Enfield #5 longevity

[kdm]

OK...now you guys are gonna see my paranoid side.

I've got this great Enfield No5. Fazakerely (sp?) 4/47 markings, pristine condition. No import marks anywhere, except for the 'England' on the socket. It even headspaces perfectly with the '0' bolt head. 100% matching numbers.

Now, I looooove to fire this rifle! Problem is, I'm kinda afraid I'll shoot it out. Knowing wartime (OK, '47 is after the war...technicality) produced arms aren't manufactured with long life in mind, should I take it easy to preserve it? Probably put 500 rounds through it since its purchase 6 months ago or so...all factory ammo.

[gazzavc]

Trust me , you won't fire it out in your lifetime !!

Enfields are primarily battle rifles, hell here are still #1Mk3's from the 14-18 war that are out being shot on a regular basis.

Shoot it, clean it, keep it oiled, and she'll last you a lifetime.

Enjoy

Gary

[kdm]

Thanks, gazzavc.

The #5 is just too much fun...I'd hate to have to limit my range time with it. I'm overly concerned, I suppose.

What makes the headspace go bad on Enfields, though? Hot ammo...corrosive ammo...infrequent cleaning?

[gazzavc]

Its fairly rare for the headspace to go bad on a rimmed cartridge rifle. The worst culprit on any Enfield is corrosive or cordite ammo.

Just boil her out, pull her through and you'll be good to go.

The odd check with the go/no-go guages dosen't hurt either.

Gary

[kdm]

Cool...thank you, sir.

Naw, there won't be any corrosive or Cordite ammo being run through it. All modern rounds. It's been strictly factory fodder thus far, although now that I've got lots of cases, reloading is in the near future. Looking at the 174 grain Sierra Match King bullet, and loading it up to the original spec of ~2450 FPS.

[Nodda Duma]

Work up from starting loads. Chances are you'll find something that works real well at a lighter load than military or commercial.

-Jason

[smle-man]

Cool...thank you, sir.

Naw, there won't be any corrosive or Cordite ammo being run through it. All modern rounds. It's been strictly factory fodder thus far, although now that I've got lots of cases, reloading is in the near future. Looking at the 174 grain Sierra Match King bullet, and loading it up to the original spec of ~2450 FPS.

Frequently the Match King BT bullet doesn't shoot well in .303s that have had a lot of cordite propelled ammo used in them. The throat erosion works against the shorter bearing surface on the BT bullets. This past weekend I tried some loads using the Match King bullets, 180 gr psp flat base Sierras, 174gr rn hornady and just for fun comblok .310 150gr bullets. The 180gr sierras were the most accurate followed by the match kings, the RN 174s were the worst. Could've just been that batch of the Hornady bullets.

[tteng]

Now if you really want to baby your rifle and your shoulder (and save a buck or two) and don't mind shooting at 50-100yrd range- I loaded 10 gr of Unique behind 30-30 bullet (.308, flatnose) and single-load/shot it. It sounds and feels like shooting a 22 w/ reasonable grouping (3shot/2in at 50yrd). I do this w/ my .303 Mk1*No4, 7.62 Israeli Mauser and 03A3.

[gunboat]

Cast boolits equal longer life --

[Sampachi]

You could always cast and shoot lead bullets in order to extend the barrel life.

As far as mild loads, I have shot pulled bullets and powder from 7.62x25 smg ammo out of my Arisaka. They were accurate enough for plinking cans at 50 yards. Probably would work fine out of a No.5 ... Hmmm.... I'll have to get some new .303 brass and try that out!