Cookisan wrote:Can I book a Savage built No.4 in for emergency .303 barrel reconstructive surgery, or a .22 job if that fails?
I am slowly amassing a selection of standard chamber reamers for the more senior of service rifles plus some turn of the last century oddballs for just this reason plus it always fun to see something 100+ years old being shot again as intended.
A significant quantity of surplus/ex military SMLEs and No4s were exported to the Indian sub-continent during and after Partition in 1947. Most of these were converted to .410 specifically to be used as 'non lethal' riot control weapons ... remember, there was HUGE unrest as India was carved up to form India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Decades later this stuff was still standard issue to the Police; I remember back in 1972 on a trip through India talking to a policeman in Goa who had one of these thing hanging over his shoulder. When I explained I was a 'shooting man' he showed me his rifle and it was chambered for .410. Most of this stuff was recalled to storage when they re-equipped with SLRs and lay there for years. Those who can remember the much missed Guns Review magazine might recall numerous adverts proclaiming arms warehouses being discovered in India and thousands of these converted rifles being offered for sale in the UK ... they were really, really cheap.
I also remember a glut of wire wrapped things from India a few years ago. The odd thing is you never come across them these days which makes me wonder if there are some huge birds nests of wire under some benches somewhere...
/d
Du lytter aldrig til de ord jeg siger. Du ser mig kun for det tøj jeg har paa ...
Those were grenade launching rifles, wire wrapping was supposed to reinforce the woodwork and to stop fragments from spreading too far.
The Indian military still holds millions of SMLE'S in store along with their home made Ishapores. They disposed of several thousand 2A and 2A1 rifles about 12 years ago, most went to the USA where they are now widely available. One batch was imported into the UK by a dealer in the West midlands and my re-enactment group were able to get a very good group discount, I think it was about £150 per rifle. I have a 65 dated 2A and a 66 dated 2A1 to complement my other lee Enfield's. They are quite useful for large scale re-enactment events (along with economical range shooting) where the event organiser or armourer pleads poverty and offers you the choice of 15 rounds of 303 Privi blank per man or 50 rounds milsurp 7.62 NATO blank per man.
Cookisan wrote:Can I book a Savage built No.4 in for emergency .303 barrel reconstructive surgery, or a .22 job if that fails?
I am slowly amassing a selection of standard chamber reamers for the more senior of service rifles plus some turn of the last century oddballs for just this reason plus it always fun to see something 100+ years old being shot again as intended.
My original comment was rather tongue in cheek, however your quote has got me wondering about the practicalities of reverting the barrel back to it's original caliber. I have heard of a couple of firms that allegedly make 303 barrels, but have yet to hear of anyone that has seen one or had one fitted. Are they the same profile with foresight and bayonet lugs? Are there implications in changing from a shotgun to a rifle designation. It would be nice to have one Lee Enfield with a 'perfect' barrel as a comparison!
Don't discount using an original barrel, they are still about in good shooting order.
Large numbers of No4's were reduced to component parts in the 1960's and 70's, the unused remains of the huge surplus Inter arms/ Parker Hale joint buy (among others). Keep your No4 original!
Cookisan wrote:Can I book a Savage built No.4 in for emergency .303 barrel reconstructive surgery, or a .22 job if that fails?
I am slowly amassing a selection of standard chamber reamers for the more senior of service rifles plus some turn of the last century oddballs for just this reason plus it always fun to see something 100+ years old being shot again as intended.
My original comment was rather tongue in cheek, however your quote has got me wondering about the practicalities of reverting the barrel back to it's original caliber. I have heard of a couple of firms that allegedly make 303 barrels, but have yet to hear of anyone that has seen one or had one fitted. Are they the same profile with foresight and bayonet lugs? Are there implications in changing from a shotgun to a rifle designation. It would be nice to have one Lee Enfield with a 'perfect' barrel as a comparison!
Armalon certainly still make [and fit them] them- one on guntrader with a new hammer forged barrel in .303 by them only last week.
Do LW make the correctly profiled unchambered barrels for them too?
Yes LW can also supply correctly profiles barrels for the No4 Mk1 and Mk2, not so sure about the No1 Mk3 however they are still around. Really it is down to do you want a .303 (As an example) with an original fairly open military chambering or a modern CIP chamber.
/d
Du lytter aldrig til de ord jeg siger. Du ser mig kun for det tøj jeg har paa ...
...or use an otherwise butchered donor action/bolt to build into something else.
My 410 No.4 (S.2) will hopefully in the future at some stage become a .45ACP DeLisle (21stC upgrade though; not copying some of the poor components/features of the original)
My 6.5x55 M96 shotgun - no planned projects for it - may have a .22 barrel liner fitted & use it as a trainer
My 7.62 M91 VKT shotgun (S.1) - that will stay as is
