falconguy
Active Member
Greetings all,
I got the .303 British Field Gage I ordered from MidwayUSA today. I tried it in my rifles and the bolt easily closed on all four. This concerned me so I looked around on the internet and found a lot of info about Enfield Rifle headspace. First, the Forster gages are made to SAAMI specs which is .070 for the British .303 field gage, second, the British mil. spec. field gage is .074 and third, the fact that the bolt closes on a .070 SAAMI field gage is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, I read a lot about varying degrees of chamber size on these rifles and the fact that they were made for military use and not the civilian market. Add to this the fact that most Enfield rifles out there have been in service for MANY years all over the world before we get them. I load my own ammo when possible and never load anything higher than the start loads.
I have fired many rounds through all four of my rifles with no problems. The brass expands normally and shows no signs of distress. I use the same brass in each rifle that fires it, I just resize the neck. I do not use the brass from one rifle in another. After reading all of the info, some good and some not so I believe my rifles will be safe to shoot for some time. Since I use just the start loads this should help ease the stress on the brass. If the brass does start showing the signs of excessive headspace I will have the rifle(s) checked ASAP. I'm thinking about getting the .074 field gage. I you have anything to add feel free. Here's a picture of my rifles.
1) 1915 B.S.A CO. G.R. SHT. LE III
2) 1944 Lithgow MA S.M.L.E. III*
3) 1943 Long Branch No. 4 Mk I*
4) 1944 Savage No. 4 Mk I*
I got the .303 British Field Gage I ordered from MidwayUSA today. I tried it in my rifles and the bolt easily closed on all four. This concerned me so I looked around on the internet and found a lot of info about Enfield Rifle headspace. First, the Forster gages are made to SAAMI specs which is .070 for the British .303 field gage, second, the British mil. spec. field gage is .074 and third, the fact that the bolt closes on a .070 SAAMI field gage is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, I read a lot about varying degrees of chamber size on these rifles and the fact that they were made for military use and not the civilian market. Add to this the fact that most Enfield rifles out there have been in service for MANY years all over the world before we get them. I load my own ammo when possible and never load anything higher than the start loads.
I have fired many rounds through all four of my rifles with no problems. The brass expands normally and shows no signs of distress. I use the same brass in each rifle that fires it, I just resize the neck. I do not use the brass from one rifle in another. After reading all of the info, some good and some not so I believe my rifles will be safe to shoot for some time. Since I use just the start loads this should help ease the stress on the brass. If the brass does start showing the signs of excessive headspace I will have the rifle(s) checked ASAP. I'm thinking about getting the .074 field gage. I you have anything to add feel free. Here's a picture of my rifles.
1) 1915 B.S.A CO. G.R. SHT. LE III
2) 1944 Lithgow MA S.M.L.E. III*
3) 1943 Long Branch No. 4 Mk I*
4) 1944 Savage No. 4 Mk I*
