doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Sporter bbl in anything but .303 for No.4 action

As sent to a UK gunsmith/exporter
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Recently a sporter No 4 Enfield was bequeathed to me. It has had the top of the receiver professionally welded, milled, and drilled to take American Weaver telescope mounts. It is stocked in a commercial walnut, American-style sporter style. The gun is barreled with a .303-.250 [same case as the .257 Robers, but rimmed] Aussie 'roo shooter barrel: The twist is very slow for using fast short bullets. It would be of more use to me in another caliber, now.

I'm looking for a replacement barrel in something besides .303. A good condition 256, 6.5, 7MM, or .375 bore on the .303 case -- or a caliber and round that feeds from the stock magazine -- would be of interest. Some few were converted here to .45-70 a bit ago, and give good service, tho it's really not a useful caliber for me. The smaller bores are of much more interest. As stated, a round that can feed from the stock unaltered magazine would be a plus, altho I'd entertain a caliber and bbl that came with a dedicated magazine.

If this too exotic or quixotic a request, i would certainly understand.

Happy Powder Smoke,

John Meeker
West End of Lake Erie

No request is too quixotic; quixotic is what gun nuts are all about. Finding a "made up" barrel ready to screw into a SMLE in any caliber other than .303 is kinda tough. Getting one made is kinda expensive.

What about finding a .303 barrel with a wrecked bore and having it rebored to .375? There used to be many BSA-made .375s on SMLE and "Lee Speed" actions; a nice medium rifle. I think that the cartridge was called .375 2 1/2" BSA but I may be misremembering.....

Could you rebore the existing barrel?

Thanks, Mike,

The .375 you mention is one of the calibers I found interesting. The bbl is not suitable for a rebore, due to it's rather stubby length.

Sooo...wors' cometa wors', and I don't turn up a nifty donor exotic, one of the mass bbl makers has ready to go, pre-chambered .303's for about two hundred. -- or did last time I checked. They do need a final fit for headspace.

Before doing that, tho, I think an extended cyber-fishing trip for the desiderata maybe in order. I'm pretty sure that this forum is the place to start. ;~`)

I suggest you contact Ellwood Epps up in Orillia < to Epps site for comtact info.>, at one time Epps did a lot of modifications on the Enfield including one piece stocks and improving the .303. They may have what you need. FWIW --- John Can.

The obvious choice is 30-40 Krag which should require no alterations. An alternative needing magazine work is .405wcf. For an even more exotic choice
BSA sold no.3s before WWII in 8x50r and no doubt a no.4 could be barreled for it too.

OK, let's see:

Epps -- will only do work in his shop, won't ship bbls, and his Imp's are too high pressure for No. 4's -- all of which I have by oral hearsay. Time to do some direct checking there.

.30-40...good idea that never crossed my mind. Will check with my local guy [Gary Cleland] on that one.

.405 Win...a sample cartridge sits on my bookshelf. Indeed, it is damn near a slip-fit, but the mag is too short, as you point out. A German gunsmith does all manner of No4conversions in a very classical style, and .405 is among them. So it seems that the mag alteration functions. Lost his site and was never able to resurrect it. His work certainly would fit in with this forum.

Simple is good, in this case, so Krag gets first investigation.

Thanks.

MUCH better choice of factory bullets for the .30-40 as opposed to the .303.--71 grs to 220!

The Austrian gunsmith's name is Ollendorf, but the current site gallery doesn't have any Lee-Enfields pictured. Google "Ollendorf-jagdwaffen"

Thanks for the Ollendorf site: masterful goods, there.

The Enfields I remember were austerely plain, with mildly re-contoured, well-finished metal and beautifully stocked in a classic style. The work was very comparable to historic British Best work. Definitely inspiration for anyone who has owned a hack-sawed Enfield, and wondered what could be done to improve it..

Mike,

I sure do hate yielding to 'sensible', but the .30-40 is front and center on that issue. Also, I now try to keep in mind that someday firearms are sold or passed on down the line. It's a lot harder for heirs and estates to move a .257 Roberts Rimmed, than a gun that takes readily available ammo.

As well, I have a couple of mint Golden State Arms 5-shot sporting magazines, that I'd just as soon leave in stock condition, which a .30-40 chambering would do. I'll leave the .405 idea to T.R & Zane Gray [in Desert Gold].