possible headspace issue?

[mrclark303]

Agree with all the above, the spent cases display typical SMLE case marking, both my SMLE's do exactly the same.

I don't get the same markings with my No4 though.

[Ridolpho]

Agree with all the above, the spent cases display typical SMLE case marking, both my SMLE's do exactly the same.

I don't get the same markings with my No4 though.

I'm looking at some cases fired in a good, tight P-14 and they display exactly the same appearance, although maybe a wee bit more symmetrical than cases that have been through certain of my Lee Enfields.

Ridolpho

[Bruce_in_Oz]

From a "manufacturing" point of view, .303 Lee Enfields were a sweet deal.

Being a rimmed case meant that the reamers, such as they were in the "olden days" would be made a "little" bigger than nominal to start with and then resharpened several times until they wore so small that the "Go" / "acceptance" / "minimum" CASE BODY gauge (or a real cartridge) would no longer freely enter.

These rifles were built to feed reliably and then heave the empty case into the next suburb when the bolt was worked "smartly" during "contact".

Reloading, as we know it, was not a consideration for the "practical" shooters in Queen Victoria's regiments, or their successors.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned here, somewhere, the only rifles that have potentially NOT had their chambers "freshened-up" in some dire colonial outpost, would be ones that were still wrapped in Factory-issued waxed paper when they were cracked out of a crate, like the legendary "Irish Contract" No4s.

[mike16]

I always though or was told that the lee enfiels being a combat rifle has a loose chamber to facilitate chambering a round without jaming and to unchamber a shell with minimal risk of jaming,

People call it fireforming but with the LE and as those photos clearly show, it does not fire form in the loose combat chamber of the LE

eventually the brass will fail. sooner than other rounds in other chambers. watch for it during reloading, I dont understand the casual attitude about case failures. its something to be avoided with a saami spec chamber and carefull scrutiny of the brass during reloading.

I had a 4/2 and never fired it. I even asked people on this forum about loose chambering of 4/2's and nobody could answer me .....Not until now ,

learn somthing new every day not just about rifles either

[Bruce_in_Oz]

There are no "significant" differences between the SAAMI and "Mil" spec case drawings.

Even the chamber drawings are similar.

However, "manufacturing" variations and "in-service" treatment of the chambers is a bit fraught.

Many of us have been a bit spoilt by using finely-crafted chambers and ammo in other pursuits.

When it comes to "surplus" stuff, all bets are off. There are several reasons "military" guns and ammo get sold off, only ONE of which is "obsolescence".

Quite a bit of "surplus" ammo over the years has been notably "sub-par" on various fronts. Some of it has been superb.

I shot off a LOT of WW1-vintage Mk7 ball through Lithgow SMLEs in the 1970s. Failures to feed, fire and eject in ONE PIECE were unknown. MUCH fresher, (early 1960s) Paki stuff was a total lottery in the SAME rifles. The early 1950's FN made ("pour Bren") ball was SUPERB ( and "easily" reloadable MANY times (small Berdan primer, RWS 5608 / 5627).

Being a kid in high school was a blast in those days.

[mrclark303]

A friend of mine had a batch of Pakistan manufactured .303 ammo, dreadful stuff, hang fires and failures to fire, very inconsistent too. God knows what this stuff is loaded with, my guess is black powder and tea.

[CINDERS]

Sometimes things just happen Mike16 when your sorting a few 100 of the little suckers and its freezing cold in the shed....................if the case is in doubt just bin it simple rule.

[browningautorifle]

God knows what this stuff is loaded with

Dung of their ancestors...when I run into stuff like that, I change primers and go on. I can't stand hangfires.

[Peter Laidler]

While I never used any of the old Pakistani .303 ammo, I did ask the Indian Army Liaison Officer what the Pakistan Ord Factory used as propellant. He assured me that it was most definately curry powder. All here - and no there! He also told me about the problems that the PkAF had landing their newly purchased MiG fighter aircraft. The Chinese didn't teach them how to land them. They simply told the air crews that the Indian Air Force would ensure that they came down - eventually!