Enfield Gunsmith Needed

But they all can blow if allowed to stretch far enough; some have less case support than others, so can tolerate less stretch than others. The cone breech gives adequate support when everything is OK, though, and there have been few problems with it.

The problems with the Springfield had nothing to do directly with the breeching; the M1917 Enfield, much praised for its strength, and the pre-64 Model 70 Winchester both have a cone breech.

Jim
 
The chamber shoulder of Lee-Enfields are..

1/16" further up the chamber. This was British Army idea of allowing any battlefield ammo to be picked-up and be chambered and go boom.

Headspace is still controlled by the case rim, adjusting the headspace was a simple process of swapping bolt heads [there is a range of numbered bolt heads] that headspace would be tighten up.

If you are reloading you must neck size the fired cases.

Hope this clarifies the situation.
 
Outcome of the Enfield Headspace Issue

I found a gunsmith in Greenville, Texas (about 65 miles from my home) who has traded and repaired Enfields for 45 years. He inspected the rifle, performed measurements, and shot it. He said he found no evidence that the rifle is unsafe to fire. In fact, he said that he would have no problem firing 1,000 rounds with it. Now, with my renewed interest in fire arms, I will have the use of a sentimental favorite from my childhood. After having the rifle condemned, that is a great outcome that I am most pleased with.

If anyone wants the contact information for this specialist, let me know and I will gladly provide it.

I greatly appreciate all of the responses made. They gave me hope that my rifle may not be unsafe as originally reported and helped give me the encouragement to find someone more qualified to make that judgment.

Thank you all very much.
 
Sorry I found this thread a little late. I'm glad the OP found a solution.
However, there is a gentleman in the DFW area with lots of experience on SMLE type rifles.
http://www.leesgunparts.com/
Just adding this in case someone is looking for advice on an LE closer to "home".
 
Someone mentioned Brian Dick, yep he's the Enfield guru in the states. Long time friend as well. He lives exactly 50 miles from me.

I rebarreled a P14 a few years back with a No 7 Douglas barrel. I found a Keith Francis reamer on ebay and I headspaced the rifle to snug on Greek 303brass and short cut the chamber to double headspace (snug) on the case shoulder.

This way the chances of losing cases is greatly reduced and it shoots very well.

I also changed out the striker and put in a 1917 and that eliminates the punctured primer problem.
 
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