Brian, your name came up in a post on another forum implying knowledge of a destructive failure of a 2A1... The poster is infamous for making it up as he goes, so I thought I'd ask you here while he will undoubtably tapdance around the question with pages of googled quotes from un named sources.... here is a cut and past of his post.
The 2A does not have a reputation for failure , but its not intended to be a test bed for handloads either. Work up your loads for each individual rifle, thats the best way to avoid unpleasant suprises.
There has been a blown out case of one 2A rifle that seriously damaged the shooter's family jewels when the magazine blew out and hit him in the groin. That shooter ignored an earlier warning sign when the extractor broke and had been punching out empties with a cleaning rod.
Two importers have stated that no 2A rifle they received was within the headspace specs, one ( Dennis Kroh) refused to sell the rifles after the above mentioned case blow out, and another (Brian Dick ltd If I recall correctly) obtained un issued new old stock bolt heads and made sure all his 2A rifles were with in specification before selling any of them.
Like any other rifle condition is important to safety, and using ammunition that is suited to the configuration of the chamber and specifications.
Blow up tests and anedotes that can't be confirmed can be misleading. Actions surviving having a blocked barrel bursting is an example. The position of a blockage makes the difference. Blockages nearer the muzzle usually result in the barrel bursting with a great deal less stress on the action, while blockages nearer the chamber can blow out an action. They found this out early on when making blow out tests on the Lee Enfield and later studies on barrel failures and blown actions when defective rod grenade shafts caused extreme pressure excursions.
I've not heard of any scientific testing on the actions of Lee Enfield Rifles since the early days, I have heard of poorly done attempts at running such tests that provided no useful information and have lead some to make exagerated and unsubstantiated claims.
They used to claim no Lee Enfield action had ever failed except when firing reloads, that turned out not to be true.
Thanks for any light you may shed on this Brian.. also open to any input... comments...Information
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