SLR L1A1 STRAIGHT PULL

[Gil Boyd]

Peter,

Totally accept that diagnosis, the reason I am teatering on heat and expansion is, that it occurred on the fifth round in both calibres. I will try next week, to:
1. varied rounds in both sizes as stated above
2. wait after say 3 rounds to allow cooling to occur around the breach

Any views on that?

[browningautorifle]

So where do we go now.

I've run into this with other rifles...and bought a chamber ream. When applied, the ream removes so little material that it turns to dust in one's fingers but the cartridges then fed and fit and empties extracted smoothly. Chamber issue...

I'll send you my ream, you send it back after.

[Gil Boyd]

Jim,
Its certainly worth a try. Clearly a replacement barrel in these Straight Pulls do need all the help they can get!!

[Lee Enfield]

Have you run 7.62 headspace guages thru the chamber?

Before you polish ream the chamber,

If this was a military barrel, I would figure that
You need to change the locking shoulder as your headspace is too tight.

[browningautorifle]

headspace is too tight.

It should still extract. If too tight, it won't chamber...

[Brian Dick]

See my post #31. Try at least polishing the chamber. I experienced this with some commercial chambers in single shot H&R Pardner sporting rifles sticking Nato spec ammo. I made a mandrel from a fired case and used Cloverleaf valve grinding compound. It cleared the issue with no worries or signs of damage.

[Peter Laidler]

One of the problems we seem to face in the UK is that the proof house won't accept the recognised norm in headspace gauges! Even though we've been making rifles here for a couple of years now, especially Enfields, they seem to have their own standards. So it could be headspace. For example, I suspect that if you sent an L1A1 rifle in with CHS between 1.6325 and 1.643 I dare say that it would fail. I could be wrong of course. My friend sent a P'17 in that failed CHS, so he sent it back with a 2/2004 CALIBRATED and still sealed set of UK Military CHS gauges - and it still failed!

[mrclark303]

See my post #31. Try at least polishing the chamber. I experienced this with some commercial chambers in single shot H&R Pardner sporting rifles sticking Nato spec ammo. I made a mandrel from a fired case and used Cloverleaf valve grinding compound. It cleared the issue with no worries or signs of damage.

I think a very careful chamber polish wouldn't hurt, Lithuanian GGG NATO ammo worked a treat in my L1A1's right out of the box. I bet it runs just fine in Gils too.

One of the issues is CHS I am sure. I know this was a serous issue with some of the rifles being built by Suffolk Rifles, the gunsmith who assembled the L1A1's on behalf of the Company, head spaced them according to service spec I believe (So I was told) .

The London Proof House rejected the rifles for excessive CHS and "forced" Suffolk Rifles builder, to swap out the locking shoulders prior to proof.

I do know one person who subsequently changed the Locking shoulder back after proof, to ease the extraction issue.

Were the CHS specs radically different from Military to Civilian chaps?

[bigduke6]

Gil, Is this rifle marked as .308 or 7.62mm or is it the one that is marked 7.62x51 non standard?

[Gil Boyd]

Geoff,
Clearly stamped 7.62 x 51 NON STD (Non Standard) as attached photo