Why would an enfield have a high twist barrel?

[AJAX22]

I was thinking about random stuff the other day, and I remembered that I have an enfield barreled receiver that has an unusually high twist rate barrel with (I believe) extra lands and groves.

Why would a mk ii enfield have that?

I've owned dozens of those receivers but only ever seen one with that pattern of rifling.

[knucklehead0202]

because british quality-control is about like General Motors' which is why the government owns them now....

[smle-man]

They were made with two, five, and six groove barrels although five was standard. Six groove b arrels were a carry over from a Bren barrel contract. Two groove was found to shoot as well as any other number although it wore out faster. The number of grooves isn't as significant as the twist of the rifling.

[Spiggy]

I figured the 2-groove would be easiest to manufacture

Simple Design = Simpler Tools = Cheaper Cost

[AJAX22]

I recall distinctly holding the barrel up next to a standard 2 groove and noting That the twist was noticeably faster.

I don't recall if it was 5 or six grooves, but it had more than 4/3 the number of revolutions of the other barrels...

Could this be for heavy bullets? Maby a Dum dum rifle?

[Interloper]

I recall distinctly holding the barrel up next to a standard 2 groove and noting That the twist was noticeably faster.

I don't recall if it was 5 or six grooves, but it had more than 4/3 the number of revolutions of the other barrels...

Could this be for heavy bullets? Maby a Dum dum rifle?

I believe MG ammo had heavier bullets than those made for rifles. If the barrels were meant for the Bren, then yeah. That makes sense.

edit:
Is the barrel the same contour as a standard Enfield?

[AJAX22]

They are visually the same iirc

It's been a while

[Mssr. Eleganté]

Could one of the barrels been off of an Ishapore 2A or 2A1 in 7.62x51? I think they used a 1 in 12 twist, while the SMLE and No.4 use closer to a 1 in 10 twist.

[berg]

It sounds like you are trying to determine the twist by eyeballing it. Not sure that really works.

Try this: insert a cleaning rod with a thick patch on the end. Near the other end wrap a piece of masking tape so that it has a "tail" sticking out. Now insert the cleaning rod, watch as the "tail" rotates, and mark on the rod one full revolution of the tape.

Now take out a ruler and measure the distance on the cleaning rod from where the rotation started and ended.

That's your twist rate.

Edit: Here's another method

[AJAX22]

Haha, no I'm trying to guess it based on eyeballing it two years ago when I last got to see my firearms.

I woke up from a dream and remembered that I had never asked why are these different?

[orion5457]

Haha, no I'm trying to guess it based on eyeballing it two years ago when I last got to see my firearms.

I woke up from a dream and remembered that I had never asked why are these different?

WOW thats awsome! 2 years ago!!!!!