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    Legacy Member newcastle's Avatar
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    L E in 45-70 Govt

    Anyone have any experience with these? Found a nice wee one and caved and bought it. A nice buffalo gun if ever I feel like laying waste to the plains. Converted by Gibbs / Navy arms but I don't know when - any ideas?
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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

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    Legacy Member Bruce_in_Oz's Avatar
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    There have been a few such projects over the years. One small quibble is that a Lee-Enfield bolthead is nominally 0.585" and the .45-70 rim diameter is 0.608".

    Another interesting cartridge for the adventurous is the .444 Marlin which has a rim and case diameter much closer to .303 dimensions.

    None of these cartridges feeds well out of an unmodified .303 mag, though. The easiest fix is to solder a couple of internal ribs inside the rear of the .303 mag. box to produce a single column mag. of sorts. And then you will just about be able to stuff five of those fat rounds in. Then again, if your target "game" hasn't expired after 5 well-placed .444s, you are probably in the wrong place with nowhere near enough rifle.

    On a historical note: remember that the progenitor of the family, the Remington-Lee, was chambered in .45-70 and similar-sized cartridges like .43 Spanish.

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    Legacy Member newcastle's Avatar
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    It seems to have a new magazine which I believe is single stack and looks rather nice. Never seen a .444 cartridge but it sounds big enough to hurt the shoulder a bit

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    Legacy Member seabot2's Avatar
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    I have a No.4 Mk2 converted to 45/70. My only regret is that I chose the wrong twist barrel to put on it. For the loads I shoot, a 1 in 18" would have been better. I have a 1 in 14" on this gun. The magazine is unmodified, but I need to thumb the cartridges to make it feed right.

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    Legacy Member newcastle's Avatar
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    wow that looks really nice actually. What grain bullet do you use? I wonder what twist there is on these commercial ones from Navy / Gibbs

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    Legacy Member seabot2's Avatar
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    Newcastle: My favorite 45/70 loads uses 405gr cast lead bullets with a smokeless powder charge of around 14gr Unique. Works well for target shooting in all my other 45/70 rifles that has a 1 in 18" twist rate. This gun doesn't do well with it . Turns out it does like 300gr cast bullets with the same powder charge.

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