No.4 Enfield problem - over pressure?

[huntervixen]

Hi all,

I am no means an expert but for piece of mind I would get that checked before shooting the rifle again, I don't like the look of that bulge!

I remember many years ago being treated to a slide show of the post accident investigation of various breach explosions, one that sticks in my mind was a young Gurkha who thought it would be a fun idea to fire .303 ball down a No4 "DP" Rifle...went horribly wrong... as you can imagine, not a pretty sight!!!

Still it did the job and etched into my memory, if anything I am over cautious, but as I was always told Any doubt, check it out!

Cheers, John.

[saddler]

From the marks on the cases my guess would be that the gun has been short-chambered....somehow

Looks like:
1. the case neck is contacting the rifling - hence the 5 small bulges
AND/OR
2. the leade is too shallow

POSSIBLY the barrel has been trimmed down by a full rotation (due to throat erosion problems) at the chamber end and nobody noticed

IF that IS the case, then you have been sold a gun out of proof - a very very serious matter and a major breach of an RFD trading conditions/Firearms Act

[Gaz]

Rifling related. Hmm.... Where did the barrel come from and did it have the chamber cut at the same time as it was fitted? Time to stuff an endoscope down it and have a closer look.

It's an original barrel taken off another rifle (there lies half the problem methinx) which I bought from Fultons. I have no idea how it was made, but Fred did mention that he has an endoscope so I might ask him to have a close look at it.

Saddler - the rifle was proofed when the barrel was fitted by Fultons. They were very insistent that it had to be proofed as a complete unit once the barrel was fitted into my receiver so I don't doubt their integrity.

That said - is there a way I can check these things, short of taking a chamber cast? The rifle's stored at Bisley so anything that takes more than an hour or two isn't really an option.

[dromia]

Just take a bloody chamber cast and then you will know what it looks like on the inside!

[Gaz]

After some very helpful PMs from good people who shall remain nameless, I've decided that I'm not firing this rifle again until it's been rebarrelled. If the chamber is too short, as more than one person thinks who's looked at the fired cases, then that's a risk which I'd rather not take again.

I understand a short chamber cannot be fixed in any way so I will be taking the rifle back to Fultons and politely asking them to put another barrel on it, preferably one which is within spec.

[bnz41]

Hi.

Take the damaged cases with you to show what the fault is and where on the barrel...

"politely" no I think I would demand they did, this is not the first time they have worked on or sold a rifle out of proof.

[ovenpaa]

BNZ it has been proofed or at least GAz was charged for proofing which means the Proof house should have seen the cases they extracted during the test firing.

Fultons would be my first port of call however I would also be looking at the proofing marks on the rifle very carefully.

[saddler]

After some very helpful PMs from good people who shall remain nameless, I've decided that I'm not firing this rifle again until it's been rebarrelled. If the chamber is too short, as more than one person thinks who's looked at the fired cases, then that's a risk which I'd rather not take again.

I understand a short chamber cannot be fixed in any way so I will be taking the rifle back to Fultons and politely asking them to put another barrel on it, preferably one which is within spec.

...unless it's reamed out again of course!! NOT too difficult a task IF the correct .303 reamer is to hand

[Gaz]

The plot gets thicker. London proof house have confirmed that it's perfectly legal to proof individual components and then assemble them. Meanwhile, there's proof marks on the bolt, bolt head and barrel of my rifle, but NOT the receiver.

This is honestly making me wonder whether Fultons proofed the individual components, less receiver, and then assembled them afterwards. The proof master confirmed that the receiver would have had a proof house stamp on it if the whole rifle was proofed as one. I think he's looking through their records to see whether the receiver ever made it there.

I will be asking for a replacement barrel to be fitted and proofed at their expense. I am less than happy that they've tried to cut corners with a dodgy barrel. If the chamber was out of spec then they could have at least told me and given me my money back.

[huntervixen]

Hi Gaz,

Well I don't know about everyone else but, but I think you will all agree that this raises all sorts of serious questions about the Gun retail industry at large, especially concerning secondhand weapons, barrels, and other pressure baring parts.

I feel sure that most are very responsable and very carefully check everything, because the consequences of a breech explosion don't bare thinking about!

We can only hope this is an isolated case, but one that needs looking into.

The lesson...it really does pay to regularly and carefully check your fired brass and firearms for anomalies!
Let us know how you get on and tell Fultons that we are all watching from the wings with you Gaz....!

Cheers, John.