff]

I have one of the Lothar Walther barrels on order for my #4 Mk1 action. I will be making a "reproduction" of a "T" rifle with this combination. Still looking for a scope to fit to this, but I am not willing to spend what they are asking for an original 32, or one of the Chinese made knock offs. Not that I have heard many glowing reports of the Sarco/RSM repro's anyway. Something along the lines of a K-3 Weaver will be found.

Once the barrel is fitted, then it will be on to glass bedding the action to the stock, etc.

I haven't had any problems with my 303 Brit brass, in any of my LE's. #4Mk1 LB, #1Mk3 Ishy (1943) and a #1Mk3 compilation of a jumble of parts.

I didn't need to forget all I know about reloading to successfully load for my LE's, either-quite similar to reloading for the 30-40 Krag.

My only "secret" is to not attempt to "hotrod" the 303-I load to get the same velocity as the military ball ammo produced. Just as many other LE shooters on here speak of.

First loads with new brass are fired with an O-ring fitted to head of case, and bullet seated out long, requiring some effort to chamber the round. After that, neck size, until I get difficulty chambering, and then size ONLY enough to get the brass to chamber smoothly.

[ssj]

Glass bedding? ouchie. The no4 is a strange beast to make work, if you surround the receiver sides expect it not to like it. There is a very good book but also some youtube vids that shows what works, I recommend both, same author.

https://www.youtube.com/user/EnfieldAccurizing

[gsimmons]

Peter Laidler has written articles on the proper way to stock up an Enfield. Here on this site.

[ssj]

Yep but the interesting thing is Peter's articles remains one of the best setups, for service rifle Roger's book/vids show this. For target work they can be improved but that isnt as issued and seem to need more maintenance.

[Peter Laidler]

Mmmmmmmm. I would argue that a sniper needs a correctly set up sniper rifle almost as much as a target shooter does. After all, both their lives depend on it. Just being a tad facetious of course.......... But if it's good enough for a sniper rifle, I contend that it's good enough for a target rifle. Never been a true target shooter of course

[Alan de Enfield]

Just being a tad facetious of course..........

Are you sure ?
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