enfield info bolt head

[dadswickedammo]

Merry Christmas!!
Here's my question....
I have an Enfield J/C converted by Golden state to a santa fe J/C I am NOT an enfield expert but I really love this rifle and want it to be much better, my trouble is headspace and everybody i talk with has the same bits of info but not all, what I understand is that the bolt head can be replaced with another bolt head to increase or decrease headspace all I get is you just need to get the next size larger and I agree and maybe the next as well.
How do I know what size I have? how many sizes are offered? Is the info I have gotten somewhat correct? and if so a good place to find these parts?
My local gunsmith offered to fix me up for about $150 thats what I paid for the gun, so any help would make me very happy.
thanx
tim
Merry Christmas to all

[The Custard Pirate]

How do you know you have headspace problems? Only the No.IV rifles have different sized boltheads and their purpose isn't compensating for excess headspace altho they can be used for that. If you truly do have headspace problems, IMO, you would be better off buying a new enfield than trying to fix it yourself. If you want to spend the money a gunsmith can set the barrel back a couple of threads and re chamber.

Dekkus all with boston charlie.

[dadswickedammo]

it has the SMLE III 1914 on the strap to the rear of the action.dose this mean no bolt heads to decrease head space.
And yes I am reasonable sure head space is my issue streching cases several on the first reload primers 1/4 the way out and several seperations. Once I came to this conclusion neck size only lighter loads But I do want to take this out hogging and would like a fat hot load with no problems.
And just getting a new one is not an option I just dont toss things I make things better this is a simple fix if the barell can be moved back I will move it if I need to make yes make a new bolt face I can and will. but if bolt heads are not an option I will first try to add a few 1000s to the bolt face I have.
If you have any Ideas other then what I have try'ed please chime in.
thanx

[Pthfndr]

Enfields head space off the rim, not the case shoulder. They also are know to stretch cases...a lot. They have loose chambers because they are battle rifles meant to be reliable under the worst possible (dirt, mud, sticks stones in the chamber) conditions.

[The Custard Pirate]

it has the SMLE III 1914 on the strap to the rear of the action.dose this mean no bolt heads to decrease head space.
x

Yes, it means exactly that. Never mind what it does with handloads (for now) how does it work with factory loads?

[Crunch130]

DWA,

You don't have an Enfield Jungle Carbine. They didn't even start making them until 1944 or so, based off the No 4 action. You have an SMLE (Short Magazine Lee Enfield) aka No 1 Mark III, that Santa Fe shortened to LOOK like a Jungle Carbine. Your rifle originally had a 25" barrel and looked sorta like this:



I don't believe any parts are interchangeable between the two different action designs. The SMLE bolt heads only come in one length. Is there any chance you have the bolt head screwed on one turn too far? Unscrew it one turn and see if it still chambers a round. (Mine bottoms out before giving you the chance to turn it one turn too far.)

What brand of brass are you using? One of the brands out there I've tried is only suitable for very mild reloads (Sellier & Bellot). Neck sizing only pretty much forces the case to headspace off the shoulder rather than the rim, which ought to make it functional and safe under most circumstances. It would help if you could post photos of your brass post-firing, beside a new, unfired round. +1 for what pathfinder said about Enfields having loose chambers and therefore stretching brass a lot. The trick is to learn how to deal with it properly.

Hang in there. You ought to be able to sort this out without doubling your investment in the rifle.

Crunch

[dadswickedammo]

It"s funny you mention the brass type S&B is the the only brass that has seperated lots has streched but s&b is no longer somthing i will reload the best I have found is GPX I think it's gpx, Just got 500 R.P. nickle cases new never loaded wanted to get head space worked out befor I load em up or maybe load em real light form fire the cases then neck size,
I am aware that a santa fe J/C is not a true J/C that what makes it a perfect short brush gun for hogs.

[eighteenninetytwo]

the above, but also, the SMLE bolt heads only officially come in one length but you will find that they are in fact sometime slightly different in length. Armorers would change them out to get the headspace to GO levels. A tiny tiny change is enough to make a difference. Srpingfield sporters sell em.

[gunboat]

Perhaps you should either buy or make a headspace gage or take it to a smith for checking --
Until you know, you are just guessing --
If your cases are separating, why resize it to fit a small chamber when you have a big chamber?
Neck size only and save your brass life.
No need to fl size if cases fit your chamber.
my tuppence

[mj1]

Not all bolt heads are the same and only the #4's are numbered 0 to 4 but that doesn't mean replacing a #2 with a #3 will fix you because they are not all exact so you must measure them and pick one that works. But like the others have said you should be sure of your problem. Knowing the numbers you can figure out what needs to be added and I have seen it done a few ways from as simple as having a bin of spares to pick from or soldering/welding shim stock or a feeler gauge metal to the bolt face and drilling a new FP hole. In this picture you can see that not all#2's are equal and I have fixed some by replacing a #1 with another #1 that is just .003" longer on a #4 Enfield. Welding up shim stock then facing off the bolt face seems to work if done right.

Good luck.

[smle-man]

It"s funny you mention the brass type S&B is the the only brass that has seperated lots has streched but s&b is no longer somthing i will reload the best I have found is GPX I think it's gpx, Just got 500 R.P. nickle cases new never loaded wanted to get head space worked out befor I load em up or maybe load em real light form fire the cases then neck size,
I am aware that a santa fe J/C is not a true J/C that what makes it a perfect short brush gun for hogs.

S&B brass is just about useless for reloading .303 rounds. I have about a 90% separation rate with it in all of my Enfields and have given up using it.

[dadswickedammo]

MJI thats how we do it!! Thank yo for the useful info really like the feeler guage weld up.
Far more simple then starting from scratch with a bloch of steel.