Opinions required regarding calibre choice

[jonahpach]

Well one more case in point is that the 303's and 7.62 Ishapores are one of the most powerful rifles I have tried out and compared to the docile .22LR that we are most accustomed to, they give a hell of a kick!

The biggest kick I remember getting was as a teenager when I discovered the chamber of my uncles 12bore was 1.5 inches longer than the cartridge. This gave me a Idea so I cut a cartridge in half and joined it to another and filled up the cartridge with the gunpowder from both! After returning unsuccessfully from a bear hunt, I tried it out on a roadside.

The last thing I remember was me lying sprawled out on the road with just the stock of the 12bore in my hand. The barrel of the gun had jumped out of its anchor! and was lying somewhere behind me! Luckily the gun wasnt damaged and I remember my uncle laughing all the way home...

Jonah

[to_saptarshi]

My Opinion for Deer hunting is a orthodox one 7.62X39 (.30-30 WCF) The recoil is not hard as .303 Brit and you can have a winning combination upto 200m with 150 or 170 grain load


Saptarshi

[dev]

You nailed it as usual Mehul. Yes I remember my friend explaining how it became a hair trigger after pulling the first one. The funny part was when they taught us to shoot the 303 the teacher did ask us to place it below the collar bone. I quite liked the rifle that I got to use and felt a longing for it for years. I mean after a .22 anything which slaps your shoulder feels good.

Dev

Jonah,

Every service Lee Enfield came with a steel buttplate. I have shot them quite a bit - a friend in Appleton has several of them and we often go shooting together when I drive to Wisconsin. I have never found the 303's recoil a problem. You need to address your stance if it hurts.

This may be further OT but the hammer 450-400s and the 500 and 577 BPEs that I shot also had steel buttplates. Many shooters who participate in classic rifle matches shoot the vastly more powerful 45-120 and 50-110 rounds in Sharps replica rifles with steel buttplates. If we meet in India I could show you how to do this. The 303 is a fine round that no one has to be worried about.

Dev,

Many bolt rifles made on the Continent came with double set triggers. What happens here is that pulling one trigger removes almost all of the pressure to fire the second one, making the pull of the second trigger very light. It is a feature that lends itself to precision shooting.

Cheers,

Mehul

[Grumpy]

Yes, I have to agree Mehul. A proper SMLE Sporter with a beefed-up action.....and preferably one that got rid of the wrist loop. The Aussies could do it ..... except that they are stuck in the retro styling genre.....and offer the rifle in the crappy 7.62x39 !

[mehulkamdar]

Grumpy,

I agree with you completely on the new Aussie Enfields. They flopped badly in the USA because no one wanted a 7.62x39 or 7.62x51 Lee Enfield with a tactical style rail on the receiver. Sadly, the bad experience with the guns not selling is likely to drive the Aussies out of the market here instead of offering the rifle in the classic 303, or even better, as you suggest, in a modern Lee Speed version.

Mehul

[Grumpy]

I forgot about the rail. Sticking a modern, `hi tech` style tactical rail on a traditionally styled rifle was a big mistake - it looks ridiculous. Those Enfields haven`t sold well over here either.....judging by the way that the price has come down anyway.

[eljefe]

If the 'decent quality' government 303's are rebored and made for a 30, say a 30KF Wild cat or some shortened 308 spin off, it will still sell and open up the market.But I must have dropped my finger nail clippings on my cigarette and am now hallucinating!
Some one once mentioned that these surplus 303's were sold by the ton/container load to foreign buyers.

[Grumpy]

Reboring a .303 isn`t an option - what calibre would you rebore it to ? Nominal calibre is .312" as opposed to the .308" of the .30-06/7.62 NATO/.308 Win and the case is rimmed which means that rechambering isn`t an option either.
Heavier loads aren`t usable in the SMLE as the action isn`t strong enough. Light magnum loads can be used in No 4s.......but not the Ishapore because of the inferior construction.
Changing the calibre necessitates rebarrelling ...... and one is still limited as to what calibres are possible.
A few Lee Speeds were chambered for the .375 Rimmed but don`t make the mistake of thinking that is the rimmed version of the .375 H&H because it isn`t - nor is it anything like so powerful. Whether those rifles were rebored or rebarrelled I have no idea.

[mehulkamdar]

Grumpy,

Ellwood Epps in Canada and some Australian gunsmiths made several wildcats off the 303 case but nothing became a standard chambering. If I remember right, Mr Epps still chambers the Epps wildcats in his own exquisite custom rifles from a 22 calibre on the 303 case all the way up to a 40 calibre on the same case.

Of course you also have Austrian master gunsmith Phillippe Ollendorf who chambers the venerable Lee Enfield action in several different calibres including the powerful 405 Winchester.

Cheers!

Mehul

[Grumpy]

The `powerful` .405 Win ? Makes less ME than a 30-06 Light Mag and is so ballistically inefficient that it sheds energy at a ridiculous rate. It`s a short range woods calibre but for Elk rather than Deer.
OK, it`s rimmed and makes a bit more muzzle energy than a .303 so it`s worth mentioning.
The last time I looked Elwood Epps was still playing with Lee Enfields. A glorious eccentric whose website is essential reading for anyone interested in Lee Enfields - http://www.ellwoodepps.com - if memory serves me right. Note the weather rock and the `Doughnut Hound`.

[TwoRivers]

Logic for the .30 Blaser was the rechambering of .30-06 drillings and and combinations, to provide a rimmed catridge in the .30-06 class for these rifles. Since those kind of rifles are not at all common in the US, there is not interest in such a (new) cartridge. 7x65R is a good choice, though having a long throat, you may have trouble getting good accuracy with some of the lighter bullets. Did you get it? I like my combination in the same gun. Cheers.