I actually made it out to the range yesterday. Keeping it short, I took one rifle, the Pattern 14 I'd wanted to take out some time ago. Also twenty rounds of cast .303 to try out. The point of today's exercise was to see how well the rifle could shoot the handloads at fifty yards. Not very far, but when the muzzle looks like this:
it's better to start at close range. I'm sticking with cast loads so that expense and recoil are minimized during the course of testing. I'm intending to gradually counterbore the muzzle back to unpitted rifling, which will be about half an inch.
I do not like altering issue rifles, but when there's damage or wear that's repairable by a method that would be armory acceptable, I'm willing to replace or repair parts. I'm not aware of counterboring in British service rifles, but finding an issue replacement barrel in at least very good condition seems unlikely. So, we go to the backup plan of keeping the external appearance correct, but using internal modifications to keep the rifle in good working order.
The biggest surprise of the day was that the rifle was capable of groups within three inches off of sandbags. Not a great group under normal circumstances, but when the bottom half of the muzzle looks like coral reef, it's unexpectedly good. I didn't find any keyholing either, which I was expecting.
I do not like altering issue rifles, but when there's damage or wear that's repairable by a method that would be armory acceptable, I'm willing to replace or repair parts. I'm not aware of counterboring in British service rifles, but finding an issue replacement barrel in at least very good condition seems unlikely. So, we go to the backup plan of keeping the external appearance correct, but using internal modifications to keep the rifle in good working order.
The biggest surprise of the day was that the rifle was capable of groups within three inches off of sandbags. Not a great group under normal circumstances, but when the bottom half of the muzzle looks like coral reef, it's unexpectedly good. I didn't find any keyholing either, which I was expecting.
The brass is once-fired (before yesterday) S&B. It was full-length resized for the cast loads, although future loads will be neck sized to extend the life of the brass. I did note that all the primers backed out somewhat during firing.
If I recall correctly, this indicates low pressures during firing. The primer pockets were tight during loading, so I'm confident the enlarged pockets aren't the cause here. Also seen is a bright ring often associated with incipient case head separation. As this was present after the first firing, and all future loads will be neck sized, I'll continue firing these with the same load while watching for any changes in the brass' condition.
The next step is a slight counterbore. I'll refire with the same loads and compare to yesterday's targets for group size. I'll be extremely surprised if I can't improve the groups significantly once the bullet doesn't ride over the damaged portion of the muzzle.
2 comments:
What's the story behind that Enfield? Looks like someone put it away wet.
I believe I got this one from Hunter's Lodge back in the early 90s for a very low price. My guess is that it was stored in some third-world armory/cave where a controlled environment meant a layer of tin between the weapons and the sky. The same pitting is present externally in areas of the receiver also. I wish I new where it has been stored over the years.
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