Criterion No4 barrel

[CINDERS]

I agree with Peter and not professing any of his or others knowledge on such goings on if the action is knackered and you do screw the barrel in further which my gunsmith said usually one thread to line up the extractor slot you cannot take half a thread from the barrels chamber end.
Anyway you will only push the thing so far and me being in safety well your playing with a catastrophic failure that will be coming straight through your face thats it pure and simple I am a realist and keep things KISS bin it there are plenty more in the world without problems. About 4~5 reloads at Full power Mil spec loads for a Rem case out of my No.4s

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[Brian Dick]

The owner of The Dealer's Warehouse is a friend of mine. I'll talk to him to see if he's holding out on me but I doubt it. He does have some used barrels complete with the front halves of the receivers still installed as the receivers were just cut through the mag well. I've sent folks there for replacements in the past and installed several over the years with good success but they don't fill the niche market for new barrels.

[RobD]

Bigduke, you're right about "top dollar" - I don't know the price of an Armalon- re-barrelled No 4 and that is remiss of me...

[Brian Dick]

Yep, the Armalon and Lothar Walther barrels are in the $500 range USD.

I just had a chat with Rav at Dealer's Warehouse and he has a small supply of used No.4 barrels complete with receivers but no new barrels. We may try to hook up at Knob Creek in April and if he brings them, I'll take them, bring them here and grade them using correct gauges and visual inspection. He's been cutting the receivers when he sells them because he no longer holds an FFL and if I get hold of them, I'll unbreech them which will give us a small supply of good receivers too for those looking for a project. All in the works guy. There ain't enough hours in the day.

[Brian Dick]

No apologies necessary here mike16. There are barrels on the high end as mentioned above and unfortunately you probably have one. ROF(F) was certainly not beyond having quality control problems over many years with several different weapons systems. Have you tried neck sizing only a batch of brass that is once fired in your chamber and keeping it strictly for that rifle? That is usually a sure fire cure.

The new Criterion barrels will be along this year so patience is virtue.

There is no relationship whatsoever between headspace problems and a chamber cut on the top end of specification.

[mike16]

I'm chompin at the bit for almost 8 months.

I'm a little OC with reloading and don't mix brass between rifles. easy enough because my other .303's haven't been shot yet.

a local gunsmith, competent but not well informed about the character "typical" of the LE's explained that the war time chambers and the Mk4's had looser chambers than the peace time ones. I've heard it often enough as a rumor but no confirmation. so I attributed it to facts. Is it a rumor/myth.

Who makes the best barrels in terms of tollerances and tight chambers?

[Brian Dick]

I'd say there was just some variation between manufacturers of No.4 barrels as there were several during WWII. Post war manufacture was at ROF Fazakerley in England and Long Branch in Canada. I'm guessing now but would say you're dealing with a barrel on the high end of tolerance. You haven't answered as to whether you're fire forming and then neck sizing only which I've already mentioned as a potential cure. Full length sizing will shorten your case life. Remember that these rifles/barrels weren't designed with handloaders and target shooters in mind. They were designed to function in all extremes under combat conditions. I've had good results with all of the different manufacturers' barrels over the years. Two groove, five groove, six groove. There's no difference in any of them in my experience as long as they gauge up in spec and are installed properly.

[Steve E]

Just to jump in here and hopefully not upset anyone, brand new No4 Barrels are available in the UK and Fultons of Bisley are fitting them. They are made by Lothar Walther. The barrels come chambered and profiled. They are .303 bore with .311 groove. Unfortunately they are 4 groove RH twist so may not be acceptable to the purists. The outside diameter is also slightly larger than the original so some relieving of the fore-end may be required. I had one fitted two years ago by the gunsmith who imports them (not Fultons) for £245 including proof. Fultons i gather charge quite a bit more. Armalon barrels fitted are about £350.
I had no choice as but to have a Lothar Walther fitted as I could not find an original barrel cheaper.
My no4 is now shooting reliably 2MOA out to 1000yds.

[mike16]

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.

[Bindi2]

Mike 16 I have been reloading 303 for over 30 yrs. One of those rifles is a No5 with a very generous chamber. Use an o ring to centre your new case ( use only good quality brass as in the metal) after fire forming use a Lee collet neck sizing die good for 7 more loads that are not mild. FLS after every load buggers the cases. I run about 100 rds per week. Accuracy for my No5 is 1.5/2.0 MOA, one of the others puts a lot of younger so called accurate rifles to shame but then it had to do a special job 70 odd years ago.
I am also a range shooter and know a bit about reloading for that as well. The milsurp 303 is a different beast and to get the best out of it you have to rewrite the reloading rule book for your rifle. Relax and let it talk to you.