I’ll have to keep this in mind when I start reloading for my EnfieldEnfield rifles were purposely engineered to operate under adverse conditions - water, dirt, sand, debris, etc - with zero thought given to reloading spent cases ... hence, the roomy chambers.
SAAMI .303 Brit specs were determined by/for the cartridge itself, not varying Enfield chamber tolerances. US-manufactured .303 cartridges/brass will work all day long in an Enfield, but when compared to the likes of Mk VII .303 Brit. surplus & Prvi Partizan cartridges/brass, the SAAMI-spec’d brass is thinner/weaker at the case head/web ... as such, spent SAAMI brass doesn’t lend itself to (as many) repeated reloads. Fireforming does prolong their usefulness, but you’ll never get close to the dozen-plus (some claim, dozens) reloads that you’ll get from stronger Mk VII & PPU brass.
The big knock on Enfield rifles concerns headspacing, which, should you ask anyone outside of The Commonwealth, leads to bolt lug shearing, exploding receivers & ruptured cases ... yes, .303 cases will & do ruptured &/or separate if a close eye isn’t kept on one’s spent brass. Again, the Enfield & more specifically, its’ chambers were not engineered with thoughts of reloading spent cases.
Knowledgable Enfield faithful across the Pond(s) will laugh should discussion turn to sloppy chambers &/or headspace concerns. Their philosophy is simple; when firing a sound SMLE or No.4/5 rifle, using correct cartridges, if you don’t experience repeated light primer strikes &/or blown/protruding primers, them your Enfield & it’s headspacing are just fine.
Should have mentioned this earlier ... when manufactured, each Enfield rifle possessed a bolt that was lapped & fitted for that particular rifle. Headspace problems do arise when swapping the original bolt for a like bolt off of a different rifle. But, Enfield bolts were designed with different-sized, interchangeable heads (0,1,2,3 & some say, 4) to address headspace issues in the field.
Last comment on Enfields & headspacing ... I once read that some headspace problems arose when service rifles were reproofed prior to being released for civilian sale. During wartime manufacture, strictly calibrated proof loads were used when proofing SMLEs, which were designed (metallurgy) with receivers that stretched & retracted at/post recoil. When the battle rifles, which had successfully fired countless thousands of rounds, were reproofed with .303 proof rounds considerably warmer than original-specced, receivers were, for lack of a better word, overstretched & this resulted in altered, excessive headspacing.
Fireforming o-ring/cases
Case failure ... red arrow indicates where the vast majority of .303 case failure/separations occur. The best way to stay ahead of these separations is to fabricate a small, L-shaped implement which is used inside the case to detect (feel for) potential problems. A (separation) ridge will develop inside the case before any signs of a problem reveal themselves on the case exterior.
What did you reload today?
- Thread starter Ad Astra
- Start date
300 rounds of 9 mm, 100 of which were 122 gr. lead FPTC very smokey! The other 200 124 gr. plated FPTC, both over 7.0 gr. of Blue Dot.
150 rounds of .45 ACP 230 gr. RN plated over 4.8 gr. 452AA.
I shot the 100 rounds of smokey 9 mm lead bullets and 50 rounds of the .45 ACP today.
I'll shoot the rest tomorrow.
150 rounds of .45 ACP 230 gr. RN plated over 4.8 gr. 452AA.
I shot the 100 rounds of smokey 9 mm lead bullets and 50 rounds of the .45 ACP today.
I'll shoot the rest tomorrow.
Reload? Nada, zip, zlich... But I did process 50 pieces of ADG (Atlas Development Group) brass. This stuff is legit! Weighed them and the extreme outliers were only 2grs off of the first piece I grabbed to zero the scale (which puts Lapua to shame), almost nothing came out of the cases when I de-burred the insides of the flash holes (gotta be drilled), COAL was with in .002" across all 50 in the box I checked (Still trimmed to SAMMI), and their attention to detail is inspiring! Brass comes in 50 round snap top ammo cases with a foam insert to keep them from jumping around so no doinked case mouths (and when removed will take a mag length .338LM round so that's $15.00 worth of convenience right there), the ammo boxes came wrapped in brown paper, inside a shipping box that had a center divider, bubble wrap, and packing peanuts to protect every thing! Gotta see how they behave when I lay to the coal to them but I may be done with Lapua. Oh yeah... I HATE processing brass!!! 
Sounds impressive, especially the flash hole!
- Thread starter
- #66
Reload? Nada, zip, zlich... But I did process 50 pieces of ADG (Atlas Development Group) brass. This stuff is legit! Weighed them and the extreme outliers were only 2grs off of the first piece I grabbed to zero the scale (which puts Lapua to shame), almost nothing came out of the cases when I de-burred the insides of the flash holes (gotta be drilled), COAL was with in .002" across all 50 in the box I checked (Still trimmed to SAMMI), and their attention to detail is inspiring! Brass comes in 50 round snap top ammo cases with a foam insert to keep them from jumping around so no doinked case mouths (and when removed will take a mag length .338LM round so that's $15.00 worth of convenience right there), the ammo boxes came wrapped in brown paper, inside a shipping box that had a center divider, bubble wrap, and packing peanuts to protect every thing! Gotta see how they behave when I lay to the coal to them but I may be done with Lapua. Oh yeah... I HATE processing brass!!!
Yes and yes!
Hope to "make brass" tomorrow. Must test-fire SP-101 with its new mainspring.
AA
- Thread starter
- #67
I now know to use MUCH less Alox; those smoky rounds were almost choking.
Some remove it from the projos bottom, too.
AA
Cleaned misc brass
Winchester Large Primers
.45 cal 230g Berry Plated
5.3 of 231/HP-38
I reload 5-10 every time I got to the basement to wash/dry etc
I have reloaded about 250 that way in the past few weeks.
I needs to open the 500 ct box of 230g Extreme Plated I managed to get a few weeks ago at Cabela's @ 69.99 and start back reloading as above. (I should have bought the one other box of Extremes they had but I felt a bit bad about taking the last one when I had one and I was already buying 5 100 rd 9mm boxes by Herters@ 25ish per 100.)
Winchester Large Primers
.45 cal 230g Berry Plated
5.3 of 231/HP-38
I reload 5-10 every time I got to the basement to wash/dry etc
I have reloaded about 250 that way in the past few weeks.
I needs to open the 500 ct box of 230g Extreme Plated I managed to get a few weeks ago at Cabela's @ 69.99 and start back reloading as above. (I should have bought the one other box of Extremes they had but I felt a bit bad about taking the last one when I had one and I was already buying 5 100 rd 9mm boxes by Herters@ 25ish per 100.)
Today was weighing new Lapua against new ADG. 10 case sample says I need to back off 1.6gr and see what happens! Time to play load (re) development. Gotta fire form this stuff for black Friday regardless! 
Oh, and just for giggles I checked neck thickness. Lapua... .014"/.0155" measured at 4 places, ADG... .014"/.0145: measured at 4 places. That ought to help the ES a bit!
Oh, and just for giggles I checked neck thickness. Lapua... .014"/.0155" measured at 4 places, ADG... .014"/.0145: measured at 4 places. That ought to help the ES a bit!
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Whipped up 10 rounds for testing this evening. 300gr Scenar, Fed 215M, ADG brass, and 96.5 grains of Ramshot LRT @ .015” off. Hoping to see 2850-ish FPS and a good ES (less that 13. That’s my current record!). Gotta get this lined out for my 2k trip!
Handful of each 357 mag and .45 acp. I always go to my presses and make some ammo when I set a knot and have to wait for the glue to dry....
- Thread starter
- #72
Since I was shooting 22 magnum... 
AA
AA
You CAN reload those you know!Since I was shooting 22 magnum...
AA
- Thread starter
- #74
Actually I just bought three more boxes. There's plenty on the shelf.You CAN reload those you know!
I may be the only person in my village carrying a 22 magnum... Or at least, shooting one!
If it comes down to trying to reload rimfires... I will be living in the hills, and spray painting "WOLVERINES" when I come to town - if you know what I mean.
AA
Lol’d. I can see it now. You stepping out from behind a rock and taking on a helicopter gunship with a pair of matching .22 pistols, while yelling “WOLVERINES!”
I do know. I really need to grab a .17HMR. Ammo for those is EVERYWHERE!!!
- Thread starter
- #77
Style points awarded!Lol’d. I can see it now. You stepping out from behind a rock and taking on a helicopter gunship with a pair of matching .22 pistols, while yelling “WOLVERINES!”
and I do know the weak points of the Mi-24 Hind...
AA
- Thread starter
- #78
300 9mm for a pistol match tomorrow!
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- Thread starter
- #80
300 9mm for a pistol match tomorrow!
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Those will ring some plates!
AA
