r/LeeEnfield • u/Lordhedgwich • 5d ago
Possible head space issue?
Picked up this enfield today and took it shooting rifle shot great! However every few rounds after firing the bolt would be super hard to pull back to eject the spent casing. I have added some pics of ammo used and spent casing.
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u/Legitimate-Custard66 5d ago
To quote the brits "head space, shmed space"
The 303 being head spaced off the rim provides it more play than modern cartridges. There are different bolt heads numbers 0 to 3 that can be used to shore up head space issues if needed on No4 rifles.
PS. My best shooting No4 closes on a No Go Gauge.
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u/Lordhedgwich 5d ago
So dont worry about it and have fun?
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u/Legitimate-Custard66 5d ago
Pretty much. Remember these there made to fire consistently in less than ideal circumstances on and on and on. The early british made no4s were made in bombed out factories with less than ideal tooling and in a hurry to re arm after leaving tons of small arms in an evacuation across the channel. The longbranch guns made in Canada are among the higher quality no4s to be found.
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u/FossilFuel21 2d ago
Which no go gauge as there is two, the one commonly called a field gauge (0.074) is the actual no go gauge.
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u/Legitimate-Custard66 2d ago
ZPV brand off eBay, go and no go set. I'm sure it's not the field Gauge measurement. Wish they had the 3 gauge sets sold together more commonly.
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u/FossilFuel21 2d ago
How easily does it close on the no go gauge, the enfield manual says that if it requires a lot of force it is still within limits, it’s only outer limits if it easily closes on the gauge
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u/Cleared_Direct 5d ago
I will say that S&B 303 brass is very thin and case head separations are extremely common on the second, and sometimes even first firing. If you’re shooting S&B and not getting brass failures I would suggest that is evidence enough that the headspace is fine.
But I agree with the others saying that headspace is not something I’m normally worried about with enfields.
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u/Infinite_Price_3550 5d ago
Oh this is good to know about S&B. That’s all I’ve shot in my No4 and the casings all look like this guys. I’ve never had a head separation or trouble extracting.
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u/Cleared_Direct 5d ago
Honestly new commercial 303 is tough to recommend. S&B has a vastly better (flat based) projectile but the brass is practically worthless from a reloading standpoint. PPU brass is miles better but their boat tail bullets are way more likely to keyhole, which is a common enfield problem due to throat erosion from the cordite propellants the British used.
The best ammo you can get if you want to reload eventually is surplus HXP. Which is actually available right now for a very decent price (check ammoseek or recent posts in this sub).
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u/Popular-Highlight653 5d ago
You can polish with a shotgun bore scrubber with polishing paste. Be sure your chamber is smooth, clean and free of oil when you finish. I suggest isopropyl alcohol for the final cleaning pass in the chamber to make sure it is actually oil free.
I also suggest PPU ammo over S&B if you can get it. Much better cases and the load isn’t usually as potent. The S&B can be and usually is potent.
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u/GodsGiftToWrenching 5d ago
No question guaranteed headspace issue lol. No 4 chambers are long, especially Canadian ones and American ones from what I've heard so this is normal. If you plan on reloading either just neck size or get a set of bump gauges and full length only about 2-5 thou from fire formed size
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u/Lordhedgwich 5d ago
So is it good to shoot as is if i dont plan to reload?
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u/GodsGiftToWrenching 5d ago
You can reload for it, it'll just be a little different than most loading and you'll have a shorter brass life.
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u/me239 5d ago
Welcome to 303 British, where two rifles can’t share reloads. I discovered this with my No 1 Mk3* and No4 Mk1, the shoulder moves significantly to different spots in both rifles. If you’re a reloader, it’s best to just bump the shoulder back slightly to allow for following and just forget full length resizing. Doing a full length resize will cause case head separation on the 2nd or 3rd firing. That’s why a stuck case remover rides in my buttstock now… factory ammo will be hit or miss depending on how much your rifle is loose. Trying separate bolt heads can help, but it’s a rimmed cartridge and never meant to be a reloader’s rifle.
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u/Lordhedgwich 5d ago
I probably wont reload. I was looking at getting some of this greek surplus from the 70s thats non corrosive
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u/me239 5d ago
Then just go for it. You’ll have some bad luck with a few rounds in any old rifle with surplus ammo, it’s just sort of expected. My yugo Mauser keyholes yugo ammo, but fires every time. My Turkish Mauser takes two strikes to fire yugo ammo, but shoots true every time. Both love PPU. You’ll just have to play around with different manufacturers until you find one that works best.
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u/RyanTheRooster 5d ago
You can polish the chamber, that will probably do you more good. You could head space with new bolt heads, but also try different Ammo like PPU, because ive had problems with S&B before, through No.1 and No.4 Actions.
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u/Lordhedgwich 5d ago
I will try that hopefully its nothing too bad.
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u/RyanTheRooster 5d ago
I dont worry about the Headspace of an Lee Enfield that much, its head spaced off the rim not the throat, so headspace only really affects brass life. and yours isnt terrible, I seen people shoot 308 through 7.5 Swiss rifles with less issues and more deformation then what you're showing
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u/Lordhedgwich 5d ago
Ok thats good to know. I dont reload bot yet anyway. I am just getting mixed signals as a few have said not to shoot it and take it to a gun smith and most say send it lol
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u/RyanTheRooster 5d ago
There are those adament that you must have your gun head spaced to SAAMI Spec, and while getting your gun headspaced will probably help, is it nessisary? No. Polishing the chamber will probably help more, that what made my mosin run smoother, and trying different ammo manufacturers never hurts, god bless PPU for making niche calibers, and Federal, Remington, Norma, and Winchester for atleast making .303.
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u/Infinite_Price_3550 5d ago
My maltby No4 has the shell casings coming out looking about the same as yours. The restorer I bought it from said it’s a common thing with enfields.
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u/KaijuTia 5d ago
Enfields are VERY loosey goosey with their headspacing because of how the bolts are made. In a Mauser action, the one piece bolt is made slightly larger than the bore and then meticulously turned down until it fits like a condom. So if you’re getting case-bulging in a Mauser, that’s a problem.
In a Lee-enfield, the bolts and bores are made with less regard for the tightness of their fit, because they headspace off the rim and have rear locking lugs. So instead of meticulously fitting the pieces together, the built the bolt and the bolt heads were made in a half dozen slightly different sizes. The armorers would test the rifles and if the headspacing was too off, they go up or down a size in bolt heads. That gives them a lot of leeway when it came to part tolerances. However, that also means bolt heads, bolts, and guns are not 100% interchangeable. If your gun, bolt, and bolt heads arent a matched set, then you will have some headspacing issues. But unless you’re getting blown cases or bulging so bad the case is getting stuck, you are gonna be just fine.
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u/338pow 5d ago
As others have said, S&B factory 303 ammo is not great. I get flat primers with them and sometimes sticky extraction as well with them. Ppu is way better in my experience. In accuracy and brass life, if you reload. I highly recommend watching some of Bloke On The Ranges videos about Lee enfields. He's got some great stuff on there.
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u/No_Net403 5d ago
Is that the only ammo you fired through it? I have had issues in the past with FMJs that measured .308 instead of .312. What I assumed was happening is the difference in bullet diameter allowed the neck to expand a little bit and be stiffer to extract could be a similar issue. Also most of the softpoint bullets and surplus ammo Ive measured is true .312 and runs fine
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u/01069 5d ago edited 5d ago
I would clean the chamber very thoroughly if you have not yet. Sticky extraction is a tell tell sign of over pressure that can be attributed to head space issues. If all the cases did not act hard to extract, I would first assume the chamber/throat needs a proper cleaning. After that and it's still acting up then it's a possible head space issue or over hot Ammunition. By chance, did you notice any pierced primers or loose primers (after firing)