Rebarrel a Enfield

[C-grunt]

My brother in law recently gave me an old Enfield MkIII (I believe) for free. Its in rough cosmetic shape but appears to be mechanically fine. Its missing all of the stock forward of the magazine area.

I was thinking that I would like to re-barrel it in a more common cartridge and put it in a hunting type stock. I know the Indians had the 308 models, so does that mean it re-barrels to 308 easily? Are there any chambering that is an easy swap?

[pinzgauer]

Welcome to the world of Milsurps. You'll probably find that the cost to rebarrel the Enfield will be higher than its worth. Decades ago that was not the case, but it is now.

Likewise, you can buy quite a bit of ammo for less money.

I shoot reduced reloads in mausers and it's a favorite of just about all that try it. (Universal service rifle load of 16g of 2400)

The cases last forever, zero recoil, yet easier and more fun to shoot than .22

[Arik]

303 PPU is $14 a box. Not cheap but how much of it are you going to shoot?

I have 3 Enfields and shoot occasionally. A box of ammo is plenty for some surplus enjoyment

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[brickboy240]

At 14 bucks a box of 20, that is not really too different than 30-30.

The 303 is a fun round to shoot and makes a great short range deer or pig gun.

Recoil is very manageable and it is fairly accurate.

I own 4 Lee Enfield variants from Brits to Canadians and an Aussie. Big fun!

[CRAMBONE]

I've got a No4Mk1 I bought a few years ago. It is a blast to shoot, maybe more than my Garand. I had thought about rebarreling mine to .308 but finally decided against it and am just keeping it in .303. I may however one day get a Criterion .303 barrel installed and see if that will shrink the groups.

[Ned Christiansen]

Having rebarreled one to 7.62 X 39 I can tell you it's probably going to be a little "complicated-er" than just a barrel swap. It's about case head diameter, extraction and ejection-- it would come closer to "being there" with .308 than it was with 'X39 but you wouldn't want to go to the expense of doing it based on "might work".

[C-grunt]

Hmmmm. Well if it isnt very easy I guess Ill just keep it in 303. Anybody know a good place to get a new stock set?

[pinzgauer]

Having rebarreled one to 7.62 X 39 I can tell you it's probably going to be a little "complicated-er" than just a barrel swap. It's about case head diameter, extraction and ejection-- it would come closer to "being there" with .308 than it was with 'X39 but you wouldn't want to go to the expense of doing it based on "might work".

Most don't realize/remember that the 303 is rimmed, so it would be quite a bit of work. I don't think the action is quite as strong as 30/06 & 308, the Indian conversions were not safe for commercial 308 ammo if I recall.

One in 762x39 would be neat, though!

[goodoleboy]

I know the Indian .308s were hardened more than .303 Enfields to handle the higher pressure of the .308. The SMLE action is plenty strong to handle .303, but not much more than that. For example, large ring Mausers have been chambered in 375 H&H, .458 Win Mag, etc. SMLE actions are great for what they were designed for, but not for upgrading.

[BillSWPA]

Hmmmm. Well if it isnt very easy I guess Ill just keep it in 303. Anybody know a good place to get a new stock set?

Depending on whether your plan is for a restored original or whether you would find a modern synthetic stock more useful, I just ordered one of these:

https://www.atigunstocks.com/enfield-monte-carlo-stock-no-1-mk-3

They also make a stock for the #4 MK 1/2/5.

If you wanted to mount an optic:

https://www.atigunstocks.com/enfield-scope-mount-no-1-mk-3

If your goal is something closer to an original configuration, you might try here:

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/SMLEAlsoSeeEnfield-33496/No1MKIII-42039/PartsList-37597.htm

[mkmckinley]

For the cost of a rebarrel you could be in the ballpark cost of a basic reloading setup.

[JasonB1]

Ishapore 2a was 7.62x51 from the start and not a conversion.