7.62 magazine

[xa-coupe]

I have one of the cheap magazines that Peter mentioned in my 7.62 No4. The ejector 'plate' came off the first time I used it but it feeds okay and the case more or less falls out anyway. You can identify these by the geniune magazine follower but no markings anywhere else.

[PrinzEugen]

It's usually best to phone around 'likely' dealers - they're obvious enough online as they sell enfieldy bits (eg helston guns, barbican armory durham) - they sometimes have something in and sometimes not - but it's definitely a seller's market (from a price perspective).

[Brian Dick]

Just get the ejector tig welded back on the Charnwood Ordnance repro magazine, adjust it to feed properly and it'll last forever. I've got a few broken ones here but I recently lost my welder and need to find a new one to repair them.

[RobD]

Phil Rose [email pjrcollectables@hotmail.co.uk ] has proper 7.62 mags at £80 each.

[jona]

The No. 4 308 magazines I have seen on offer over the years have been going for around $150.00 to $200.00USD.

[Kansas Volunteer]

I have two, out in storage in the shed. Haven't looked at them in a long time. They were like new. May have some rust now. Also have a 7.62mm barrel threaded for a No4, although it's not military dimensions.

[dudefromthenorth]

I too am looking for a 7.62 Magazine for a No4MkII (DCRA). I'd like a proper magazine, but I'm intrigued by the casual mentioning that a Ishapore 2A1 can be made to fit. Also, where (if at all) are the aforementioned Charnwood Ordnance magazines available from? Thanks

[Maxwell Smart]

I have found that the Ishapore 2A magazine will fit straight into a No 4 and clip in. I use my left hand under the bottom of the magazine and rock it towards the right slightly as it goes in. Once it clips in, straighten it up, no problem.

I modified the front of the left rear feed lip to act as an ejector.
At club shoots I sometimes do the three stages of the Service Rifle Match using the Enfield, Sterling and Ishapore mags in turn, to give them all a run.

The 2A magazine will not clip load quite as well as the proper Enfield one, feeds more reliably than the Sterling. I used to regularly get a last round fail-to-feed from the Sterling until I took to it with the Dremel tool and ground some extra clearance on the side of the magazine itself.

[Brian Dick]

All but a very few DCRA rifles have standard .303 extractors and magazines installed so remember that you'll need a 7.62 extractor if you want it to feed and eject properly. I do have some of those in stock. You should also know that the magazine well in the receiver sometimes needs additional machining for proper fit and function of the Enfield pattern 7.62 magazine. The machining dimensions are shown in Skennerton's books. There's a bit more to it than just slapping in a 7.62 magazine and heading to the range.

[Peter Laidler]

You're right there Brian. Even the correct magazines would malfunction in some L42's due to the newly machined recess for the front feed lips (they're not feed lips really but retainers......) not being deep enough. This was evident because the magazine would rock on the front lips - as it will when the magazine well isn't machined. Rock the magazine to the rear so that it clicks into place and the nose of the mag drops slightly causing a misfeed. Something that a sniper could do without. If the rear strap was adjusted so that the nose of the magazine was in its correct feed position, then the rear would be slightly low and the face of the bolthead would just slip over the top round in the magazine, leaving you thinking that you'd actually loaded a round when you hadn't. Something else that a sniper didn't really need either! It also meant that the magazine was loose .................., something that the Armourers didn't need either!

The smaller base rim diameter oif the 7.62mm case against the .303" case was its downfall as even when fully adjusted, it was touch and go whether the bolt head would actually pick the rear of the round up on the forward 'load' movement

Anyway, that's why a small sketch was subsequently issued (I think it was in the miscellaneous instructions section) advising of the problem and the remedy. To be brutally honest, after a few years of the L42, you could start to see that it was an 'on the cheap' project. Starting with the woodwork. As for the person who advised that it could be cheaper if existing stocks of No8 handguards could be used.........., well...., words fail me!