.276 Enfield Data needed

[ovenpaa]

Welcome Bill and thank you for the links. I would be interested to hear more about both your original P13 and the clone you had built and I do remember reading your original article on Milsurps.com a few years ago, has much changed since? What bullets do you use with the original .276?

Rob, I have replied to your PM.

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Hi, Dave!

Not much new to report since the P-13M worked out just fine and I probably have 100 rounds through it. Now that may not sound like much, but I've been collecting and shooting for 50 years and am at the point where I find I have more firearms to shoot than I have time for ... that and I'm always coming up with new ideas.

For my original P-13 I was able to get Hawk to make me some .282" 150gr RNSP and I did fire 5 rounds through it, but stopped with that since my P-13M does everything I need it to do. It shoots very nicely with moderate recoil using a 150gr .284" PSP bullet. It's a fairly heavy rifle and as a result the recoil is not as heavy as it is in my M-1917 I have in .284 Winchester. I realize that is 15 grains light and I don't load it to duplicate military velocity, but at 70, I don't need to beat up my shoulder and I'm only shooting paper at 100 yards. I'll leave real magnum shooting to the younger crowd!

So ... how has your project progressed? I'd like to encourage you because you can't have much of a .276 Enfield Shooting Club if there's only one member! (LOL). I did consider having a Ross M-10 or M-1910 done in .276 Enfield since I have a couple which have already been messed with, which I why I bought them, but ....

I have a weakness for all things single shot. To that end I've wasted much of my time doing things like making a 6.8 X 43 rimmed using .225 Winchester, 7.62 X 39 rimmed, 7.62 X 45 rimmed and 7.62 X 51 rimmed (30 Carcano Rimmed) using .303 Savage for some High Walls. Then a 7.62 X 25 rimmed using .30 Mauser for a Cadet. After that, fooling around with other oddballs like .255 Jeffrey and .303 Adder among other British cartridges.

Back to you,

Cheers,

Bill

[ovenpaa]

Hi Bill,

I have got everywhere and nowhere at the same time, I have the donor rifle and die blanks sorted and the reamer is USD200 and getting the barrel made is not a major issue however the sourcing of the bullets is a problem. I would much prefer to shoot jacketed bullets through the rifle as opposed to cast and this has been a sticking point, I can order a few thousand specials however it would probably take me a couple of lifetimes to get them shot.

I keep coming back to this project and would dearly like to finish the rifle one day.

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Hi!

One thing I hate about e-mails is that you lose all sense of emotion when penning a response ... so I'll try again since my previous attempt had the feeling of ridicule ... so not the intent.

Bullets shouldn't be a problem. Just use a standard 7mm ... you know, a .284" diameter. From your post I am led to believe that you're not going that route; thus the need for "custom bullets".

My P-13M is a .284" instead of the original's .282", but you won't notice the .0002" difference looking at the cartridges, nor will it shoot any differently because of that difference.

If you DO want to go .282", then I've had decent luck running .284" bullets through a series of bullet sizing dies (such as Lee's, intended for lead bullets). I've found that going .001" or .002" at a time works best (I've gone as high as .003" and 004"). The 7mm bullet seems to be one which responds to smaller changes (of course it would). I use Imperial Sizing Wax to make the job easier and would go down to .2810/.2815" to account for springback.

I have been told and seen in writing that you can't do this because of problems of the jacket separating from the core and this causing accuracy problems. So goes the theory, but I have NOT seen that problem in practice. I have an old Army motto that I go by:
"When theory conflicts with reality ... go with reality."

Let me know it if understand your problem with bullets ... sometimes I read things into a post that just aren't there. Old age or overactive imagination ... take your pick!

[ovenpaa]

I have also read conflicting results about bullets hence the move to .282" however deep down I know a standard .284"/7mm barrel is an off the shelf item so easy to source and I am then spoilt for bullet choice. I think my real problem was wanting to keep things as close to original as possible, we have a saying over here, "Never let perfect get in the way of good" however that goes against everything I strive for and I have a tendency to shelve things if I cannot attain the level I aspire to.

The bottom line is a P13 clone is a worthwhile project and one that will probably be started when we have moved the workshop a bit later this year.

Which manufacture of P14 did you use for your clone?

[Romeo 33 Delta]

We ended up with a Winchester M-1917 action with the bolt replaced with one from a P-14 and then, of course, I found a PERFECT P-14 stock, which still had the front volley sight intact. We did install a P-14 rear volley sight on the M-1917 action.

Dale wanted to do it that way because he wanted to be certain the magazine box was as long as possible to accommodate the Enfield round. Now, that may NOT have been necessary and if not, I would have loved to have built it on an ERA marked receiver.

However, since I just load 'em and shoot 'em and don't build 'em ... I wasn't about to argue with him.

Bullets: I found that the 150gr flat base is a nice choice. Decent weight for the round and they are everywhere (or so it seems).

Let me know how yours progresses ... like I said, we need more than one in order to have a .267 Enfield Shooters Society and original ammo is just too old, just to hard to come by and just too expensive!

Cheers!

[ovenpaa]

It has been a while...

I might just have found an original P13 barrel

[meles meles]

*looks suitably impressed*

[saddler]

.276" ??

We just went the trimmed .277" route instead (6.8SPC)

All this talk of esoteric bang sticks.....but not a single photo!
Therez RULES you know!!

[ovenpaa]

Confirmed, an original Pattern 1913/.276 Enfield barrel is winging its way to me. (Cue the happy dance)

Now I just need to find some original brass, even a handful would be good.

Anyone?