I was doing some mental arithmetic with rounded off numbers and I baffled myself. So I pulled out the calculator to get hard numbers.
So by my calculation, at the muzzle, my 174grn bullet is traveling 1,500MPH spinning at 160,000RPM.
Wow, out of my 1890 Lee Metford.
Seems to me that 25 yards aint a whole lot of distance for the bullet to get stabilised.
Not always an option I know, but 200 yards is best for sighting in for two hundred yards.
I never had much success with guesstimating at a shorter distance, but some have good luck with it.
The key holing is very much maybe from boat tail projectiles. Far more likely to be the barrel ID and bullet diameter are too far apart. Key holing is caused by undersized bullets or oversized barrels and sometimes too low velocity.
All No. 4 Lee-Enfields can have barrels that vary between .311" and .315". Over .315" the barrel is shot out. Issue is that commercial jacketed bullets are .311" or .312". Montana Bullets makes cast bullets up to .314".
So it's essential you slug the barrel before you do anything else. All the rest(targets, target distance, etc.) is irrelevant if the bullet isn't the right diameter.
The key holing is very much maybe from boat tail projectiles. Far more likely to be the barrel ID and bullet diameter are too far apart. Key holing is caused by undersized bullets or oversized barrels and sometimes too low velocity.
At this point I'm working off the assumption that it is because of the boat tail... I tried some flat base projectiles this last weekend and they shot without key holing.
You know thinking of what your saying it maybe that the wood is excessively dry and has shrunk over the years as we know nought of their history for all we know about it is it could have lived in a barn in the Arizona desert or Death Valley.
So strip all of the wood off the metal give it RLO/Min Turps 50/50 till it cannot soak up another drop letting it dry between coats whilst your there you can inspect the draws and anything else you can't whilst assembled thats what I would do as the very first thing before faffing about with anything else......
Most of the guys here are registered gunsmiths and or armourers whether in service or retired they offer their advice free of charge and with integrity, like I say to my son when he becomes to smart being a smart ar$e "Don't poke the Leopard" in reference to a game warden on you-tube who did that with a long stick to try and get a Leopard out of a cage in the back of a land Rover in Africa.
Upshot of that was the Leopard jumped out bolted into the passengers side only thing is he left the window down half way cats being cats it joined him in the cab luckily it could not get its back legs in there but it caned that chap really badly, I saw the aftermath pics he was not healthy looking more like he had been through a shredder.............
Here's the clip its worth watching the whole thing so you understand what & why the cat attacked.
The window was 3/4 up and then he wound it down again?
Just as well the leopard went for him and not that open topped cruiser full of tourists sitting a few feet away.
Not a lot of judgement on display there.
No.5 Rifle at the end though - perhaps if the Leopard had leapt into the tourist vehicle they could have loosed a few rounds in after him?
Choose your safari guides carefully.
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
......Seems to me that 25 yards aint a whole lot of distance for the bullet to get stabilised.
The bullet is stabilized when it exits the muzzle or not. If it is stabilized, the distance to the target doesn't matter. Having a "wobble" is not the same as being unstabilized.
Recently I purchased a Mk 1/2. It has a beautiful bore with a nice leade, but slugs to what I think measures .304 min .316 max. I do not believe it will shoot worth a toot with commercial ammo and besides needs work in the draws irrespective of the bore.
I intend to make this thing shoot eventually, and am going to give a try at swaging 7.9 mm FMJ boat tail rounds to .316 if clearance in the throat will allow. I am surprised this has not been addressed?
Original .303 barrels are a bit of a puzzle, and reflect the engineering thinking of the times.
Bore diameter will (originally) be in the range .303" to .305 MAX.
However, groove diameter is a bit wilder. By the tolerances on ORIGINAL drawings, it can run out to .319" and STILL be in "spec".
In the tradition of the Minie Ball, the .303 BALL projectile has an OPEN base and was expected to "bump-up" upon the ignition of the Cordite charge to engage the rifling and (hopefully0 seal the bore. How this was supposed to happen with the early marks of ammo with their THICK, hard nickel jackets is anyone's guess.
Modern, commercial sporting "boat-tails" have a SOLID and often quite thick base. This CANNOT expand to any useful degree before propellant gas has started to leak around the boat-tail at HIGH temperature and pressure. The resultant "gas-cutting" in the Leade of the barrel and reduced velocity will cause problems.
Reduced velocity will automatically lead to reduced spin-rate and thus less stability.
Another thing is that the reduced bearing surface of boat-tailed bullets means that they precess (spiral) more and for longer after launch. Variations occur in boat-tail bullets because it takes an extra forming die stage to make that shape. The "eccentricity" may be literally microscopic, but when the bullet is spun to the revs you mentioned, it will become evident.
The Swiss started using a boat-tailed, Jacketed ball bullet in 1911 and that GP-11 is very fine ammo indeed. Their bore and groove specs are much "tighter" than a Lee Enfield. Thus, a "pre-loved" Lee Enfield is a different beast from a well-maintained Schmidt Rubin.
The gas-cutting at the Leade is irreversible and will render a barrel worthless in a couple of hundred rounds, especially if it has pre-existing washout from a lifetime diet of service-issue, Cordite fueled ammo.
Find a secret stash of Mk7 bullets or, failing that, the thinnest-jacketed, flat-based .312" bullet of around 165 to 180grains and play with it.
Register To Reply
Originally Posted by englishman_ca
